davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
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WHY cRADE.cRossING DELAY?

A woman and six children were killed when the automobile in which they were riding was struck by train at Whitley City. The Louisville Times, commenting on the occurrence, says: "The killing will be called ac- grade crossing, which is trap set with the knowledge that human life will be taken" The same paper aptly sums up the grade-crossing evil when it says: "The least that could be done would be to refuse to permit grade crossings in connection with new con- struction and to adopt program call ing for elimination of grade crossings on old construction. There is no gain in viewing the situation hypocritically. Grade crossings call for a fixed num- Der of fatalities and casualties in pro- portion to the number of automobiles, persons and trains figuring in the death s-head triangle. So many dol lars saved, so many men, women and children doomed" The inconvenience, delay and handicap wrought on busi- ness are also of the same definite quantity as the toll of life and limb.
 Birmingham has planned a cam paign of grade-crossing elimination and for time real progress seemed to be made. For several weeks, how ever, there has been a noticeable drag. The railroads are said to be finding delays that serve to hold back the work If that be the case, the rail- roads, or any principal offender among them, needs the active prod ding which the city, under the author ity of the law in such cases, is fully able to apply In justice to the rail roads that ale ready to go ahead, the public is entitled to know which are holding back the program, so as to place the blame where 1t belongs. The necessity for the subways and viaducts grows. The advance towards relief seems to have slackened. The people look to the commission as their
 representatives in this matter. It ex- poets the commission to take prompt steps that will bring the dilatory agencies into line.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
INCREASING PUBLIC DEBTS

The need for thrift and curtailment of expenditures by states and cities, which the president emphasized in one of his swing around" messages, is widely recognized by economists as an underlying principle. Many states and cities have lavishly spent money and authorized heavy debts during the last few years, and especially since the World War. Bond issues have been piled one upon another, until the figures seem almost staggering. While the president made comparisons be- tween the spendthrift tendencies of states and cities and a boasted policy of the government towards economy of operations and provisions for re- duction in the national debt, it might be remembered that during and im- mediately following the war the gov ernment's liberality in expenditures and it's policy of income-tax eXemp- tions for state and municipal securi- tise did much to create and encourage the habit of spending. It also exer- cised a strong influence on the neg lect of provisions for the reduction of public debts by specified dates and with specified revenues.
 Placing part of the blame, how ever, accomplishes nothing towards escape from the day of reckoning which is sure to come unlesl the ten
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
Compensation

When I write they do not quote me In Anthologies, nor note me In the Literary Digest with the poets that will live.
 But though fame afar has lowered And still I am undiscovered, I can eat my rustic dinner and be merry and forgive.
 And I dare to add my solo To the deathless tales of Rollo, The immortal Alger series and the rhimes of Robin Hood. Let the old reviewers scorn me I shall die and they not mourn mel |, But I'm sure the cows and poultry think I'm really extra good.
 The Kick.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30

usual Alabama product and turned the tide against Alabama coal. Enor- nous quantities of Pocahontas coal go to Cuba today. There is plenty of Alabama coal just as good. The way to get this coal regularly and in quantities to the Latin-Americas is to keep jealous eye on brands, qualities and standards and not to tolerate de- ception. The bunker coal business at gulf ports is steadily increasing and in that case also there should be a rigid rule of standardization strictly adhered to. That alone will build up a business worth while.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30

dency towards lavish expeal lures is at least modified hy practical provis- ions for reduction O. the elblic obli- gations. Seemingly larre expenditures must be considered nc; so much in the light of actual figures as in that of value received. Conditions have un- dergone marked changes within the last few years. Every field of indus trial, commercial, educational and so- cial activity has expanded. Munich palities have been forced to keep pace
 7ith the general progress. More money has been needed to meet the new conditions. While expenditures were heavily increased, the point to consider is whether the money was wisely and economically administered, and whether the public received proper returns for their increased taxes. If not, there was inexcusable extravaganza and waste. If SO, charges of extravaganza are un- founded.
 It is not so much question of how much money is spent, but of whether the people who provide all the funds for state and, municipal administration get their moneys worth. There is such a thing as wasteful economy. Keeping down expenses below what is actually needed for the public pro- lection and the public welfare is little less extravagant than making large expenditures without due regard for the benefits therefrom.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
MOTHERS OF FAMOUS
 MEN
Mother of George William curti.

One of the most delightful Americans who ever lived was George William Curtis. editor of Harper's Weekly. and author of various popular books. He was a man interested deeply in all questions of importance to the American people. a man who made himself felt in American social life. His book. "Prue and l." pub lished in 1856, is still a popular book. It will repay anyone who takes the trouble to read 1t. for there Is no more charming book. George William Curtis was born in Providence, R. l.. in 1824. His mother, before her marriage, was Mary Elizabeth Burrill. She dld not live to sec her son become not only famous, but one of the most highly respected men in tho United States. q man whom every one honored as one who was wholly honest and sincere, and who desired nothing except that which Is right. George William Curtis was only a little boy two years old when his mother died. and so he himself had no mem- ory of her. Nevertheless. that mother exerted tho deepest influ- ence over the man. and had . great deal to do with shaping his carer. Her father had been a man much like George William Curtis himself. one who was able to command the respect of all who knew him. Because of that he became chief justice of the state of Rhode Island. His friends considered no honor too great to bestow upon him. This cultured. highly educated and very able man brought up his daughter to full belief in his own ideals. All who knew Mary Elizabeth Burrill testified to her charm of personality and to her high sense of right. It was not at all surprising that her son should become the greatly hon. ored editor of Harper's Weekly; that he should be tho most active in supporting civil service reform. and that he should show the charm that had graced the mother whom he never knew. Even death cannot bind . moth er's influence.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
"Learn While You Sleep"

An Item of News-'Learn while you sleep" will be the routine adver- tisement of up-to-date educational in- stitutions if the experiments now be- ing conducted by the navy produce results commensurate with the hopes of some of its radio instructors" The little lad lay sleeping
 In the noontide's ruddy glow, The sun had started creeping
 In his bedroom hours ago. The school bell had been pleading, But the youngster lay unheeding> As he took course in reading
 In his bed by radio. His geography he hated
 In the days of long ago, And the words he cogitated
 In his speller caused him woe, But his heart today is burning With a fond and fevered yearning For the modern form of learning
 In his sleep by radio. For he dearly loves to wander
 Where the streams of knowledge
 flow
 And he doesn't have to ponder
 As in the days of long ago, And division and subtraction That had filled him with distraction Are source of satisfaction
 In his sleep by radio.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
POOR BOYS WHO
 BECAME FAMOUS
Alexander Mackenzie
By Frederick Houk Law

Some years ago Queen Victoria of England welcomed to Windsor Castle Alexander Mackenzie of Canada, and wished to honor him by conferring upon him the rank of knight. At that time Alexan- der Mackenzie was fifty-three years old and at the height of his physical and mental strength. He was premier of Canada and the strongest man in the Dominion Having much of the North Ameri- can spirit of democracy. he de- clined tho proffered honor and remained plan Alexander Mac kenzie.
 When he was twenty years of age he had come to Canada from Scotland. He had been accus- toned to 8 simple life. and he looked with perfect contentment at the prospect of having to work hard to make enough money for his support. He began by taking up work as builder of stone walls. In this work he did not spare himself, and did all that an
 
 such labors he moved a step higher and became contractor, and an employer of others. No one can successfully direct others without being led to think of the problems of his time. Alexander Macknzie thought a great deal and talked a great deal. Because of this he left his work as con- tractor and became an editor of a paper in which he could express himself freely. Thus he gained much political influence. and, naturally, was sent to parlia- ment.
 In the Canadian parliament AL exander Mackenzie remained as plain and as simple as he had been when he had been nothing but a humble stonemason work ing for his daily bread. He thought strongly, vigorously and to the point. and he had the cour- age of his convictions. Because he was bold in upholding what he believed to be right he was made premier of Canada. He was always ready to work as hard as premier as he had worked in lifting stones. and even his most bitter enemies called him honest.
 Queen Victoria had done well in offering him knighthood; and he, in declining the honor. had simply maintained the sterling simplicity that characterized his life. He made himself one of the great men of Canadian history.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
DRAINING SWAMP LANDS

No development will count more surely for the accretion of farm land values, as well as for the health of the people in and close to such dis tricts, than the drainage of swamp lands, which now appears to have been formulated on a broad scale in Ala bana. Altogether 5O,000 acres are involved and districts in Lamar, Fay cite and Marion have been mapped out. Tn ,re the work is ready to pro- ceed with prospect of reclaiming a total of 27,O00 acres. Mobile has a project on the Fowl river, and Greene and other counties are planning drainage districts.
 The report of P. T. Sim mons, extension agent in charge of the work, is encouraging and sug- gests that Alabama land owners are thoroughly interested in this vital matter. There are no richer soils than those made by reclamation of swamps where nature has deposited plant food in abundance for centuries. There is no fertilizer the equal of this that has been concocted in natures chemist shop. The interest in drainage is but one of the many manifestations of the progressive spirit that seems to ami mate agricultural Alabama. The peo- pie of Alabama appear to have real ized that the soil and climate are all that could have been asked of the Creator, but that no soil and no eli mate will perform unless helped by mon
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
MIR. LONGS PORT QUESTIONABLE

OldIe hepTeSeHIdllVe J. Lee Long of Butler circularizes his fellow members of the legislature with q questionaire which reveals his fun damental misconception of the value of the states seaport at Mobile and of the legislative obligation to obey the express will of the people with respect to port development. In the first place, .ne may gather from the trend of the questions asked that Mir. Long considers the proposed develop ment as favor to the city of Mobile. Nothing can be further from the purpose of the undertaking. The benefit to Mobile is entirely secondary and utterly insignificant in compari- son with the benefit to the productive areas of Alabama. The people of this state became convinced of this fact prior to the special election, and by a generous majority ordered the state to proceed to the development neces- sary to render the seaport of proper and adequate service to Alabama's commerce. That vote is command upon the legislature to proceed to this development without delay and with out effort to evade the responsibility laid upon it by popular vote.
 MT. Long cannily makes no allega- tions, but by innuendo implies the answers he desires to the questions he asks. In the end, however, he makes it clear that the seaport has not been properly serving the state, which renders it all the mort imperative that it be made to serve the state. There is omitted from the questionable any hint of the great service the port has played and is playing in causing reduced rates to seaboard on all Ala bama commodities, and of the joint influence of the port and the water way in causing a general reduction of freight rates even to Alabama points not on a waterway. The i'm plication that the railroads expect the state to purchase their terminals at Mobile is not sound, for the legisla- ture is a free agent in the matter, and may follow whatever course will bring the greatest benefit to the states commerce. The harbor com missions plan does not include the purchase indicated.
 The query: Did the city of Mo bile during the past ten years build docks and wharves at a cost of prac- tically six hundred and eighty thous- and dollars, and did they ever bring in any revenue to amount to anything, and are they not of very little value?" It is true that the city commission of Mobile. in disregard of the advice of port experts, started to build at great expense a dock in an exposed position and of inadequate material, q project which it has since abandoned. But public opinion condemned such con- struction, which was contrary to the concerted opinion of port engineers, and that piece of folly but serves to entrench the port commission in it's determination to follow the advice of the most competent port and com mercial engineers. Representative Long asks the legislators to inform themselves as to the questions he asks. Most of the legislators are al- ready informed, as their record in envisioning and supporting this great project proves. That is why the leg islators are moved to hasten and not delay port development as ordered by the people of Alabama.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30

tenants from mosquitoes and flies.
 The solution of MT. Weiss Is in- deed good one. if all tenants only had money to have the hard ware dealers install suitable we'll fitting screens for all the outlets. To make this proposition ideal. however. even if we had all these houses screened. it would be nec- essary for the tenants thereof. to enjoy any protection. to stay within these screens at all times. It might not be we'll for children to play out on the streets at night, or go to school or to Sunday school. or to the stores on er- rands. None of us could leave the protection of our screened houses to go to work, or lodge meetings. or church, or other assemblies. MT. Weiss win admit that thcoret- ically even his plan would fall, and so we come back to the prop osition of our boards of health that in order to have adequate and sufficient protection 1t Is nec- essary to root out and destroy the pests of mosquitoes with fancy names" and common houseflies and other harmful insects by seek ing out and destroying their breeding places.
 ROSS c. SPIER, M. D.
 Birmingham. Ala. June 2S. 1923.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
TkazsSGaeORCH
 |@BEAREP.

It looks as if the auditorium woul, be completed in time to accommodate campaign speakers in the next city elections.
 The auditorium rostrum would be a fine platform to run on.
 The jitneys claim they are a public utility. We it's their general utility that the street railway dreads.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30

The president might have added that this country would be better off if more religion were injected into it's politics and less politics introduced into its religion.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
The Gun Window

Because he snored or kicked the cat Or some such cruel deed as that, She plugged kim with her trusty gat
 And ended all contention. The jury wept to contemplate The wailings widows lonely state, And sought to ease her cruel fate
 By handing her pension.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30

The son of J. P. Morgan and the descendant of the two distinguished Adamses got married the other day, and established a strong link between blood and bullion.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
WHAT HELPS THE FARMER

WHAT HELPS THE FARMER
 Senator Fletcher of Florida says that the administration can take no credit for the farm legislation enacted by the last congress, for the reason that such legislation was put through by the farm bloc, composed of both Democrats and Republicans, often in the face of executive disapproval. It does not appear, however, that the benefit of such legislation is of suf- ficient moment to warrant any dis pute as to authorship. There are many so-called farm-relief measures on the statute books, but the relief experienced by the farmer may not surely be traced thereto. With the exception of the laws liberalizing the restrictions upon cooperative mar keting, with attendant warehousing and financing, the legislation sup posedly for the benefit of farmers might just as well not have been passed. The cooperative associations have put the farmer in position to work out his own economic destiny, and that is what he is doing, regard less of and unhelped by legislative nostrums of various sorts. The far mer is becoming independent of fed eral farm crop-credit offerings, be- cause the farmer is stabilizing his business in a manner that comments him to his own bank, and it is entirely proper that his financing be done on this stable basis, and not through any specifics that seek to extend credit where credit is not due.
 Now it appears that the next move ment of the farm bloc will be towards price-fixing legislation. Of this, Gray Silver, Washington representative of the American Farm Bureau Fedora tion, and closely in touch with farm needs, says:
 The price-fixing idea, that of
 hanging a price around the far
 mer's neck, is diametrically op-
 posed to the American Farm Bu-
 reau Federation's program for
 placing the farmer group on a
 level with other groups of our
 national life. We hope through
 orderly marketing of our crops,
 through proper warehousing,
 grading, securing of finance
 commensurate with the needs of
 ployment of less cost factors, to
 at tho boy and bot
 the other well wishers of agri-
 culture would obtain through
 price-fiXing. We sincerely be-
 lieve that our program is much
 more constructive, enduring and
 beneficial to the farmer than one
 of government interference or
 aid.
 The farmer is beginning to manage his affairs as other business men manage their affairs. That is the only source of permanent relief from the financial problems that have hith- erto obsessed the farmer. He has allowed others to handle his business for him to their own profit and his loss. Now he is beginning to take the profit that formerly went to the gambler and the non-producer, and as a result finds himself miraculously delivered from what formerly were regarded as unacceptable burdens and worries. Legislation didn't do it, though it helped in a degree, but the farmers own cooperative enterprise, for the first time directed into effec- tive and constructive channels.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30

When they read about the heat in Kansas City during President liar ding's visit, the people of California concluded that he made a mistake by not putting in all his time out there.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
Oaly . Few Exceptions
(Cleburns News)

Young man. don't swear, There Is no occasion for 1t outside of a printing office. where 1t Is useful when the paper Is behind time. It also comes in handy in proof reading and Is Indispensable" when the ink works bad and the press begins to buck" It is sometimes brought into use when tho foreman's mad: and 1t has been known to entirely remove the tired feeling of the editor when he looks over the paper af- ter 1t has been printed. Outside tho printing office 1t is . foolish habit.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
No Chance Az It h

(Memphis Commercial AppeaO
 A Paris audience admired Ganna Walska's gowns and hissed her singing. If the re- verse had been true Mccormick 2 millions could have stemmed the tide. As 1t is. he Is unable to help.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30

Claw Enforcement" as a political issue is not likely to create much en- thusiasm, because it is universally accepted principle founded on neces- sitv
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
Are Observing It
(Greenville Advocate)

Every Thursday afternoon looks just like Sunday in this old town. Why. we had to walk all the way to the depot to get . can of smok ing tobacco last Thursday after noon. The sun was hot at that. We passed two drug stores whore the doors were locked, and had to go to tho last one at that end of town to get what we wanted. You can bet the merchants of Gresnville who signed the closing petition arc observing the half holiday Thursday.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30

No doubt that boyish romance of President Harding, which was used as the basis for pretty little story while he was in Kansas, will round up some votes founded on sentiment.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30

Londoners seem inclined to joke about prohibition enforcement in this country. Maybe they will become more serious when they have to make the return trip without their brandy and soda.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
Nah Goodncss!

Dear Torch Bearer: 1 see where the price of Nah Jongg has doubled, but it doesn't disturb me one little bit. I never did care for Chinese cooking. -J. R. s.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
Will Know Later
Nashville Banner)

 President Hardings Alaska spe- cial Is certainly weighted down with big political guns. but we shall have to wait until 1924 to find out whether or not they were loaded with blanks.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
Association of Ideas

est. Louis Post-Dispatch)
 The offer of s1.05O. 900. 900 for the government fleet was from an overzealous booster who wanted only to advertise his town. Now when we hear of Silvercreek VIC shall think of gold brick"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30
10 FAVORITE BOOKS
(As chosen by Cyrus LeROy
 Baldridge)

Outline of History (H. G. Wells). Eminent Victorians (Strachey). The Mind in the Making (James H .rvey Robinson).
 Psychology from the Stand point of the Behaviorist. My. Dickens Goes to tho Play (Alexander Woolcott).
 Now It Can Be Told (Gibbs). Proposed Roads to Freedom (Bertrand RusselD.
 Growth of the Soil (Knut Ham sun).
 Nocturne Crank Swinnerton). The Gooseman (Wassermann). Copyright. 1923. in United States and Great Britain for The Age-Herald by the North American Newspaper Alliance. All rights resirved.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30

Perhaps the farmers of the Central West had no idea of their importance until the campaign spell-binders opened up with their praises.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-30

It is said the average American speaks about 100000 words year. Day by day in every way the Ameri- can people seem to be getting more wasteful.