The Birmingham age-herald. [volume], April 30, 1914, Page 4, Image 4

About The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950

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THE AGE-HERALD
, Ji. IV. HAHHETT.Editor
Entered at the Birmingham, Ala.,
postoffice ns second class matter under
act of Congress March 3, _
Dally and Sunday Ago Herald—JS.00
Dally and Sunday per month - .70
Dally and Sunday, three months .. 2.00
Weekly Age-HeraUl, per annum., ^.on
Sunday Age-Herald .. ..- _ou
A. J. Eaton. Jr., and O. E. Young are
the only authorized traveling repre
sentatives of The Age-Herald in Its
circulation department.
No communication will be published
Without its author's name. Rejected
manuscript will not be returned unless
stamps are enclosed for that purpose.
Remittances can be made at current
rate of exchange. The Age-Herald "ill
not be responsible for money sent
through the mails. Address.
THE AGE-HERALD.
Birmingham. Ala.
Washington bureau. 207 Hibbs bulld
European bureau, <1 Henrietta street.
Covent Garden, London.
Eastern business office. Rooms 48 to
tto, Inclusive. Tribune building. New
York City; Western nuslness office.
Tribune building. Chicago. The S. C.
Beckwith Special Agency, agents for
eign advertising.
TELEPHONE
Hell fpTlvale egehnnge connecting nil
rflepnrtmcnln). Main 4000.
*ce how the moenlng npe* her golden
k gales._V1‘
BEGINNING THE DAY—I stand
, RDinzed, t* Lord, before this won
drous, onbellevnhle thing—tlist a
mortal can come Into communication
with God. Thou delgnest to hear me,
and Thou spenkest to m) Inner lienrt
no that I may know Thy will. I
would remain In Thine audience
ehnmher forever, O Moat High and
CtrnelotiN God. Amen.—H, M. E.
v r Cost of Man's Neglect
It frequently happens that men com
plain about hard times, lay great
stress upon unsatisfactory conditions
and place the blame upon various
causes when in truth their own con
duct is largely responsible for the
evils which exist.
The high cost of living has been laid
upon the shoulders of the middle man
and the soaring price of beef is
charged to the packers, but the depart
ment of agriculture has recently issued
a bulletin showing that the neglect
and perhaps cruelty of many of our |
farmers and cattle raisers are respon
sible for great loss in meat animals
and consequently contributory to the
rise in prices of such foodstuffs. The
department placed the loss last year
among food animals from disease and
exposure at $150,000,000.
Admittedly in most cases the dis
ease could not have been prevented
but unquestionably a large quota
thereof resulted from lack of care, im
proper housing and insufficient feed
ing. The loss by exposure is placed at
$28,000,000, an amount sufficient to
have supplied the entire New England
states with meat for a year. Not only
does humanity cry out against such a
slaughter of animals by reason of
man’s cruelty and neglect but the folly
of such conduct is apparent from an
economic viewpoint, for just so long
as such a policy is maintained just so
long will elimination of the middle
man by improved market systems, and
just so long will reduction in transpor
tation rates prove ineffectual in low
ering the cost of living.
The economic significance of these
figures lends an overwhelming impor
tance to the Rockefeller contribution
for the study and elimination of ani
mal diseases, and if it does not teach
man humanity it should impress upon
him the folly of neglect and heartless
conduct toward the brute creation and
the value gained in exercising care
and consideration to see that such dis
eases are not superinduced by his
thoughtless or disregardful acts.
A Pickpocket's Career
The average person is more apt to
be familiar with the old pickpocket
Fagin in Charles Dickens’ novel, “Oli
ver Twist,” than he is with the charac
ter and methods of the successful
“dip” in real life. Yet the study of
crime is vastly interesting to some
people. It was a passion with Balzac,
who created perhaps the greatest
criminal type in fiction in Jacques Col
lin, “King of the Hulks,” and Dickens
was another writer who found the
ways of the underworld a fascinating
Study.
A man was recently arrested in St.
Louis for picking pockets and was
identifed as “New Orleans Frenehy,”
a notorious offender whose real name
is Frank Reed. He is 76 years old and
has been a pickpocket for 61 years.
Moralists will find subject for com
ment in the fact that he has nothing
to show for his numerous thefts and is
as poor today as he was when he
“nicked a poke” for the first time,
jvhich in the argo of crime means
•tealing a purse from somebody’s
pocket. Reed has been arrested many
times, but usually got off with a light
sentence and that is the only fortu
nate circumstance he has to recall
during 61 years of crime. Like Fagin,
he too has had his pupils, some of
whom have become widely known and
in whom he takes a queer sort of
pride.
It is a mistake, Reed declares, to
"operate" at circuses, conventions and
expositions, because pickpockets are
expected on such occasions and extra
police protection Is furnished. He has
I found railroad junctions and street
: car transfer points the most profita
ble fields for picking pockets, as peo
ple are usually excited at such places
about getting on their trains or cars
and it is easy for his accomplices to
jostle them while the master “dip”
picks their pockets. “It takes three
men to nick a poke,” says Reed, “and
young fellows who start out trying to
do jobs on their own hook don’t last
long.”
In the criminal world a pickpocket
is not much above the sneak thief,
despite the fact that great shrewdness
and skill arc required to ply his call
ing successfully. The bank burglar is
of course the aristocrat of the profes
sion, although the train robber stands
high and is credited with even greater
courage, but all, from the lowest to
the highest, say that a life of crime
doesn’t pay, even when they are fairly
successful in escaping punishment,
which should afford some consolation
to the man who has to work hard for
every cent he gets.
The Attempt at Mediation
While mediation plans are being
considered by the South American
envoys whose good offices have been
accepted by President Wilson, Ameri
cans are enabled to leave Mexico
without hindrance. That much has
been accomplished at any rate.
Outside of administration and ■
Latin-American diplomatic circles
mediation is not deemed practical.
Some public men who are inclined to
be friendly to the administration
think that mediation should not have
been considered until the United
States had marched an army into
Mexico City.
Yesterday the envoys were more
optimistic than ever, due to the fact
that Carranza, the head of the con
stitutionalists, had formally accepted
the principle of mediation. This puts
a brighter aspect on the situation,
hut after all, it is hard to see how
anything can come of the efforts now
being made by those who are hoping
to avert war.
There can be no permanent peace
or stable government in Mexico until
the United States has occupied the
country and taken complete charge of
its affairs. It did not take long for ,
the United States to restore order in
Cuba, but this government’s work
there was simplified when a clause
was written into the Cuban constitu
tion making the island a protectorate
of the Upited States. The northern
part of Mexico should be annexed to
the United' States; but whether that
is done or not, it is not likely that
the rest of the country would submit
willingly to bearing the same rela
tion to the Washington government
that Cuba does.
The patriotic element in this coun
try, and practically all Americans are
patriots when it comes to the ques
tion of trouble with a foreign nation,
want to see definite action in regard
to Mexico at an early date.
One thing is certain, mediation can
amount to nothing unless full satis
faction is made to the United States
for all the outrages perpetrated in the
recent past; and more, unless positive
assurance can be given that a republic
will be maintained on peaceful and
liberty-loving lines. The envoys must
allow no temporizing on the part of
either Huerta or Carranza. Whatever
is done by the intermediaries should
be done quickly. There has been too
much patient waiting already. The
United States can afford to do noth
ing that is not in the highest sense
ethical, but it could ill afford to sur
render to the scheming leaders of
Mexico through so-called diplomacy.
The War and Disease
Taking the figures of the New York
Herald as a basis, the United States
in its old war with Mexico enlisted
some 57,000 volunteers to fight along
side of 27,000 regular troops. The
losses from wounds received in battie
amounted to 1400 privates and 120
officers, while disease carried off 1
10,800 men and 12,000 were dis
charged for disability. Thus about
10 per cent of the total enlistment
were killed, disabled or invalided.
It is declared that should the pres
ent entanglement with Mexico be
pushed we will need at least 250,000
men in the field and should the same
ratio of losses be sustained the cost
of the conflict will be pretty dear.
However, the advancement of medical 1
knowledge and our experience in deal
ing with tropical diseases during the i
war with Spain would materially re
duce the relative decimation of ranks i
by sickness, as typhoid has been vac
cinated out of existence and other dis
eases have been reduced to a mini- 1
mum. j
In the old Mexican war the Ameri- 1
can invasion was made from two
points, Vera Cruz and the site of the
present Brownsville. The latter in- ,
vading force never arrived within 500
miles of Mexico City and it was the
Vera Cruz expedition that accom
plished the effective work. If the
present threatened campaign is pushed
there will undoubtedly be four inva
sions, one from Vera Cruz, one from
Tampico, one from El Paso and one
from Laredo. None of the routes
will present the dangers, the risks or
the hardships that obtained in the
‘10’s, and most of the fatalities sus
tained will be the effect of the Mexi
can bullet.
A controversy having: been started over
the proper pronunciation . of “Maxixe,”
the name of the latest "dance hall hor
ror,” a newspaper reader states that the
word Is of Portuguese origin, and is pro
nounced according to that language. In
Portuguese the ”m” is pronounced the
same as in English, the “a” has the
broad sound of the ”a” in "father,” the
”x” has a sound similar to “ah” in Eng
lish words like "should” and "sheet,”
the ”i” is pronounced like ”ee” in "beet,”
and the final ”e” is sounded like the
short "a” in English. Thus "maxixe” is
pronounced "mah-sheese-shay,” with the
emphasis on the second syllable, but as
tlie last syllable is considerably softened,
the pronounciation is more like "mah
sheese."
MaJ. B. T. Selman of Birmingham, who
lias had practical experience and success
in selling machinery in Latin-America,
writes a letter to The Age-Herald on
i subject of far-reaching importance, and
t should be generally read. The com
nunlcatlon appears in today's issue, and
5Very ambitious young man who has his
»ye fixed on a business career should read
t carefully. Also business men generally
ihould read and ponder it. Major Selman
fives good advice, and the particular
/alue of it is that it comes from experi
ir.ee.
While the country la marking time for
i few days awaiting a report from the in
ermediaries the state department is hav
ng a little rest; but the chances are that
within another week Mr. Bryan's dove
>f peace will be in a fateful mixup with
he dogs of war.
The Pennsylvania railroad system has
ssued a list of 77 employes retired on pen
lions this month, the largest number re
ired at any time since the plan was ln
tugurated. Among those retired is one
'oman, Josephine Miller, who has been
employed at Lancaster, Pa., for 33 years.
Mary, the negro cook of the noted Page :
amily, of which Ambassador Walter 1
dines Page is a member, recently sent a
>air of Carolina hams to Queen Mary of '
England, and has been notified that the ,
in ms were received, although the Queen i
ias not yet expressed her appreciation.
_..._i
A Cleveland woman who felt the need 1
• f a little exercise went out and horse- 1
vbipped two newspaper men. The free
lorn of the press is Ignored when a worn- ,
in gets her dander up.
The "front,” having been made thor- ,
•uglily hygienic by modern sanitary
nethods, "going to the front” is not so «
langerous as it used to be. <
"Paint is cheap,” says a Denver paper, a
doubt, but applying it to fence or 1
>arn is just as laborious as ever, and 1
ipring fever is in our midst.
A performance of Pavlowa was delayed
n Chicago by a “lack of clothes,” but .
t was the oboe player in the orchestra
who lacked the clothes. >
Pierre Loti says nicotine doesn't help
llm to write. We’ve always had a sus
>iclon that tobacco was overrated as an
idjunct to literature.
If Mary Garden has quit America for
mod, as she declares, the almighty Amer
can dollar must have suddenly lost its
ittraction for her.
The Ford people can make an automo
bile In 38 minutes, but n,n amateur driver
•an convert it into a pile of junk in
ibout 38 seconds.
England's liquor bill increased $25,000,
last year. John Bull needs some sort
>f “bracer” to offset the activities of suf
'ragettes. ’
An ability to sing tenor usually implies
i certain faculty in love-making, which
nay account for some of Caruso's
roubles.
A woman writer says men like a
Jhangeable woman. Not if she changes
oo often and they have to pay for the
•hanges.
There is a great deal of competition be
ween spring poets and war poets, with
he odds considerably in favor of spring
joets.
Huerta may be willing to "listen to rea
•on,” but those United states marines
cilled at Vera Cruz are still’ dead.
Miss Wilson will be a May bride instead
>f a June bride, thus showing that she is
lot at all superstitious.
The "sex problem” as a problem per se
exists largely between the covers of
leurotic books.
Villa says Huerta is a drunkard, which
seems to make it unanimous.
LI KE M'Ll'KE SAYS
i’rom the Cincinnati Enquirer.
There are all sorts of people in the
vorld, including the man who is sore
lecnuso the train isn't wrecked when
le takes out an accident policy before
naking a trip.
The trouble about the fast young
nan is that, lie is never going in the
iglit direction.
It isn't the way you look at other
firls that makes your wife mad. It is
lie way you don’t look at her.
You can always flatter a married
foman by telling her that she doesn't
ook it.
A sociologist is a man who draws a
>ig salary for teling girls who earn
6 per week that automobiles and wine
ire unhealthy.
A man doesn't have to be a coward
o he afraid of his wife. The man who
sn't afraid of his wife when he has
lone something he shouldn't have done
lasn't much of a wife.
When wre do not like a man we go
iround and say so to every stranger
ve meet. But, somehow or other, we
lever think of telling the man himself.
The old-fashioned man who used to
>uy gold bricks now' has a son w'ho
vants to see the blue prints before he
vill invest a dime in United States
>onds.
You can always bet that the lad who
whines that he Is beins kept down is
ilways the last one up.
The world Is growing better. The
itock of male sopranos isn't nearly as
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Lnrjff Weekly Pay Roll*
“One of tlie most Interesting facts
affecting Fairfield Is the large volume
of the pay rolls," said John C. Lusk.
“We have a pay day every week. The
four big industries operating at Fair
field are now paying out In wages at
the rate of $25,000 a week. And this is
cash and* goes into quick circulation
hereabouts. There are sflll other in
dustries In and around Fairfield, whose
pay rolls aggregate a goodly sum. It
Is safe to say that the Fairfield pay
rolls are now at the rate of between
$1,500,000 and $2,000,000 a year. Twelve
months hence the pay rolls will proba
bly be doubled.
“Fairfield is building up Tapidly, and
visitors are more than ever impressed
with its right to the title, ‘Model Indus
trial City of America.’ It has its es
thetic side as well as its utilitarian
and notably sanitary side. Now in the
spring of the year Fairfield is distinct
ly beautiful.”
A Great Orchestra
“The St. Louis Symphony orchestra
will he heard here next week for the
first time, but quite a number of Bir
mingham citizens have had the pleasure
>f listening to it," said Oliver Chall
foux. “It was a feature of the great
^aengerfest programme in Milwaukee
i few years ago.
“I attended the Saengerfest and in
>ur party was Prof. Fred L. Grambs,
,vho was director of the singing section
>f the Birmingham Turnverein, and
nore than a score of others. We all en
joyed the St. Louis' orchestra greatly,
t is one of the best of the half dozen
•eally great orchestras in the United
■'tates. Max Zach, the conductor, is
magnetic and authoritative. He plays
ipon the orchestra with the same facil
ty that an accomplished pianist plays
ipon the piano. It is a treat to watch
lim conduct."
Good Bonds liny
The Alabama Good Hoads association
s receiving quite a number of indorse
ncnts from mayors and probate judges
n regard to observing Good Roads
»uys, August 14 and 15.
James R. Croley, probate jujtlge of
f>eKalb county, writes to Secretary
tountree: “When the commissioners’
•ourt mots in May I shall be glad to
lave a resolution passed by the entire
>oard indorsing Good Roads Days, Au
rust 14 and 15, also urging the people
0 observe these days and to carry out
our suggestions. Thanking you for
our kind suggestions and great inter
est in this all Important subject of
rood roads.”
10. B. Deason, probate judge of Chil
on county, in a letter to the secretary
lays: “I think much good has been done
n observing August 14 and 15 as Good
loads Days. 1 shall take the matter
ip with the commissioners' court at its
lext meeeting and will let you hear
rom me in reference to what they do.
am ready to do what I can to pro
note the building of good roads.”
Many other probate judges and may
>rs have written similar letters in
lorsing this movement and assuring
he secretary of their hearty co-oper
ition. It is believed that every county
n the state will make an effort to ob
erve these days this year.
War Will Help llunlnem*
“While everybody knows what a ter
ible thing war is, I believe an oeca
iional war has a certain moral and pa
riotic value,” said S. F. Merrell of Chi
•agn. "At any rate some good to some
>ody comes of a conflict at arms be
ween nations. All right minded men
ove peace, but in order to uphold a
Kit ion’s dignity arid prestige war is in
nany cases necessary.
“This country has already inter
vened In Mexico, and despite the ac
Ivlty and optimism of the envoys, war
Vlll be declared and fought to a finish.
“The 1’nited States will have to bring
5rder out of political and commercial
diaos in the neighboring republic, and
t will probably take a year or more to
lo it. In the meantime several bloody
cattles will be fought.
“It is generally thought that when war
darts on a large scale, business will be
?reatly stimulated. The iron market will
'ertainly stiffen up and there will be an
ncreased demand for steel products. I
vould not be surprised to see an indus
rial boom under full headway within the
lext two or three weeks.”
Rnilroml Employe*’ Pensioned
“The Pennsylvania railroad system has
iust issued the list of the employes re
lied on pensions in April, 1914,” said a
•ailroad official. “It comprises 77 names
-the largest number ever retired in any
>ne month since the pension plan was
established.
“Among those just retired are a gen
eral superintendent and an assistant to
1 vice-president, who was also a former
general manager of the railroad. These
lien have been retired upon exactly the
*ame conditions as control the case of a
:rack walker or a brakeman. One woman,
Josephine Miller, was among those re
ared on April 1. She had been employed
5n the Philadelphia division at Lancaster,
t’a., for the past 33 years.
“That it is the practice on the Penn
sylvania railroad for men to make its
service their life work is indicated by
the fact that six of these employes who
liave just retired, have been on the pay
roll more than 60 years, 14 others more
[ban 45 years and 30 others more than 40
^ears. In other words, 50 of the 77 men
•etired on the Pennsylvania railroad sys
tem on April 1, had been in active serv
ice of the company more than 40 years.
“The Pennsylvania railroad’s pension
plan of taking care o* faithful employes
in old age provides that the entire pen
sion shall be paid by the company. Every
miploye must retire at the age of 70. In
mse of physical disability at the age of
io. an employe may be retired. The pen
sion amounts to 1 per cent of the aver
age salary or wage for the 10 years previ
5us to retirement, multiplied by the num
ber of years the man has been in the
employ of the company. The plan ap
plies to every employe without regard to
the rank.”
THE GREAT “TIVERTON METEOR*’
From Wide World Magazine.
During the height of a severe thunder
storm, which swept over Tiverton, Rhode
[siand, on the evening of August 27, 1913,
i terrible crash sounded over the town.
Windows were broken, pictures and china
thrown down, and a great commotion
caused. The news soon spread abroad
that the people who lived near Stone
Bridge, which spans the water between
riverton and Newport, had seen a great
Pall of dull red fire shoot across the
*ky in the direction of the river, not very
far from the bridge. Oir£ gentleman ol
sxcellent reputation declared that he saw
t plainly, and that the shock was so
freat when it struck the water that he
was thrown to the ground and stunned,
rhis evidence was readily accepted, and
the fame of Tiverton’s meteor spread rap
idly. Great regret was expressed that
there was no hope of rescuing it from its
grave in 30 feet of water.
Shortly, however, three fishermen who
lived near by showed great interest In the
possibility of bringing it to the surface.
They ascertained the location where the
fireball was supposed to have gone down,
and soon after went out very early one
morning in quest of it. We may imagine
the joy and surprise of the Tiverton pecr
1 pie when the three men returned in the
afternoon with a great dark mass—the
lost meteor! How they got it into the net.
how it nearly dragged them into the
water, and how they cracked it by drop
ping it on the dock, proved such an in
teresting story that the trio had to go over
it again and again. A dense throng soon
appeared to view the visitant from the
skies. Offers were received by the lucky
men from many quarters, which they re
peated with pride. Soon they began to
charge 10 cents a peep, and the writer
duly offered up hi.s dime. The stone cer
tainly looked like a visitor from other
worlds. It was smooth and shiny, heavy
as lead, but brittle and seamed, showing
crystal formations in the seams. The
throng came with its dimes; the Asso
ciated Press sent representatives, and
newspaper men. enough to start a war.
were soon on the scene.
Finally the happy owners removed the
meteorite to Fall River, where, In a store,
it again drew a large crowd at a dime
each. Just as they were planning to take
it to the Brockton fair, a scholar of note
appeared and gave the half-round solid
mass an examination. He was familiar
with the country round about the spot
where this was found, and also familiar
with meteors. He was obliged to report
that this wonder-stone was nothing more
or less than a potful of slag from an old
copper mine near the Stone Bridge! He
added that many fishermen finding them
of the right size and weight, had used
these slag balls as ballast.
Tiverton was not ready to give up yet,
however. What should be said of the ter
rible explosion and the ball of fire seen
by so many? About the explosion there
was certainly no doubt; broken windows
don’t come from the imagination. The
inhabitants stood firmly by their meteor,
until a local contractor went to get some
dynamite from his store-chest. It was
gone, and the rascals—a party of mis
chievous boys—1who stole it and exploded
it on an island in the river were soon
discovered. The contractor refused to
prosecute the boys, much to the disgust
of the oldest inhabitant, who feels the
indignity which his town has undergone
very keenly. And so ends the history of
the great ’’Tiverton Meteor.”
SEVENTY YEARS A CROOK
From the New York World.
James McCormack. 75, appeared yester
day before Judge Dike in Brooklyn in an
swer to an indictment charging him as a
fifth offender with grand larceny in the
second degree, petty larceny, and receiv
ing stolen goods.
In his career of crime McCormack has
been known under the aliases of Sprols
and O’Bridn. He came before Judge. Dike
with powerful shoulders and snow-white
head bowed slightly, but there was a
youthful twinkle in his eyes, which met
those of the judge squarely.
"McCormack, how old were you w’hen
you committed your first crime?” Judge
Dike asked.
"1 really can’t remember, judge,” Mc
Cormack replied coolly. "1 have done so
many ‘little jobs’ that it is pretty hard to
keep track of them all. But I must have
been very young when 1 committed my
first crime—hardly out of knickerbockers,
I should say.”
"And you’ve been committing crime ever
since, haven't you?” Judge Dike asked.
"Yes,’ answered McCormack. "But 1
want to plead guilty this time. I am an
old man, and 1 know I can’t 'beat' this
charge. I will not plead guilty ns a fifth
offender, though.”
There was a gleam of defiance In the
old burglar's eye as he made the last
statement, for to plead guilty as a fifth
offender would probably send him to jail
for life.
"Well, McCormack,” said the judge.
"1 am disposed to be reasonable with
you. As you have said, you are an old
man. In five years’ time you will be 80
years old. Your days of crime will be at
an end then. If you plead guilty as a first
offender, I will be unable to give you
more than five years in Sing Sing—the
maximum under our law.”
McCormack pleaded guilty as a first of
fender. He will be sentenced Monday.
A MAINE PLUNGER
From life.
The fact has been widely advertised In
the papers that in the early spring, when
the buds are Just beginning to burst and
the moving vans are coming out of cold
storage, a young woman of Maine will
take her departure for the primeval for
est.
What seems to interest everybody is
that she will not go along with the usual
array of Saratoga trunks and hand bag
gage. including a Persian cat, a Nebuch
adnezzar dog. a photographic moving pic
ture outfit and a bottle of cold cream;
but, on the contrary, she will go with
out anything at all. Every stitch of
clothing will be left behind by this am
bitltous young woman, including hair
pins, face powder, red paint and other
modern necessaries. Arrayed only in a
warm pink glow', she will sally forth
among the trailing arbutus and the
pussy willows, if there be such, and the
other flora and fauna, watting to receive
her. After idling the time briskly away
for a couple of months, dodging bears
and other animals who may have se
cured season tickets, she will come back
improved In health and with a coat of
tan that would bring the blush of shame
to a Brazilian salamander. While we
are not desirous of discouraging anybody
who wishes, even at this late date, to
introduce a new health fad. we are bound
to say that we do not believe this ex
periment wdll be a success. This Is not
necessarly because of the remoteness, but
because it was tried once before, with all
the scenery and state business. Eve
started off just that way, and what was
the unhappy result? It is too painful to
dwell on. To repeat it at this time, how
ever. seems rather hopeless.
DOTHAN WILL AID PENSACOLA
From the Dothan Morning News.
Dothan yesterday began an active and
energetic campaign to aid Pensacola In
obtaining the re-establishment of a navy
yard and coaling station at that place.
Combined with this movement is one to
have Alabama coal used at this coaling
station.
The Chamber of Commerce sent tele
grams to Senator Bankhead, Congress
men Underwood and Clayton or Alabama,
Secretary of the Navy Daniels and Sen
ator Lee S. Overman of North Carolina
and L. Y. Sherman of Illinois and Con
gressman McKenzie of Illinois, represen
tative from Secretary N. T. Cobb’s home
district, asking them to aid the Pensa
cola delegation, now en route to Wash
ington. in their efforts to obtain the navy
yard and coaling station.
TROUBADOUR AND JESTER
IRONY.
Of busy, beauteous Birmingham, the poet
fain would speak,
Whore men of many nations a habitation
seek.
Her hills are vast storehouses of richest
iron ore.
Her furnaces and foundries vast floods
of metal pour.
Her men are strong and brawny, with
heart and nerves of steel,
And in her vast upbuilding show' pur
pose strong, and zeal.
Her maidens are metallic, too, though
oft appearing meek,
For when they say they love you, they
ironically speak!
—Robert A. Love.
Now look here. Bob, you must not rob
Our city girls of truth;
It may be you're somewhat obscure
In making love, forsooth.
Now iron, you know, to steel will go
If carbon you Infuse.
And diamonds pure are carbon sure,
So try a little ruse.
A diamond give, and as I live
Next week you’ll surely feel
There’s not one gal ironical,
But al lare true as steel.
TRESTO CHANGE.
A tadpole has no legR at all,
But when a frog he swims.
A girl at fifteen loses her’s
For then they turn to limbs.
A LA ME7ICANA.
I've often suffered severe pains,
But nothing ever griped me I
As I felt last Saturday
When that tag woman sniped me.
VANQUISHED.
I’ve often tried to find a word
To rhyme with Louis Plgitz, 9
But when I think that I’ve bagged one,
It usually misfits.
I’ve often tried to find a word
To rhyme with Judge Cahalan.
But I, alas, must give it up—
My powers sure are failin’. ^
WHO OS HE?
If Constant Reader from Squaw Shoals,
Who writes to Troubadour,
Will send his name we’ll publish wbat
He writes and maybe more.
His rhyme’s all right, but then his feet
Have qpite a hop and twist; l
But we ran fix them up with some
Poem chiropodist.
MODEST SPINSTER.
Host: “Miss Sally, may I help you to
a turkey leg?”
Miss Sally: “Yes, if you will cover it
with gravy pantalettes.”
PATRIOTIC.
Sonny: “Pa, is all our war dogs in
Mexico?”
Pa: “Nearly all.”
Sonny: “Well, I hope they won’t come
back with their hind legs shaved and
looking like Mexican dogs.”
C. F. M.
GREAT TRIALS OF HISTORY
TRIAL OF THE STAUNTONS
IT is close to 40 years since the famous
trial of the Stauntons in England was
being followed with marked attention
throughout the English-speaking world
as one of the most remarkable murder
trials that had been held previously or
since then. It was only by mere chance
that the discovery was made that the
death of Mrs. Harriet Staunton had not
been regular, but that there was a trag
edy back of it.
On the evening of Friday. April 13,
1877, an inquiry was made at a shop in
Forbes road, Penge, as to the place
where a death could be registered. It
was stated that the deceased was a lady
from Cudham, in Kent. There was in
the shop at the time a gentleman bear
ing the historic but unusual name of
Casablanca. He became interested, as he
had a sister-in-law in that location whom
he and his wife had heard was a victim
of serious maltreatment.
Casablanca took it upon himself to look
into the matter, and the revelations that
followed led to the postponement of the
funeral and an examination of the body.
Harriet, before her marriage to Louis
Staunton, had been Harriet Richardson.
She had left to her by wdll close to £4000.
The marriage took place on June 16, 1875.
As there had been no settlement, Louis
Staunton became possessed of all the
property to which his wife was then or
might at any future time become en
titled.
Harriet's mother visited her daughter
three weeks after the wedding, and wras
then informed never to do so again, and
it was the last time she saw Harriet alive.
Rumors reached her that tile husband
was paying attention to one Alice Rhoades
and sadly neglecting his wife.
Louis Staunton bad a married brother
by name of Patrick, and after their
:*hi 1H was born it was to Patrick that he
sent his wife and child to board. From
the 23d of October, 1876, to the 12th of
April, 1877. Harriet Staunton disappeared
from the outer world. The nature of the
treatment to which Harriet was subjected
during these sad months was strongly dis
puted at the trial; but it is certain that
she was kept in duress, and forbidden to
go outside of the door of the house. At
any rate, the unfortunate infant of the
Louis Stauntons died of the treatment.
Finally, when Harriet became so weak
and emaciated that she could no longer
speak, she was placed in a room at Penge,
where she died on April 13. On the 18th
the coroner empanelled n jury In order
that a post-mortem might be held. It de
veloped that there were no traces of
poison or any evidence of violence, but
TOMORROW—TRIAL OF GENERAL STOESSEL
WHEN DEATH COMES
From the Providence Journal.
Andinow appears a confident person
with a now theory that death comes at
random and according to the hazard
if the governing circumstances, rather
Ilian during a preferred period of the
24 hours. There has long been a tra
litlon—in fact, it might almost be
railed a matter of common knowl
edge—that death is most likely to oc
?ur in the early morning hours, which
is to say, In the later hours of the
liurna! period of darkness.
This belief has been so common as
10 he practically unquestioned, and it
has often been "scientifically" ex
plained. The vital forces are supposed
10 be at their lowest ebb in the hours
iust preceding daybreak, and it seemed
inly natural that the waning spark of
life should tend to flicker out during
this time of greatest depression.
But scientists, mathematicians and
statisticians are continually enacting
Lhe role of iconoclasts, and they take
apparent Joy in upsetting our precon
ceived notions of the facts of life. This
particular statistician gained access to
the records of a large hospital covering
a period of many years, and from his
researches he was enabled to compile
a table showing that more persons had
31ed In the early afternoon than at any
other hour of the day.
The early hours of the morning were
second In the mortality records, and the
fewest deaths ocourred between 7 and
11 in the morning. But the difference
between the least and the most fatal
hours was very slight, tending to show
that death is quite Impartial in the
choice of the hour of visitation.
TEACHING ENGLISH
From the Chicago Record-Herald.
For years educational publications, and
others, have been working at the thesis
that some way must be found to teach
the college boy how to write decent Eng
lish. All the reformers have taken the
same tack and had the same port in
view: they have considered the ultimate
effect on the learner without thinking
much about the incidental effect on the
teacher. The recent flight of a college
professor from his thesis and his classes
brings Into view a neglected side of the
business.
This poor man, harassed for a number
of terms by. "mast," "clarity," the "loose"
the complete absence of fat and the ex
treme emaciation of the body drove Pro
fessor Rodgers to the conclusion that
death was due to starvation and neglect.
The result of the coroner’s inquest was
that on Saturday, May 19, the Jury ren
dered a verdict of willful murder against
the Staiyitons and Alice Rhodes. The*
contradictions between their evidently
concerted narrative and the cumulative
testimony of a crowd of independent wit
nesses were overwhelming.
The prisoners were taken to Maidstone
jail and on Monday, May 21, they were 1
brought before the bench at Bromley.
Tile hearing of. the cases was held at
various times between'that date and June
13, and on the latter date the quartet were
committed to the ensuing Kent assizes ^
on the charge of murder.
The Kent assizes were held at Maid
stone, hut so bitter whs the public that
the court did not believe the prisoners
would get a fair trial there, so it was re
moved to the central criminal court. The
trial became known as the Penge mys- /
tery. Sir Henry Hawkins, the lord chief
justice, sat in Judgment. Each of the
prisoners were separately represented.
The trial was postponed several times,
but was finally begun on September 19,
1877.
Tlte issue before the jury was explained /
to them that it was necessary to iind out
whether Harriet Staunton had met her
death through the culpable misconduct
of the prisoners, and if so, whether such
misconduct amounted to murder or man- i
slaughter. If the deceased was kept with
out food or otherwise neglected with the
design of causing her death, those who
abetted the guilty design would be guilty
of murder. ,
The examination and cross-examination
of the witnesses lasted five days, and
when the jury retired they were only out^
an hour and a half, when they brought
in a verdict of guilty against all four
i persons, but recommended the two women
to mercy. The judge pronounced death
upon all four persons, but the public had .
changed their temper when the two „
women were to meet their death, and
long petitions were circulated to save
them. Finally on October 14 the death
penalty was remitted, and a fortnight
later the sentence of the three Stauntons
was commuted to penal servitude for life.
Aliro Rhodes received a freo pardon
and was immediately released. Patrick
Staunton died in prison, his wife was re
leased after a few years and Louis Staun
ton, after serving a considerably longer
term. Mystery will always brood over
the Penge case.
end the “periodic” sentence, the inborn
inability of his young barbarians to feel
that decent English was worth the bother,
and their genial indifference toward
achieving it even if it were, “flew the -
coop.” Returning from New York after^
a fortnight of freedom, he explained that
his ungracious and monotonous job had
become too much for his nerves.
No doubt it was. We must regard
Evanston's refugee as a victim of the as
sumption that everybody can be taught^
to write English. There was one period
in development of the public schools
when it was assumed that everybody
could be taught to sing and to draw. A
lot of time was wasted. Writing Eng
lish is a “fad,” like any other. The con
tentions of semi-illiteracy in business
letters are now accepted, they need not *
be questioned and disturbed. The college
Instructor in rhetoric should work only
on a few picked pupils.
THE LOST MOTHER
By Josephine McCoy. ^
O little Knight of Hungry Heart.
My busy I,nrd of Play.
Thy mother treads a narrow road
That steepens day by day.
O little son. the path divides
Beneath a low-hung tree;
What if 1 stray and taka the way
That leads not hack to thee? W
Though on the fields of Paradise
It opened out at last.
Oh. I should miss thy lagging feet.
Thy small hand, warm and fast:
How could I hear to smell the flowers
Or see the butterflies,
When thou, I know, wouldst love them/
so, “
O little Hungry Eyes?
No, I should see thee making pics
Even of Lethe's sands:
The apples of Hesperides
Low-growing to my hands
Would mind me of the mortal boughs
With earth's Hawed treasures hung,
Where he and I have held thee high J
To reach them as they clung.
And when the golden twilight fell
Across the heavenly vales
I’d hear thy father telling thee
His well-worn sleepy tales.
Till, creeping to the quiet porch
Where Vega wliitely shines,
Unseen, a lost and hungry ghost,
I'd crouch behind the vines. , v
And thou wouldst cry for me, I know.
Perhaps a day and night,
Until my yearning memory
Grew dim and faded quite.
O small arch-pleader, when I pause
Beneath that sombre tree, ,
Ask God. I pray, to point the way
That leads me back to thee!