davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
* * * Motor Car Revival Points the Way

7 ITEMS like this have been ap- U bearing during the past three weeks in the commercial and in dustrial journals:
 May and June were the two
 biggest months in the history of
 the Jordan Motor Car company.
 aggre gate shipments exceeding
 those of any previous three
 month period. Many deliveries
 were 26 per cent better than any
 previous month, and by shipping
 in June 56 per cent more cars
 than in May, a new record was
 established.
 This is not an isolated record in the motor car industry. The Ford company broke all monthly produc- ing and shipping records in May and the daily record was smashed several times. The Dodge factories were last week reported to be "swamped with orders." The trades papers named the Buick company and half a dozen others that were booking all the business tEey were capable of handling.
 This time last year the motor in dustry almost disappeared from the face of the earth. The banks qui| discounting automobile paper and the unsold machines on hand were takn out of garages and stored ir warehouses. One Birmingham warehouse was literally packed witl them.
 The revival of the automobile business could not have come about unless people had the money with which to purchase them and that better feeling which encouraged them to do the buying. Dealers would not have sent in orders that swamp factories unless there were genuine demand.
 This points the way to other re- coveries in commerce and industry The important motor business can not but accurately reflect general conditions. We will hear from oth- CT quarters soon. Railroad mate rial buying will not be long dc ferred.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
SEEK MAGNETIC NORTH POLE

B. MacMillan has a rare opportunity for obtaining data and information
 which unquestlonably will materially
 assist in the solution of some of the
 questions raised by arctic phenomena.
 Penetrating as it will to a region
 near the magnetic north pole, it is
 planned that for a period of eight to 10 months continuous and syste-
 matic observations shall be made per- taining chiefly to the magnetism of
 the earth, the electrical and meteoro-
 logical condition of the atmosphere
 and to polar lights. A sledge trip
 may also be attempted to the locality
 of the north magnetic pole, supposed to be near the western coast of
 Boothia Felix, during which syste- matc magnetic survey of the region
 may be undertaken.
 The observations of polar lights will be of special interest" Dr. Bauer states. Polar explorers have repeat
 edly furnished testimony and have
 recited experiences which would ap-
 parently indicate that the polar light
 rays, or beams, pass through the at
 mosphere and come down compara- lively close to the earth's surface. However, many thousand obserNa- tions made near the north coast of Norway by photographic method,
 similar to the one to be used for the first time in the far north by the MacMillan expedition, clearly indicate
 that the rays do not get closer to
 the earth than about 50 miles, though they may extend from that level up- ward hundreds of miles. The Mac Milan expedition will be equipped with special photographic appliances for settling the question as to the depth of penetration into our atmos-
 pheres of the auroral beams in polar regions and thus 1t will be able to make contribution to our knowledge which will undoubtedly help greatly in establishing a rational theory of polar lights
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE
Time to Start

It seems to me it's about time for some dope on the Alabama State fair this year" said c. K. Anderson, yesterday. If am correct, and I think l am, these splendid fairs are held annually in October and along about the eighth or tenth of the month.
 If 1t is to be held on this date this year then it is only about two months off and we would like to be- gin to hear something about some attractions they are going to have. The fairs during the past few years have been the best 1 have seen any where in sthe country and if it is to be as great this year I think they can be assured of good attendance in spite of the fact that business conditions are a little off at the pre- sent time"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
Ford Makes Definite
 Muscle Shoals Proposal

| ID ACKED by the Mississippi Val ID ley association. the Tennessee Valley association and the Ameri- can Farm Bureau association, the proposal of Henry Ford for lease and operation of the Muscle Shoals, now definitely before Secretary Weeks, through Secretary Hoover, demands prompt, serious and busi- ness-like consideration on the part of the bureau heads and of Con- gress.
 Mir. Ford offers $5,000,000 cash for the plants and proposes to pay the government s1,500,0O0 per an mum during a 100-year lease of the Wilson dam and Dam No. 8. He proposes to pay 6 per cent on the S28, 1000, ,000 required to complete the project and to amortize not only this sum but the entire cost of both dams in.the period of the lease. He<pro- poses to make and sell fertilizers at not more than per cent profit and toAhold nitrate plant in readi- ness for government use in case of war.
 Commenting on this proposal Secretary Hoover, whose business sagacity no one questions, said: "Mr. Ford's offer proves that the completion of this project has commercial value"
 That expresses nothing more than the plainest and simplest fact. The 500, 900 horsepower units of hydro electricity dormant at Muscle Shoals constitute a commercial asset sec
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15

s. K.Pe arson, Jr., Cooperative Ob-
 server, United States Weather Bu-
 reau. in the New York World.
 7F you contemplate taking your H vacation late in July or August,
 should you not reserve your choice until July IS (St. Swithin's Day) so that you may determine if it is to rain for 40 days or not?
 The famous writing in the skies decrees that:
 St swithins Day if thou dost rain
 For 40 days it will remain:
 St Swithin,s Day if thou art fair.
 For 40 days twill rain na mair.
 We are all intelligent enough to know that this is a myth or super stition. but when We do see 1t rain for. while after it has ralned on July 15 our imagination frequently gets the better of us.
 AS a matter of fact, neither 40 days of either rainless or actual daily rainfall has ever been observed sub seouent to St. Swithin's Day or any other date in New York City or Gov ernors Island where ificial records nave been kept for nearly century. However. there sare a great many sears when rainfall is quite heavy aea persistent and cloudiness and au d1sy exesssive during this period more sauentiy than droughty con- ditiens nornallv July and Au-, gust al as swy aoasaS of tho yeR- with heatiesf re aeasl.
 How many VII snemps fAw weeks after July 15 Nnsiher ex nSt it rained Oh that day, unless lt hapg as that a few consecutive days tth some precipitation immedia tely fQ. low, and showerN unsettlsa wea s5ser perhaps prevails on and off for sgfen weeks. Then St. Swithin is ec{nsids cred good weather prophet. Gut f conditions are to the contrary 5of th s supposed Indications on JalyT ., ha is entirely forgotten.
 In the public mind st.glswtthina Day belief is great dea3 ike the idea that the weatner oufeat Is al ways wrong. An oeeasl9Aial mistake by ne bureau, especgaily if thA weather elemen ttesfErss with cer- tain plans or pieazufss B always renhmbered, tns ihs ss Der cent, or 90 fer cent o7 aesfssifise predictions i- fstire'v -e rublic is gf1Irs nlnsI1't <tfSS
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15

NE7 UGH interest has been created gVll in the plan of the business men of Anniston, composing the chamber of commerce of that city to take 100 Calhoun county farmers on a trip through Tennessee to study dairying and scientific fertilizing at first hand.
 Etowah county, one of Calhoun $ neighbors, realizes the benefit to be derived from the Anniston cham Lars enterprise. It is a good ex- ample which promises to be emu lated in other Alabama sections.
 A year ago several hundred Ar kansas farmers, under the auspices of . model farming bureau, passed tAraush Birmingham len route to Georgia and the Carolinas, where especially good records had been made during the past 10 and 20 years in the reclamation of worn- out cotton lands. They passed over Alabama because this state had no land reclamation record to it's credit. They came all the way from Ar kans Jas to the Atlantic seaboard be- cause they wanted to see for them selves just how land had been re- claimed and to talk with the farm CTS who had done the job.
 No greater benefit could be con ferred on the farmers of any part of Alabama than by affording them the means of visiting other farm ing sections where pronounced sue
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
Books Good Act.

T have been able to book some mighty attractive acts for the fair this fall,' says J. l.. Dent. secretary of the Alabama State Fair assoota tlon, and not only will the acts be- Tore the grandstand be unusually good, but l am sure the agricultural and cattle exhibits will surpass any thing yet seen on the grounds.
 The community and county fairs are good feeders to the state fair in every way and particularly is this true in regards to farm. exhibits of all kinds."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
ADRIFT WITH THE, TIMES
uNcoNsc1ous FLATrERY

"No matter how homely a man may be, his wife always has suspicion that some beautiful flapper is going to vamp' him." remarked MT. Clip ping.
 That's true," said Mir. Grumpson, and every time she voices her sus- picion in his presence the ornery cuss swells up little.'--
 ITS A HARD TUNE. ANYHOW
 when left here Io years ago zeke Dawdle was playi& cornet in the town band" 1, "zeke's still at it, and he hasn't changed bit"
 MOP "He still breaks on the high notes of The Star spangled Banner just the way he always did" ALARMING SYMPTOMS
 Where has Senator snortsworthy~ gone?"
 Back home to feel the public pulse"
 '1s there anything wrong with the public pulse?"
 Decidedly. It beats faster every time a successor to Senator snorts- worthy Is mentioned"
 ABLE TO TAKE PUNISHMENT.
 q want to see Aunt Elizabeth, who writes advice to the lovelorn'
 "The fat man at the corner desk, with pipe in his mouth, is Aunt Elizabeths"
 Good heavens I poured out my soul to that maht'
 Don't be alarmed, miss. He's a glutton for soul stuff PAUL. COOK.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
New Courthouse C

T am heartily in sympathy with the plan of MT. Huey to get a new courthouse for Jefferson county said J. D. Russum, coroner, yester- day. Tt is evident to anyone that the county has outgrown the present building, and it seems to me it Is the proper time to erect another one.
 "A modern courthouse will mean much to Birmingham as well as to Jefferson county. The inconvenience of the present building costs the county large amount each year. Then 1t seems the largest county ir the state ought to have a credltable courthouse"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15

cess has been made in agriculture, so that they may profit from the knowledge obtained.
 Travel is great instructor. Mans best teacher is the fellow man who has succeeded.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
ST. SWITHIN A FRAUD

casts and would rather believe in the groundhog or spurious iong-range forecasters.
 However, the forecaats and warn-. ings of the bureau are of least im- portance to the average pedestrian afraid of getting his hat wet or going on a picnic; it is its immense value to marine interests and manifold business enterprises throughout the country that pays many times over for the expenditure for the service.
 The American people do not like to give up certain weather proverbs and beliefs; it gives them something to think and talk about, though they are really intelligent enough to know that most of them are mere super- stitions Many of the proverbs are partially true and have originated from eonle sood basic connection. blft freqnentiy the real value Is lost for the sake of rhythm.
 We should thus be content to know. that if Jupiter Ioluvius visits Us on July F that it will not rain soma time each day for 4e consecutive days, as it never has before at any time of the year, and if it did. it would be coincidence and remarka- bles meteorological phenomenon.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
A PRICE EXHIBIT
rom the Cleveland Plain Dealer


 An enterprising Massachusetts mer- chant recently attracted wide atten. ton by placing in his window an ex- hiblt of 25 articles of food with their comparative prites of June fl, 1920 and 1921 attached. The list was a miscellaneous one made up largely of commodities such as meat, flour, su- gar, potatoes and dairy products, .t the purchase eof which absorbs a rhajor portion of the food budget of the ay- craze family. The total costs of these foodstuffs in June this year was found to be s22.10 as compared with $51.59 year ago. On this basis it would appear that dollar today should go in the grocery or market as far as two dollars and 80 cents went last year at this time.
 This exhibit has frequently been referred to as indicating the wide fluctuations in the value of the dol lar and has been used in a loose way in connection with certain wage con troversies. While food costs have un- questionably declined, the change in the last year falls considerably short of the 5S per cent that is indicated in this foodstuff list. The table in ques- ton is weighted though probably not intentionally. to convey mistaken impression of the actual reduction in foodstufs costs.
 The error Was made in taking a of sugar, Nthe reduction in price of which has been especially pronounced, entirely out of propor- ton to the quantities of all other commodities in the list. There are, for instance, one pound of tea, two pounds of coffee, two dozen eggs and of sugar. in this computation as much importance is given to the sin gle commodity sugar as to 20 other articles combined, although the out lay for many of tfem is quite as great as that for sugar. Had quantity of sugar been taken comparable to that of other articles, the percentage would have fallen below 50 and squared with food price reductions at wholesale,
 For the same date as that taken in the retail computation here referred to, the food index of the annalist was almost exactly 50 per cent less thai that of a year ago. The Bradstreet index showed a reduction for the same period of 45 per cent.
 Retail prices generally lag behind prices of the same commodities at wholesale and the same reduction as that pointed to by the Massachusetts merchant can scarce4y be expected by the food consumer generally. But food costs at wholesale have been sufficiently pronounced to justify measurable reductions at retail. The same care and intelligence in buying food that were exercised when costs were at their peak should make a dollar today do at least what a dollar and half did year ago Food costs at wholesale are down to & degree that warrants some such a saving to the consumer.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
A LESSON IN cAxpoR

From the Montgomery Advertiser.
 Miss Edith Redwood of Chicago IS going abroad ito study world condi- tions." That has become the Amer jeans conventional excuse for going to Europe. We prefer the old- fash toned greenhorn who said naively: "I'm going to Europs. to see the Lon don bridge and Eifel tower and to see how it feels to sail across the At. lantic"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
CALIFORNIA; EARTHaUAkEs

By Science Service.
 San rancisco.--During the year 1920 there were S7 separate and dis. tinct earthquakes in California. ac- cording to information reported to the Seismological Society of America. by Andrew II. Palmer. meterologist of the United States weather bureau here. This figure includes only those tremors that were actually felt.
 From seismological viewpoint. the feature of the year in California was the large number of earthquah es in Los Angeles and Vicinity" declares MT. Palmer. NO earthauakes were reported from Los Angeles during tae first five months of the year. but seven occurred there in June, 12 in July, one in August. and four in Son tember, making total of 24 for the year. The city received much un- welcome publicity onte in eastern newspapers in connection with these disturbances The great shock of June 2I was heralded with front page headlines quite as large as those which announced the San Francisco disaster in 1906.
 Not StnEle month mas passed during the six years without one or more earthquakes in California. One draws the inevitable conclusion tha t these slight but constantly occurring tremors may well be regarded SIS a safety valve in efficient operation. However. the earthquake menace is constantly present, and a-great sho K may be possible at any time"
 The weather bureau has approxi- mately $50 correspondents we'll dis tributed throughout California, who are supplied with cards on which ;o record data on earthquakes observed
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
Atlanta Building

Atlanta is certainly enjoying a boom of apartment and office hui1d- ing construction" declared Nat c Barker realtor, who has just re- turned from the Gate City.
 Million dollar apartment horses ana ottlce structures can be seen go- ing cup on all sires. A new theatre and office building~-has been con structed opposite the Piedmont hotel Asa Candler, I understand, is ereci : ing large apartment house. Resi- dential building is also active"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
HOW TO TELL TnMM

From the New Yor'S Sun
 Its easy to tell Y motorists said the traffic cop sss In ne long line slowed do aN 3ss street movement. ont have to hear then w ornss either. In the olu N ls the test. If only the dls kS oGS his hand to warn other esr4 nat he is going to stop. you caa be sure they're old hands. If it's still a new game, everybody in the car feels 1t his duty to stick out hand. Even the baby waves his''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
X LuxUnious FIREMAN

From the Emporia Gazette.
 The firemen say the most luxury loving man in town is on the flse force On recent hot night they 200 pounds. resting In the bathtub with an electric fan blowing on hts feet and chunk of ice floating in the wate1
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
STEAMERS IN WASTE PLACES

Jean Kenyon Mackenzie, in the At
 lantic Monthly.
 Living in lonely places. you are a prey--to obsessions; you are obsessed by certain sleepless thoughts; they stir in your heart while you sleep, and they speak without ceasing of steamers. It is they that drive you in the morning to your glass, and to be looking all day out to sea, and at night to be searching the dark for a upon the horizon, like the Pleiades in March; but oh they are not the Pleiades-they shine with differ ence; they are the lights of steamer,
 How shall l be telling of steamers to the dwellers in great harbor towns, where the loveliest ladies of the sea come and go without applause? Or to inlanders who never see mast at all. unless it is the superstructure of an oil well? You whose house is on the Hudson, where a steamer is at an- CnOT bClOIC Oui NSiy NOoi-il IS eight bells; the hour was struck. and oydid uerha k6br hmtairf hmtairfaii did you hear the bell? The signal stands in the engine room at full steam ahead" and did you hear that drumming? A week she lay in the river; this morning she is gone, and are you therefore lonely in the world ?
 In the lost places of the earth a steamer is the great Presence-she furnishes the empty seas. However, far outnand dim. with herfittle plume of smoke she leaves her wake in the heart There are shores where from every white mans cabin her passing is followed with sigh; speculation broods upon her all day long. Her ports, her flags. her cargo, her crew. seem a little while to live In the mind after she has gone down the slope of the world. She may be poor, mean, unkept cargo boat, dingy upon a bright sea, but she is the symbol of migration. and a winged flutter in the heart.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
AN EPITAPH.

Here in this grave, alone, forgot, Lies one who always cursed his lot; Who found this world a bitter place And showed no gladness in his face. He never spoke a kindly word, No gentle thoughts his bosom stirred And when he reached his journeys
 end
 He left behind not one true friend. Above his dust the weeds grow rife, A fitting symbol of his life.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
ysfss STREET

Ry James AasssIl Lowell. They pass me by like shadows,
 cfeNrds on crowds, Dim sfsuss 5 of men. that> hover to A and TO Plugging their bodies round them like
 thin shrouds Wherein their souls were buried
 long ago; They trampled on theft youth. and
 faith, and love, They cast their hope of human kind away, With heavens clear messages they
 madly strove, And conQuered--and their spirits
 turned to clay Lot~H6w they wander round the
 world, their grave. Whose ever gaping maw by such
 Is fed, Gibberinx at living men, and idly
 rave.
 we, only. truly live. but ye are VI dead"
 A deat s0u. apisagA ss eysxJ fscs
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
THE RULING PASSION.

There's no hope, my friend" said the doctor, gently. You must try to be resigned"
 T could be resigned to die, doctor. but for one thing"
 And what is that?
 I've been following serial pie ture for weeks at the Palace, and now Ill never know what became of Bertha the Bandit Queen"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
ANOTHER EDITOR LEAVES TOWN E,rom Campers Weekly.

O From Capper's Weekly.
 In recent letter to the Breeders Gazette, MT. F. NJ. Woods of Lam caster county. Neb.,' told how Ne braska printer got an auction sale and an account of wedding mixed together. The resulting article, wrote MT. woods, read like thls:
 Married at the home of the brides $ township one mile north and two miles east of Mir. and Mrs. John Jones, highly respected residents of Thurs day. Jan. 27. Miss Ethel Drinkwater by the Rev. s head of Shorthorns consisting of four bridesmaids dressed in pale blue and carrying calves by their sides. They had tulle wells sired by the noted Ken lucky jack Bofnbina Sd. Also 46 head of hogs, including the groom's father from North Dakota, where he is en- gagged in missionary work. and is immuned by the double process These shotes are thrifty, and all rela tives of the bride and groom. They all gathered in the spacious dining room after the ceremony, and partool of 300 bushels of seed oats. 1.oot bushels of corn, 10 large sacks o millet and alfalfa The. bride is tn. youngest daughter of one trusty<in cubator capacity 800 sTgs one Joh, Deere five-room cottage and a tri, to Omaha, after which they draw 1, per cent interest from date. Frs' lunch at noon."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
c3DNlEzNM1AaufI

P. S.: The wind gave me d touch -6f sore throat but the fried chicken dinner 1 got at the clnp Aouse cured it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
Unusual Hospitality

"I have read with amused interest, said Sidney DeCamp, "of the French invitation to members of- the Amer ican Legion to visit the French re- public.
 NO doubt it would be a very en- joyable occasion, and yet--say, did you ever take part in a celebration as a guest of ''R. Fse" Twas in one, it lasted a week and was about as follows: We marched past a review ing stand and were reviewed by a number of French people who were in balcony out of the rain.
 'Then the mayor of the French town made speech in French. Az ter that we were free to do as we pleased and buy all the sour wino which our pockets and stomachs could accommodate.
 No doubt it will be a very de- lightful trip, but French hospitality is, well, let's say, unusual"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-15
WORTH KNOWING.

My dear" said Mir Bibbles, T don't want to object to your friends, but Mrs. Woppit is quite impossible. {"
 T thought 50, too, before I got well acquainted with her" replied Mrs. Bibbles, but she is really quite charming woman, and she tells me MT. Woppit is an expert in making home brew"
 well, well. guess we ought to be neighborly We'll run over to- gether this evening and ask how they are"