davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14
VETERANS BUREAU PROBE

The proceedings of the senate com. mittee Investigating the conduct ot the Veterans Bureau are showing items of a painful nature. Nothwith. standing the fact that the things not right must be made right, the public shrinks from the disclosures revealing neglect of purpose that has had the sympathetic approval of the citizens of America, namely, the proper care and treatment of veterans, especially the sick and disabled. While no proof has been established, yet the evidence tends to show graft and an even more costly inefficiency in the administra- tion of hospitals and other affairs connected with the bureaus duties Sales of needed supplies to private concerns at prices far below their market value were alleged by the surgeon general when he protested against the disposal of drugs and ap- pliances urgently needed in federal hospitals. That public officials or rep utable private citizens would seek to profit at the expense of Americas s disabled veterans is almost incredible. Yet the testimony published points in that direction.
 It is hoped that those guilty of this monstrous state of affairs will be de- tected and committed to heavy punish ment. The crime is almost a capital one, especially when it is recalled that human lives may have been lost be- cause of the wrong-doing. Americans have always been too lenient with off, lenses of the sort. It is time that there be a reform, and certainly a reform in behalf of World War vet erans is the best place of all to begin. Fortunately, 1t appears that under the new director, General Frank T. Hines, affairs have been getting better and better. They were reported in such bad shape at the beginning that the improvement has been slower than otherwise in manifesting itself. It is hoped that the investigation will be the cause of still more rapid reform and extension of their due benefits to the veterans who for any reason need the sort of aid contemplated when the Veterans Bureau was established by act of congress.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14
EVADING THE RESPONSIBILITY

At freouent intervals the public IS advised that this or that railroadS IS organizing clubs pledging the mem hers to exercise caution when ap- proaching grade crossings, providing instructions how to "Cross Crossings Cautiously" and enlisting public sup hort for movements tending to relieve the railroads of their responsibility for grade-crossing accidents. Any thing that helps to reduce the number of deaths and injuries at railroad crossings is, of course, welcomed by a long7suffering public. But when such methods form the only plan adopted by railroads the result is to shift upon the public the burden which the rail roads can remove by definite, frank and sincere purpose of doing away with grade-crossings.
 Responsibility for the constantly in- crossing accidents at grade crossings, not to speak of heavy losses to busi- ness, especially in cities, rests upon the railroads because of their failure to provide needed protection. With the rapid increase of street and high way traffic, and corresponding in- crease in railroad operations, dangers to the public are constantly growing.
 Tn Birmingham, with it's rapid growth of population, increase of street traffic and railroad activities, are dozens of accidents every year at the numerous death-traps. No amount of caution by the public will materially improve the situation, which is already well nigh intolerable. Two factors enter into this condition-the city commission and the railroads. The former has the power to require proper protection to the public. The latter has the ability to furnish the needed relief. After years of delay and dickering, voluminous correspond encea and innumerable conferences. nothing has been done, and four hun arad thousand people continue to suf- fer unjust and unnecessary hardships because the railroads, with little man. Hesitation of appreciation of the large and steadily increasing patronage given them, advance the absurd claim that they cannot finance the project, while the city commission ignores its esponsibility to require action. There need be no surprise at the many in- quiries as to what the commission is going to do, or how much longer the peoples official representatives will permit this injustice. Clubs, signs, badges and other makeshifts in efforts to pass the buck are of little benefit. What the people need and demand is protection such 'as the railroads and the city commission are under obliga- ton to extend.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14
ON INDUSTRY AND THE NEW EDUCATION
(Chicago News)

Much has been written in radi- cal and semiradical publications concerning the alleged lack of op- portunity In modern industry for young men and women of limited means. The tendency to combina- tion is supposed to be unfavorable to the development of initiative and enterprise in the average em- ploye of a corporation. But re- cent statement by the national in- dustrial conference board indi- rectly takes issue with that gloomy view.
 An investigation of the potential supply and the certain demand for industrial executives and technical experts Is said to have established the fact that by 1890 at least 200,- 900 new positions of responsibility and leadership will be- open in American industry, while the tech, nical schools of the country are graduating only about 5000 stu dents year. Good jobs will be seeking trained men and women, it is said, and no young person of ability and suitable education will have cause to complain of want of opportunity.
 The present and evergrowing demand for experts in industry is due to the change of methods. Mass production requires a large number of administrators, man. agers, superintendents and plan- hers. Invention, the utilization of water power and electricity, the elaboration of means of con trolling production and distribu- tion, the need of new markets, the prevention of strikes and lock- outs-all these require intelligence and skill. and industry must look to the technical schools and the technical courses in the liberal schools for the supply of those in- dispensable requisites.
 It is true that today many of the managers and administrators in industry are shop-trained men. Only about twenty per cent. are college graduates. The American mechanic has been equal to his tasks and responsibilities. Yet the policy of depending on luck and chance is unwise. The educa- tional system of the country should take due cognizance of in dustrial and commercial needs, or prospects. and cooperate with or ganized business in adapting schools and studies to life and fit ting the young. for the functions of more and better technical schools is one of the vital prob- lems facing the. United States.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14
GoINGs-oN IN GERMANY

The reported return of the former crown prince to Germany has given rise to much speculation and rumor. Although it was said that his objective was his old home at Gels, where his family resides, he has been many days on the road, thus adding fuel to the flame of worldwide curiosity. Among the whisperings is detected a strong under-current of suspicion that either Frederick William or his father, the erstwhile kaiser, will be asked to as- cend the throne of Germany All this in spite of the fact that Germany has been generally supposed to be without throne, even an empty one. That Frederick or his father either one would be willing to resume imperial authority is not to be denied, but whether the people of Germany have reached the plane of the worm that will turn is uncertain. There are some who applaud the former monarchs and there are those who remember only that crown prince and emperor fled when their personal safety counseled it, leaving the country to meet its troubles as best it could.
 In all this speculation it is not for gotten to give some attention to the mysterious part Holland is playing il this drama. It had been popularly supposed that, in return for allied respect for her sanctuary to the fugi- tives, Holland would keep the faith and hold the outlaws interned until further agreement with the powers counseled otherwise. Holland disclaims any official knowledge of Frederick's departure, but, as the detective re- marked, it's suspicious. The official visits being paid to William at Doorn add color to the growing belief that Holland officially knows great deal more than she admits. The part that Holland has played in both peace and war, while avowedly that of neutral, has partaken of that type of neutrality which has favored Germany at every opportunity and baked the Allies.
 Ordinarily, whether Germany should welcome back her exiles or not would be matter of external indifference but with all the questions of treaty fulfillment and separations payment stirring, it is matter of grave con- sequence whether Germany shall re- store to authority that dynasty which deliberately brought upon the world the hideous catastrophe of unprovoked war. The schism which has gradually widened among the allied powers has perhaps encouraged monarchistic as- pirations in certain German groups, but the common threat implied in the imperialistic maneuvers now in process will cause the spark of common danger to leap the gap and fuse to- gether again the disunited parts of that great alliance. If the Allies ever needed the wisdom of their foremost statesmen, now is that hour.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14
POOR BOYS WHO
 BECAME FAMOUS
George Taylor
,x Frederick Honk Law

Can a man mortgage himself? George Taylor, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- ence, practically mortgaged him self. for he sold his services for period of time to gain his passage across the Atlantic ocean.
 In the carry days or tho settle ment of the American colonies. the present United States, there were many people in Great Britain who wished to come to this new land, but who were too poor to raise the money that was needed to pa yfor the long passage on the sailing vessel that was to bring them. Therefore, there was in vogue a system that practically amounted to mortgaging ones self. The captain of ship. or tho company who owned the ship. would give transportation if the traveller would, in turn. agree to work for a certain length of time and thus pay back in labor the equivalent of tho passage money. That was what George Taylor did. He was only a boy, and he had spent all nineteen or twenty years of his life working hard in his native Ireland. From time to time he heard stories of the success of those who had gone to Amer ica. So young George packed up his little bundle and set off. guaranteeing the return of the equivalent of the passage money that he was too poor to>pay. That was the way one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- ence came to America! The Irish boy became 8 clerk. served well and cheerfully, and gave promise of becoming a real man. He was working for rich man when that employer died. At that time George Taylor had such thor ough understanding of the busi- ness, was so faithful and so hon. est, that much of the executive work devolved upon him. He be- came the master. Then he fell in. love with the attractive widow of his former employer, found that she appreciated him and his abfl- ity, and married her-lo! he had made his fortune! With leisure and money he became an influen- tial figure in the colony-Pennsyl- vania-represente the people of his neighborhood in their political bodies, and thus was sent to the continental congress in 1776, and signed the Declaration of Inde- pendence-as any good Irishman would have done. He died in 17S1 at the age of seventy-five.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14
MOTHERS OF FAMOUS
 MEN
r,. s,o,bcr of Lord Kitchener

Lord Kitchener, the great Eng fish general who organized the army that went to the relief of Frnace in the World War, was himself of French descent. Through his mother ne traced his ancestry bac kto quiet French people on the island of Jersey in the English channel. There, for some generations. they had lived and led simple lives caring for their flocks and herds. Finally some of these had gone over to England to seek new opportuni- ties.
 There one of them became the mother of Horatio Herbert Kitch- ener, perhaps the most romantic of all modern military figures. The father of Lord Kitchener was himself was a military man. He had preferred the dash and swing of the cavalry, and after a va riety of experiences that he often related to those whe were near to him. the cavalry officer retired from the army.
 The wife whom he married was the daughter of very learned man, a minister Of the Church of England, a man whose learning had won him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. The young woman lived in Suffolk, in a pleasant home surrounded by flowers and shrubs and shading trees. To all appearances she was demure and steady enough, but In her blood there was the influence of the family of Chevallier, that family that had come over from the is- land of Jersey to live in England, Thatewas no calm English blood. It was the influence of France, the fire, the energy, the enthusi- asm of the French. On occasions the young woman would show plainly enough that she was of a fiery disposition. From her. there fore, Herbert Kitchener inherited the qualities that aided so largely in making him a. figure of To- nance. In him not only the Chew alliers came to life again, but also the cavaliers of France.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14

the fruit grows in favor it's increase will readily be absorbed by the ex- banding demand, according to the be- lief of growers and exchanges. So firm is the confidence in the industry that hundreds of additional acres are being set out this winter and the nursery supply of planting trees was exhausted fn midsummer by advance orders. Alabama ia agriculturally ono of the most favored of states, and each year sees progress along many lines of both diversified and specialized farming. Of these orange growing Is not the least remuneratiYe.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14
SOMETHING ABOUT A SENSE OF HUMOR
 By Thomas l.. Massou

l once attended the church of Henry Ward Beecher in Brook lyn. One Sunday midsummer when was absent he stepped into the pulpit and began by saying, "Its damned hot" Then he paused and said: T didn't say that. I heard man saying it as I came in. {" This story. practically as I am re beating it. was told me by those who had been in church the week previous He preached a wonder full sermon that day. Did he have a sense of humor? Undoubtedly. If a man without any sense of humor had said that he might have been discredited. So much de- bends upon the manner.
 A collector once called at my house to collect a bill which had been paid. The money having been credited to some one else bv mistake. No one was present but my daughter. He was quite abu- sive and frightened her. I wrote to his firm saying that we had had lot of burglars in our vicinity and that man who said he be- longed to them had entered my house.
 Meanwhile, they discovered their mistake and apologized, but they showed my letter to the man. He was going to sue me. It took me over an hour to explain that it was only a joke on my part, that I was
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14
STATE VOCATIONAL TRAINING

Vocational education with practical application to the needs of the farm, the home and the shop is producing valuable results in Alabama, as set forth in 8 statement by Superinten- ident of Education Abercrombie, out lining the purpose, scope and results of the woNk. Progress is being made, and increasing interest is manifested among adult farmers, as well as among women, girls and boys who are taking advantage of the opportunities offered for training in farm improvement, home economics and manual arts. There are now forty-one classes of adult farmers, with an average attend ance of six hundred, and the work is being steadily enlarged to meet the needs of the patrons.
 This is valuable and practical aid for increased agricultural production and for home building. Subjects are chosen and treated to meet the needs of farmers and others desirous of im- proving their methods and increasing the fruits of their labors. The Uui- versity of Alabama, the Alabama Home Economies Association and several other institutions are CO., operating in the work, and in more than two hundred and fifty centers trained teachers are giving instruction to about seven thousand persons over fourteen years of age, many of whom are adults actively engaged in indus trial pursuits.
 Not only is this service needed in Alabama because of the favorable con- ditions for it's application; but it offers wide opportunities for increased pros perity and greater contentment. At time when some farmers are inclined to be discouraged over the boil weevil menace and other none-too-bright pros poets, and when many young people are abandoning farm pursuits for the glamour of city life, improvement of living conditions and more efficient and productive methods such as de- velop from this vocational education will do much to make rural life more profitable and more attractive. Ore of it's chief values lies in the fact that betterment of conditions throughout the farm and rural regions is directly reflected in the expansion and enrich ment of industrial centers. Theswhole state profits accordingly.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14
 THE GARBAGE SURVEY

The survey and report of the con sulting engineer employed by the city to work out an adequate garbage dis posal plan apparently carry merit in that they are based upon thorough study of the municipal needs in this respect and include comprehensive program and estimate of costs. The report recommends the establishment and maintenance of three incineration plants, instead of one, because of the large area to be covered and the ex- pense of hauling. One merit of the survey is that it includes the cost of certain paving and other preliminary projects entering into the situation whereby the cost of upkeep and oper- ation may be sufficiently reduced to justify the additional investment. An other favorable feature is the fact that the survey and proposed plans are so worked out as to provide for the growth and needs of the city for the next sixteen years. This is practical and proper, in the light of experience. Nearly every public improvement 50 far made in Birmingham was planned on too small a scale, and had to be rebuilt or enlarged at great loss of s-:ne and money.
 While half a million dollars seems large public expense at this time for such a purpose, the investment is to be considered in it's practical phase, as bearing upon economy to the people through the improvement of the public health resulting from modern, adc- quate sanitary system of garbage dis posal. That would be the chief source of economy, though something might <be saved by greater efficiency in han ding garbage.
 Study of this report and considera- ton of it's application to Birmingham devolve upon the city commission. if bond issue is necessary, as intimated, there is all the more reason for care full thought before final action. There are other items of permanent improve ment calling for funds. The people should be given opportunity to pass on a definite program of expansion, rather than be continually appealed to for approval of successive bond issues.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14

Constructing Alabama Highways To the Editor of The Herald:
 Day after day and every day read with Interest The Age-Herald and unquestionably you are mak- ing 1t a great paper. While this Is true, pardon me if say to you, you have had no experience in road building, as what you write proves to a demonstration you either have had no practical ex- periencs in this line, or, if you have. you are a Bourbon, neither learning nor forgetting anything. The only permanent things about road building are: Location, grade and drainage, and the. first, sec ond and third principles of road building Is drainage, drainage, drainage. You never heard of a railroad ballasting a road as and when constructed, but the road Is allowed to dry out and settle from one to five years and then the road bed Is in condition for per- manent hallasting; and so of dirt roads.
 The writer is no prophet nor son of prophet, but he has tray eled from Maine to Texas, from Texas to California, from Califor- mia to Canada, looking for a per- manent road, the editors of news papers having led the boys to be- lieve that somewhere there is such 8 thing, but there is no such thing as a permanent road. I hazard the assertion, if this country does not limit tonnage and does not in-- crease drainage, we are going bankrupt road building. We have at this time an able and efficient highway commission and my ap- peal to you, MT. Editor, is to fall in line and back them pand we will get somewhere road building but this eternal criticism, not founded upon knowledge, makes the heart sick.
 HUGH L. McELDERRY.
 Talladega. Ala, Nov. II, 1923.
 Perhaps MT. Elnstein would agree that, as applied to roads, the word permanent is a relative thing. However, there are roads that outlast the period of the bonds that build them, and there are others that do not. The Age Herald contends that this state should build those roads that last the longest with the minimum of upkeep expense, There are such roads. Why should the deserving people of Alabama not also have them?-Editor Age-Herald.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14

Bedtime Story It is not safe to eat too much
 Before Thanksgiving Day, For many fat and greedy fowl
 Has lost his head that way.
 Timothy the Turkey was all swelled up on himself. Yessir, Timothy the Turkey was very upstage.
 He had a big yard all to himself and a wire fence around it so as to keep the common barnyard creatures at their proper distance. They were not in his social set, so why should he mingle with them?
 Hello, Tim!" said Romeo the Roos. ter, sticking his head through the wire netting. "Slip me a noseful of eats, willya?"
 ''To whom are you speaking to?'' replied Timothy, giving Romeo the ritz, For Romeo was low person who had to scratch for living, and besides, his family life was not all E eti1t ~ oHO Odlu DSs <1uQ SO ItIuOLLy high-hatted him.
 Instead of being affronted, Romeo laughed loud and vul~arly.
 'Pretty soft for you," he said, but there was mockery rather than envy in his voice. Nothing to do but eat and sleep and grow fat. You live like capitalist while us poor prole. tariats gotta dig for crumbs. You are fattening on unearned increment
 "Where," demanded Timothy up- ishly, "do you get that stuff? If ] live in a higher sphere than you it is because Farmer Brown realizes that am superior being. Here he comes now with my monday groceries, and believe me, intend to get all that is coming to me-"
 "Fear not" answered Romeo, flap ping his wings and laughing sarcastic like. Along about Thanksgiving Day you will get all that is coming t, you"
 Which he did.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14
Progress in Health Work

There was time when Ala bama was fap behind in health work and the realization of the value of. educational work in dis ease prevention, but that day is past. The people of this state have, awakened to the value of this sort of work and are ran idly making strides toward the correction of the evils which bring about disease. Many counties in the state are now planning more extensive campaigns against pre- ventable diseases and other coun- ties are expanding such work as mas already been undertaken. According to reports received by the state department of health the interest in this work is growing rapidly and that is one of the most encouraging signs that has been seen in Alabama.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-14
SMILES
COntagfOus

(American Legion Weekly)
 With all a six-year- -old's famil- iarity with measles, chicken pox and colds, Robbie emerged from a siege of whooping cough much the worse for wear. The first item of interesting news he received was that his aunt was at hospital and that there was new baby he would be allowed to go to see soon.
 And see Aunt Mary, too?" he asked increduliusly.
 "Of course. Why not?"
 "But mother" fairfully. twill I catch it?"