davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08
SOLVING THE AXE MURDERS

The city and county law enforce rnent departments believe that they have solved the mystery of the axe murders with which Birmingham has been reproached for many months. Several are held under arrest and aUainst some of them indictments for
 ,t-desree murder have been found.
 is reported that a trtth-telling drug waS administered in order to move the prisoners to confession. This is still a new expedient, but the of- ficers are said to be enthusiastic in its praise. The people of Birmingham ncerely hope that the guilty ones
 ye been apprehended and that the
 .olting crimes of this nature will ow be g. thing of the past. The story { the organization and its methods ads almost like the gruesomest tales
 Poe or Arsene Lupin. The state d county departments are congrat- ated on their success, belated though
 be, and public approval will follow igorous prosecution and prompt and dequate punishment of the guilty.
 is encouraging to learn that the of- .cers have been diligently, even if uietly, working on this mystery for some time.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08
ONE BILLION. FARM.
 LOA N INCREASE
tst. panl Pioneer Pressl

Further evidence that there has been, instead of deflation, a great expansion Of agricultural credits in the United States in recent years Is contained in the estimated increase of $200, 100000 in out standing loans of life insurance companies on farm mortgages in 1923, as reported to the convention of the Association of Life Insur- ance Presidents in New York. The increase in 1929 was s147,000. .000. The gain in 1928 Is double the yearly average during the preced- ing eight years. Since 1914 the farm loans of 62 out of 2So life insurance companies have tncreas- ed nearly 5000, ,0oQ,0o or 160 per cent, and amounted at latest ac- counts to s1.ss6.ooo.oeo.
 Farming requires more capital to expand It's actiyities. just as any other kind of industry does. It would be strange If there were no augmentation of borrowed capital in agriculture during a period in which billions of dollars have been borrowed for commerce and manu- featuring.
 Some loans represent specula- ton in land and tiding over crop failures and declining prices, just as some loans stand for specula- tion and losses in every other bus mess. But the number of farms Is increasing constantly, taking the country as a whole. requiring more capital. More machinery must be bought at higher prices and worn- out machinery replaced.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08
PEOPLES FORUM

Nineteenth St., should Be Opened To the Editor of The Age Herald: After years of waiting, the pro. Ject for grade separation in the central business district seems to be near an active stage. Yet, in the announcement made nothing has been read indicating that the opening of Nineteenth street Is to be included in the improvement. Is 1t possible that the tracks are to be elevated over Twentieth, Eighteenth and Fourteenth streets without at the same time opening Nineteenth street underneath them? If provision for opening Nineteenth street be made while the project is being worked up. there should be, no objection by the railroads. whatever may have been the city's rights to a street across these tracks heretofore: and the expense would not be nearly as much as would ba the benefit to be derived, only the cost of carrying the tracks across Nineteenth street on bridges, in- stead of on a fill. Afterward the cost would be greatly increased for carrying out this improve ment. such that likely it will never be made. Nineteenth street Is now tho most prominent on the north side affected by this project and by all means 1t should be made continuing to the southside.
 One announcement states that the tracks are to be "elevated slightly" In the plan which proposed ten years ago for this improvement, while city engineer Of Birmingham. the tracks were to be elevated to such height that Twentieth street would have to be depressed only about three feet. Such depression would not be mo- ticeable; but if the tracks are to be elevated only slightly" 1t will be necessary to put the streets down into the tunnels. as unat- tractive as that now under the Terminal Station. greatly to the detriment of the streets. With such a program, the question also arises as to the width of these tunnels, narrow openings being still more detrimental.
 After years of waiting 1t would be very bad if the interests of the city be compromised for expe- diency, for the accommodation of the railroads. or for other policy. The tracks should be elevated enough to carry them under wi.h good light, good drainage, good appearance, and they should be kept at their present width, cr near 1t.
 Your constant interest n th.s improvement is greatly admired, and will be glad to co-operste in any possible way for the success of this project. Very truly yours.
 WALTER G. KIRKPATRICK.
 University. Miss. Jan. 5, 1924.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08
AS TO. CHANGES

A change Is always a matter of interest. Sometimes we anticipate
 1t with pleasure and sometimes | with dread. But the significant
 thing Is that the change we are anxious to make may not turn out at all to our liking and the one we view with apprehension may be the best thing that ever hap pened to us. A very successful man told me that the change
 which filled him with the most despair and bitterness was when a
 railroad chief clerk fired hirn out
 of a Twenty-Five dollar a month job. He said that was the best
 thing that ever happene,., to him, because then he vowed he would work for himself from that time on, so no one could fire him. So he started in with a concern on a. commission basis and in a XeW years was making double the sal Sry of the chief clerk who dis. missed him. ''
 Not very long ago a party of
 twenty eight people left Brooklyn,
 New York. for Idaho, where they
 were going to establish an ideal
 colony. Their hopes were high
 and the trip across the continent
 in their autos was a seven weeks
 joy ride. But it ended in despair
 and desolation. for they did not
 find what they expected. - For several days I was in close
 touch with a man who had been
 ordered to hospital for a severe operation. He was 8 big strong fellow, but the thought of tho ordeal completely unfleryed him. When the time came to go to the operating room he was all to
 pieces. Yet, he recovered from the operation and felt better than he
 had in years,
 As e rule our course is not one of chance. We are not puff-balls blown here and there by firs' one wind and then another if we choose not to be. There is des- tiny that seems to throw us into
 a certain set of conditions. But we can make those conditions turn
 out for our good if we will. Not
 one of the twenty-eight Idaho col
 onists who were so bitterly dis
 appointed had occasion to. he more
 than demoralized and dismayed.
 The whole world is full of oppor-
 tunity, and if you drop 8 Brook lyn man into Idaho he can make
 good # lie will.
 Death is 8 change which we
 should view with all seriousness.
 But there is no need to look on it
 with fear. Everybody goes that trail. Even Christ himself had to tread 1t, So 1t must be all right. It cannot be looked upon as a punishment. because it happens to
 the best of us. Nor is death tho
 greatest change. It Is a small thing compared to mans swing from a right life to . wrong one. We should not fear changes.
 They bring a new set of circum. stances, and we can make them
 mean for us better conditions If
 we wilL no matter how unprcmi
 ing the outlook. Mea have passed through failure after failure and have even gone through the peni- tentiary and still have made their lives successful,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08

achieved within a brief period. There are many public spirited citizens in Birmingham who are ready to offer usbstantial aid just so soon as they witness earnest purpose of the park board to accomplish something tangi- ble and permanently beneficial to the community. Some citizefs- have been reported to be willing to make notable financial donations to the project when they are convinced that proper and intelligent administration of the funds may be relied on.
 With that kind of spirit as an in- spiration to efficient service and with the assurance that cooperative public support may be expected, the park board has the opportunity and incen- tive to render a signal community service whose public benefits will be innumerable and permanent.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08
FARM TRAINING PAYS

,.Svme time ago The Age-Herald com ented on achievements of two oys in North Alabama who netted rofits of pore than hundred dol- ars each on an acre of cotton. Now comes the report that two lads in LawrAnce county made almost as good profits on an acre and half and two acres respectively from their cotton -.:eld.. Both of the boys were stu dents of & vocational agricultural chool, and applied to their work the
 owledge sf seed selection, soil prepa- cation and methods of cultivation which they learned from the school. It is an illustration of the value of farm education. There is no field of sndwsry which offers more profit ~ -s& ssow.ng what to do and have
 mdE EMlaen to do 1t than agriculture.
 ymk and again this has been demon
 raked in Alabama.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08
aB$e E IRVING THE LAWS

N a recent suggestion by Attorney neal ps agherty that every citizen Ia . Nav Year resolution to obey laws ia letter and spirit were se- ,usly aseepted, the result should
 stitu,e . great national advance.
 iA.Na- carried out with resolute pose would be a public benefit of timable value. Along with such esolution there should be another all legislative bodies to discourage
 enactment of any but constructive
 essential laws, and to repeal hun ds that are obsolete, mischievous or ,less. That would help everybody observe the laws. Lawlessness is
 altogether the outgrowth of dis
 Act for law. Ignorance of the law contributes much to it's violation, even where there be no purpose of offense. There are scores of laws in every state # whose existence a large majority If the people are unaware. The reater the law enforcement and law in 1924-and the less law making, let it be added-the better. where there is less law-making of the wrong sort, there will be more law
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08
IC1,ELIeHTS sSEsl lSl k\NATIONAI &
 N CAPITALN $S1

The White House rang with laughter one morning during the holidays, it is reliably reported.
 The laughter with which the White House rang was that of the president. according to the same authority. Parenthetically. let doubting Thomases be informed that there are doubting Thomases in Washington. too. \
 If calvin Coolidge laughed aloud 1t is certain that he broke, rec ord which endured throughout his entire previous life in Washing ton. t.t,
 The New York Times, on the morning in question, printed a story in which the home town of Secretary Slemp was referred to as Turkey Cove. Virginia.
 Now Slemp lives in Big Stone Gap, and is very proud of the rep utation acquired by that little city as the home of people with family trees.
 The president, evidently. was aware of the pride of Slemp. So when the Times. overlooking Big Stone Gap. mentioned Turkey Cove, he was bowled over, and, if the report Is true. actually laughed loudly.
 No doubt attendants rushed into the executives office alarmed. In explanation of his unheard- -of con- duct, Mir. Coolidge is said to have passed over the Times with an in. dex finger directed at the item.
 The attendants laughed. too, but probably more because the president had laughed than be- cause tho joke was seemingly on Slemp.
 But the error of the Times was not perfect" error. It is true that the homo of Slemp Is Big Stone Gap. But he was born in Turkey Cove.
 The laughter of the president might have been infectious. At any rate, that same morning Sena. tor Lodge, who seldom smiles, and Senator Moses. who smiles some- times at the "other fellow" were laughing merrily as they enter ed the executive offices.
 It developed that Moses had just told Lodge that he had heard someone refer to the Massachu- setts senator as pr. Sawyer.
 It tickled Lodge. The effect on Sawyer has not been ascertained.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08
SMILES:
Still Equal to It
(London Tit-Bits)

The school attendance officer went to house in the East End and interviewed the woman bend ing over the washtub.
 And how many children have you altogether"
 Well. there's. Lucy. and Alice. and Olive, and Charlie. and Willie. and Nell, and Grace, and Tom, and Desmond, and Joan. and Brian, and Leonard, and Elsie, and Horace, and"
 "Er-madam, 1t will be suffi- cient if you will just give the number"
 Number, indeed" replied the proud mother, wiping her dripping hands on her apron: i've haven't got to numbering them yet. We haven't run out of names by a long way"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08
Young Man. Beware

ITOrOntO TeIegram)
 MT. De Seines Con being intro- duced to adored one's mother): Pardon me, madam, but have we not met before? Your face seems strikingly familiar"
 Adored Ones Mother: "Yes, l am the woman who stood before you two whole miles in aIstreet car the other day while you sat reading a paper"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08

taxes, which are never fundamentals, but emergency excrescences and expe- dients, to be done away with as soon as the emergency passes. There is general regret that neither plan in- cludes the cessation of the policy of issuing tax-free securities. Inasmuch as MT. Mellon has been outspoken against such securities, the omission is all the more noticeable from his propram
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08
Reflection on LegisiatAse
 (Fforence Times)

Musgrove, in entering the pri- mary, does not contemplate an effort to bring honor to his stats. But itS is plainly his intention to seek to prevent the nomination of Senator Underwood in primary. and secure for himself the oppor- tunity to name delegates opposed to Underwood, and probably sup porting William G. McAdoo. SNsa a plan constitutes a direct R0as k ton upon the members of the re- cent legislature and the great mass of unprejudiced people throughout the estate and the South, who would like to see a Southerner and an Alabamian oc- cupy the presidential chair. It bears certain clements of a ."grudge" from the old political campaign. which is another thing that will not appeal to the better sense. of the people of the state.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-08
Hi-Advised Action (Annfskn~ oko,N

It is to be regretted that Mfr. Underwood is to be embarrassed in his candidacy at home. But this is not surprising in view of the stupidity with which his campaign has been managed. The ill-ad- vised action of the Alabama leEis- lature in attempting to circumvent the will of the enfranchised voters of the state Is properly resented by the people. It was sought to- throttle popular expression in cef. tain parts of the state where MT. Underwood has never been very popular, and 1t has proved to be a boomerang to fly back and do considerable damage to the cause which it was intended to aid, 1t may enable MT. Underwood to have the privilege of selecting a handpicKed delegation to speak in his behalf at the convention. but it has given rise to rese ep tyaer4ts that have culn.rated in the Nus grove caaaidscy. and the prorniyeo campaign very probably will en- gender enmitles that will have re- Hex action on the campaigns In other states.