davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
WATERWAYS ARE COMING

The railroads are confronted with the alternatives of improving their own eff ficiency and tying in with the barge lines or else of attempting to throttle the barge lines. Some railroads are choosing the wiser and more enlightened course, which in the long run will also prove the most profitable for them, and are making such waterway alliances as will be mutually beneficial. Too many railroads, however, are fighting the in- evitable, that is to say the waterways, and are consequently losing much val uable time in adjusting themselves to situation which they cannot prevent.
 The reason for waterway development is manysided. In the first place, they are necessary to carry surplus tonnage over and above the railroad capacity, which has beeen crowded disastrously close on two or three recent occasions. They are needed to transport bulky con- modities at lower rate than prevails on rail lines. They are more efficient in certain kinds of transport. Proof of this its shown by the recent record of the barge service in bringing from Cairo, Illinois, to New Orleans, distance of one thousand miles, within the space of four days, $500 tons, or about twenty train loads of freight. That is feat which a railroad could accomplish only by the most strenuous endeavor and at the sac rifice of much regular business. Yet for the barge service that exploit is not the end but the beginning of its ability to serve the public efficiently, expeditiously and economically.
 That waterways can transport goods more cheaply than the railroads at nor nal rates can do has long been admitted That they can transport a larger volume in less time has been less generally known. The barges on the Erie canal have long outstripped the rail lines run ming parallel to them in the speed. with which they carry wheat and other, bulky merchandise from the lakes to seaboarG. This is not to be interpreted as meaning that the waterways could supplant the railways. By no means. We could not possibly get along without the railways, even if our waterways were developed fully to their logical capacity. But we should develop the internationally be- tween rail and water in order that the nations transportation needs may be met most completely, cheaply and promptly.
 Enlightened railway opinion is not afraid of such program. On the con- trary, the record shows that the addi- tional facilities develop more tonnage than they carry. With more waterways there will be more business for all carry ing media; there will be no more costly congestion, involving great public ex- pense, loss and hardship, to say nothing of annoyance and inconvenience. The waterways are coming. Wise are those railroads that behold their opportunity to obtain some advantage to themselves from the barge service, without any sac rifice of public welfare and without en- ploymcnt of destructive and reactonary tactics
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
. WATCHING THE PARADE
By JOHN PILGRIM

My friend next door came in to see us last might and brought his pretty wife along. We are fond of them. They are clever, goodlookers kind to ride or drive, and have as yet no symptoms of divorce. That IS all ways comfort r.. -t- s
 We are thinking of buying H house, said my friend next door, "and we want your advice" 1'ess
 So they told us the location of the house, and how cute it is and about the perfect love of a kitchen. and the garage. that can be turned into woodshed or chicken house or a spare room for guests at will. sort of a reversible garage But when we got down to brass tacks I found that they did not want my advice. They wanted my encouragement. They had fully determined to buy the house if they could scrape enough money for the first payment.
 Look here,' said, If you want me really tp advise you, give me the details. What have SouS saved? kHow much insurance do you carry What is your income from all sources? How much of that can be abso- lutely relied on? What is the initial cost of the house: What5will be taxes, .depre- citation, wear and tear, insurance. coal, gas, water, electricity. painting grass cutting. street assessments?
 They fudged on every one of the items. At first did not understand, but eventually distinctly high-class young couple have never dared look the facts of life in the face. They prefer to keep a bandage over at least one eye and over both if possible. They have been getting along. after a fashion, not going very much into debt, not being too ex- travagant, believing they were economizing when they merely were not spending money they would like to spend.
 What do you know about yourselves, any howl" asked. Tell yourselves-not me the actual facts of your lives. Be brave eenough to face the truth, Put down on pa per a schedule of your assets and liabilities, your hopes and fears. Know moie about yourselves than you do now"
 They said they would. But that was merely because l bullied them and Fomped up and down the hearth rug and lectured on my favorite topic. They do not propose to let themselves know the facts about them selves j.
 They're afraid.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
SOURCES OF DISHONESTY
 Rv U ADDING1ON BRUCE

Dishonesty, many seem to think, springs from the single source of innate wickedness Actually it has various sources,' from any one of which it may flow so powerfully yet so imperceptibly as to change an honest man into a dishonest one without his approaching that he has changed,
 Among these various sources prlmacy should perhaps be given to the influence of dishonest companions. Let man begin to associate intimately, day in and out, with men whose standards of honesty are lower than his, and almost inevitably he will little by little tend to their dishonest ways of thinking and sacting.
 Petty decefs, frauds and thefts-perhaps in the way of stealing his employers time, if not his money-will no longer seem to him as reprehensible as they once seemed. Unless he breaks away from the circle of dishonest associates, there is real danger that some day he may find himself blazoned as fOrger, embezzler swinder. Often, too, dishonesty has it's source in Over-valuation of such things as money. prestige and pleasure. People who, for any reason, rlive beyond their means" are peculiarly liable to one form or another of dishonest behavior For that matter, living beyond ones means is itself a form of dishonesty. It is making a pre- tense to be and to have what one is not and has not. ss
 T ing whether or no this involves what is popF ularly known as "dissipation," is to lay one- self open to possession by dishonesty. Many a man, honest at the outset, has degenerated into dishonest weakling simply because he gradually permitted the pleasure-craving to dominate him.
 The craving to ''get rich quick" may equally serve as source of dishonesty. Our jails hold many inmates who would today be free and honest men, had they not yielded to an inOrdinate desire to acquire wealth rapidly. Misled by this desire, they gave all too little heed to the character of the means by which they would gain riches. Prestige-craving, worship of false gods of place and power, may similarly convert the honest into the flagrantly dishonest. The annals of political history and of sOrcalled high society are re- plete with instances Illustrating the truth of this. 'v--
 Finally, n most insidious Source of dis honesty is q mis-appreciation of what really constitutes honesty In his interesting and valuable book. Training for Power and Leadership Grenville Kleiser pertinently points out
 .ro some men there are grades of hon esty. 'HOnesety is the best policy is an inferior grade. Legal honesty, by which a man does only what the law compels him to do, is not much better. To excuse q doubt ful practice because other men do it. is to leave it still d0ubtfuL- A man of strict integrity avoids even the thought of unfair advantage, petty quibbling. misrepresenta- ti0n. and everything which might be con strned as misleading."'
 Here is sound doctrine--loctrine to be taken to heart by all who would be honest in fact, as in name. rN ~t
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
PAPER SAWS CUT WOOD

Circular saws Of paper, for use in making veneer and fine furniture. are turned out in factory in England. Thin plates of wood cut by these saws are NO finely finished that cabinet-makers do not have to plane them al all before they are used. Such saws were originally shown at all English exposition and were driven by an electric motor. They are manufactured from special type of compressed drawing paper.
 Indeed, compacted paper of such hardness has been made in England that it has been utilized in place of building stone. Experi- ments in the manufacture of car wheels from compressed paper have been made in .fthe United States for a number of years, but the product has never competed seriously with the ordinary steel wheels
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
WHY IS A FAULT FINDER?
By WICKES WAAfBOI4DT

One day l was seated in the lobby of small town hotel; one of those places where any discussion is public property and any one feels at liberty to join in. I heard a man violently berating the president of the United States becarH of certain policy which that official had inaugurated.t An other man who had been listening leaned forward and asked: What would you sug- gest that the president do under the cir cuInstances:"
 Oh" said the first speaker airily, that is not my business am not the president of the United States. l wouldn't know what to dO"
 Then" said the other, you should not critisiae him, You have no right to attack whta he has done as best he knows how unless youi have n better plan to offer"
 One of the easiest things to do is to find fault Anybody can do it. No brains and no learning are necessary-only a tongue and a limited vocabulary. A dog barking through the fence palings at passerby is an illus tration of elementary criticism It is the constructing things, the building up. that takes knowledge and initiative. An idle fool with match can destroy In one minute what wise men have toiled centuries to build.
 There is fundamental cause back of the fault finder that is not generally understood If you will observe closely you will notice that the men who are the greatest cayilers are not the greatest men. And by the same token, the greatest men are not fault finders And why is this? It is because it takes great ness to discover and appreciate virtue Men who have really done things know how diff ficult and arduous is accomplishment. They know the toil and the anguish that went along with their own achievements; and this makes them respectful and appreciative of what other men achieve It leads them to see the acres n man has titled rather than the field he has left unplOwed.
 Our captiOus man, our habitual carper is likely to be a man who has never aeeam- pliahed anything himself. or has done but littl" He attempts to cover up this fact and llatter l.;s own vanity and make show of wiSdNri by s-offing etcrnaily at the achieve ments of others, pointing ont their mistakes lnd mUgnifyng their wctkrcSseS. Generally speaking, it is the man 5 Iio ne,er scored d SacccsS who "nvis nt accomplishment
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
Whys sWe Argue
\. nh.rRANK oKAEn

After arsuinxs about and around with q mau-rand adore arguing, particuiariy aDout theology and other subjects of which know nothing-f have noticed that m the & enpl.we se like two dogs who, after fight Tn when neither gets the better. retreat, each to ms kennel. and sit growing and showing teetn.
 For I never remember having convinced anybody of anything in my life, ana l am quite certain nobody has ever convinced me. In hand to hand fight one man can ni. .;n.ns sns other. but in a combat of reasons victory is entirely impossible, and never was gained once in all the long years of contention.
 Every once in a while I hear some one say, "Baur utterly demolished that position or "Weiss' reasoning is irrefutable, or The ideas of Dingbat have been shown py Inlng- such thing, implying that somebody argued somebody else into silence. It is to laugh. Be not deceived You can knock a man uncon- st.ious with your fist but not with your tongue Argumentatively speaking, man. and especially a woman, will go right on talking after death. .ef .3s,.,
 No What YOU do in discussion is to stir. your mind. and your adversarys, and thus find out what is in it. As you contend, seek ing for weapons to lay him low. you simply uncover your own sleeping notions, awaken your latent heats, and arouse your own aor- mant prejudices. You do nothing to him
  and realize yourselves. No great controver- sial question in history has ever been settled by argument. S4s.
 Questions have been settled, to be sure, but sometimes by big fact coming along and crushing one party. Gas in the contention as to whether the sun or the earth moved around the other),4or usually by the worlds simply losing interest in the whole issue Gas in the debates between the unitarians and trihitarians, and in other theological wars, which once stirred the blood, but now are as last years roses pressed in an old book).
 Humanity settles questions. It lives ques- tions down. It lives new interests up. The eventual creed of the race is forming just as mans teeth, stature and habits form by developing, through experience. And the final belief, views, and tastes of the indi- yidual are simply the silt left upon his soul by the passing over of his life series of thoughts, deeds and enthusiasms. In other words, we grow our creeds as we grow our bones, by process of digestion and assimila- tion which take place wholly underneath our consciousness.
 Meantime, let the discussion so on. Let us wrangle over materialism, and idealism, socialism, and agnOsticism, for so we de- velop muscle. And down with the Anytime arians, who won't fight; for they won't growl Huxley made good guess: What we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
A GIvE.AWAY
(Wall Street JournaD )


 Some years ago q well-tO-do market oper- ator and friend had occasion to drop into the hotel district branch office of an alleged brokerage firm. Desiring a late quotation on an out-Of-town stock, they were informed by the manager that he would get price iron, the main office With which they were con. nected by direct telegraph wire. Manager walked over and whispered to his stele. graph operator.
 What the man at the key did not know was that the stranger had been interested in telegraphy since hoyhood and was one of the fastest amateur telegraph operators in the country. Otherwise he would have been more discreet.
 The key clicked out, Couple of suckers here want quote on so and so. Answer any. thing. Keep them interested To the con fusion and chagrin of the wire man the newcomer leaned over his desk, drew a pen ell and beat rapid tattoo in Morse code Watch your step my boy, and be little more civil"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
Must Be Fair To All
tAndalusia Star)

The Lafayette Sun says it's idea of good DemocratS one who will support the nominee Of the party regardless of who he may be- Our idea of Democrat is one who has sui fcent regard for the rights of other Demo- crats that he will not lend himself to any scheme or aid in any movebent which will give one individual or faction of the party the advantage when it comes to the matter of ascertaining the party will as to candi- dates When candidates are selected in this way, all good Democrats delight tA support th" nominees. A nomination secured by any abrfgment of the rights ofSthe rank and file of the "arty is not the nominee of the whole party. but simply the nominee of the faction wh" maneuvered the scheme to put over their farorite. If you want, to h.vc party iealty You must keep the party procedure moving in manner fair tn all
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
Leader In Road Work (Gadsden JOurnaD

Etowah has number of mainly travelled roads which have been improved from time to time, but which have heen allowed to go down and get in bad condition through lack of maintenance. With comparatively small expense these can be restored to their former shape and then maintained. This work of maintenance added to the permanent con struction which is going forward will make Etowah leader. in highway improvement in this section of the state. And better roads mean better homes, better schools and better churches, in short q better county.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
MOBILE GIVES ANSWER
 lMahile RegiStArl

The answer expected of Mobile to the question of the state and of the people of thA Tennessee Valley is given. The people of the Mobile community have spoken for thenli selves, saying that they were not truly rep resented when the mayor of Mobile appeared before the house military affairs committee as opponent of 'the offer made for the Muscle Shoals by Henry Ford. In voluntary ele9 tion, arranged for them by this newspaper. they have responded by their votes, and de clareds that they, who are the people and have the right to speak for. Mobile, are heart ily in favor of the Ford offer, and hope most earnestly to see the offer accepted by Con gress. -s57i@
 Thus, happily, is brought to an end an in- cident involving a charge of bad faith on the part of this community. Mobile was reck- oned as being for Ford. All the institutions and organizations here which had expressed opinion had made declaration in favor of Ford. and the city commission also had adopted Il resolution heartily indorsing the Ford offer. Until the mayor of Mobile made his attack upon the Ford offer, there was no question anywhere, and no doubt expressed either here or elsewhere of the position of the community. Mobile stood with Alabama in this affair.
 Last year Mobile asked Alabama to stand with her in the effort she was making to get the state to improve the seaport, and Ala bama responded to the appeal in a manner which commanded the success of the effort No part of the state worked harder for the seaport plan than the Tennessee Valley, and no people in Alabama were more friendly or more useful in carrying the undertaking to . successful conclusion than the people of the valley Naturally therefore, when it was learned that the mayor of Mobile had turned up in Washington and made a deliberate effort to defeat the Ford offer, dear to the heart of the valley people and supported by the opinion of all Alabama, there was con sternatlon, mixed with surprise and indigna- ton, and the question was sent down the line, asking: "Is it true? Has Mobile abandoned her friends: Has she deserted Ford and gone over to the water power forces?" The course of Mobiles mayor in- dicated that she had let there was no snap Judgment taken. no recriminatng word spo- ken The aggrieved people of the state gave Mobile chance to clear herself of the , charge. They asked was it true; could it possibly be true. The people now make their reply, welcoming the opportunity to set them seiYes right hy voting iii the referendum the result of which voting shows that Mobile
 has rot changed. and that she remains where she was from las start, true to her friends in the state The vote Is practically unani- nous Mobile ls solid for Ford.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13

man. No sacrifice was too great for him to make in his devotion to carrying out good purposes as he saw them. An eloquent orator, he was able to create the right enthusiasm for good causes which he espoused without regard to his personal advantage. By his example in spreading the gospel of truth and right eousness he helped to create higher ideals and higher moral standard among the people of the nation. Woodrow Wilson worked necessarily; no effort was too much for him and he gave all that he had to give, even his health, to try to create better world. His intense sac rifice no doubt brought about the break down which resulted in his early death. He rendered great service to the country in bringing the late war to a successful end. His desire to bring about universal peace will no doubt in the end be sue cessful, even though it may take many years before it can finally be accom- plished. He will be appreciated more and more as time goes on and will he one of the outstanding great figures in history. The world is better for Wood row Wilson having lived in it.
 ADOLPH LEWISOHN.
 New York, Feb. 1924.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
Good Advice On Financing Schools

To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 Periodically, we are confronted with the appalling need of more schools and the situation, bad as it is today, may be far worse ten years from now unless we adopt some adequate and really practical provision for schools. The cost of schools, their construction, maintenance and operation, must be paid from the taxes we pay It is unjust to claim the people will not willingly pay proper tax for this purpose. Is it not the mistaken method of financing school construction that is responsible for the present lack of school facilities? Nearly all schools are built on proceeds of bond issues and from the taxes collected we must in time pay the principal and interest. A school building costing $100,000 erected from proceeds of bonds running thirty years, at five per cent, the lowest rate, will cost the taxpayers $250,000. If vour schools are going to cost two and one-half times what they should, how can you ever hope to get schools enough? If you cannot plan and so use your money as to build schools out of current income, what are you going to do with two and one-half times their cost?
 You should also keep we'll in mind that thirty-year bonds can be refunded by the city commission without submit ting the question to the voters. This means that maturing bonds can be ex- tended for another period of thirty years and the actual cost of your $100,09O school building would be $40O,000. Can anyone hazard guess as to the useful ness of this school building at the end of thirty or sixty years? When the pres ent sinking fund becomes inadequate to pay accruing interest and principal, then they could refund. This would leave the general fund intact to spend in other ways.
 Also remember that when the first special three-mill school tax was paid by the people, it went to the schools, but the appropriations previously made from the general fund stopped. The net re suit was about the same money for schools as the year before, but the gen. eral fund was increased by being freed from the school liability.
 When you vote bonds for schools you relieve the commissioners from the ne, cessity of taking money from the general income for building purposes. The cost of schools must come from taxes, so why continue system that pays more fo1 interest than it does for schools.
 Why we continue to vote bonds is as hard to understand as why the telephone company changes our phone numbers SC often. FRANK F. CURTIS.
 Birmingham, Ala, Feb. II, 1924.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13

the co-oper4tives and drives ffon-members into membership for their own financial protection. a-
 There is doubtless good ground for complaint and for investigation. It does not seem good policy for the manufactur- CTS to bring upon themselves such un- favorable notoriety, and prompts the re- flection that business is not always busi- ness
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-13
His Spirit Still Lives

In an effort. to snatch victory from defeat, by taking his cause and the cause of human ity to the people of the country, he was stricken in the midst of the fight, But, though complete victory was denied him in his lifetime, the principles for which he stood-his high ideals and lofty aspirations are being vindicated day by days The spirit of Woodrow Wilson still lives in the heart and conscience of America.