The Birmingham age-herald. [volume], July 24, 1915, Page 3, Image 3

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

Image provided by: University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL

                
IK PRESENTS
FAVORABLE ASPECT
^bor Trouble Not Suffici
ently Widespread to Re
tard Manufacture
New York, July 23.—Dun's will say:
part from the development of fur
her labor controversies the general
ituation maintains its favorable as
ects. Recent settlement of the trou
les in the building trades in the west
as been followed by the adjustment
f the local clothing strike but fresh
isturbances have arisen here and else
here, notably at oil plants in New
ersey. Differences between employers
nd wage earners, however, are not
et sufficiently widespread to serious
v interfere with the progress of man
facture and distribution, although
he unsettled conditions make for in
reased conservatism in some direc
:ons. It is not the season for the tide
f business to rise, but there are ln
ications of a well sustained volume
f transactions in various commercial
nd Industrial lines. Not the least sig
ificant of these is the steady upward
rend of commodity prices. Most pro
ucts are gaining la value because of
le urgent foreign demands, but In
ome instances consumption is also
roadening. Except for essentially ht4
feather merchandise, recent high tem
cratures had the usual effect of re
ading the retail movement, yet bank
learings at outside centers this week
ere again slightly larger than last
ear's, w'hile with New "tork included
le gain was 8.5 per cent. Returns of
illroad earnings do not make the
ime favorable comparison, but these
re gradually increasing.
AANY WONDER IF
VITALITAS IS IT
_
^ill It Do What Is Claimed
for It and Are Stories
About It True?
I
Is Vitalitas all that is claimed for it >
id are the wonderful stories con
antly heard about it true? Such are
to questions sick people throughout
uch of the civilized world are ask
g. It is a common thing among those
ho are ill to feel that nature has
>me curative forces hidden somewhere
tat if found and properly applied
ould restore them to health. Is Vital
as that something? they are asking.
So far the production of Vitalitas
is been only sufficient to supply sev
al of the southern states. Through
lt Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mis
ssippi. Tennessee. Georgia and Ala
ima thousands of people have been
■eed from disease and have found
;alth and strength In Vitalitas. It is
•lnging about amazing results in the
eatment of many obstinate kinds of
Iments such as indigestion, bilious
?ss, rheumatism, nervous debility and
borders of stomach, liver, kidneys,
nvels and blood.
Vitalitas is natures greatest tonic
id corrective. Tt is a combination of
ineral chemicals and forces blended
ithin the earth. It is free of any
irmful ingredient and Is not unpleas
it to take. Talk with the demon
rator and sample Vitalitas at Averyt’s
rug Store, 109-111 20tli st., or write
tere fr information. Also for sale by
egram-Patton Drug Co., Bessemer
la.—Adv.
WASHINGTON
NEW YORK
Mont Comfortably Reached by
SOUTHERN
RAILWAY
Premier Currier of the South i
“Birmingham Special”
Lv. Birmingham.9:tM> a.m.
Ar. Washington .10:40 a.in.
Hr. New York .4:45 p.m.
Ar. Atlantic City.5:05 p.m.
Ar. Boston .10:10 p.m.
j| Telephone Main 3067
M. Coxwell, D. P. A.
■ . .- , y
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♦
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SOCIAL. SERVICE DEPARTMENT
*T MRS. SIDNEY M. I'LLHAN
So much has been said and is still be
ing said of the prisoners In this state,
the convict lease system and prison re
form in general, that it is fitting to give
the ideas of an authority.
There is probably no more picturesque
figure in prison work of the United States i
than Thomas Mott Osborne, the “Warden
Tom” of Sing Sing. The world is watch- j
ing this man as he slowly puts into oper
ation his ideas concerning prison reform.
He has felt all the hardship and depreda
tion of the prison and is trying to inspire
under his administration as warden of
Sing Sing a healthy desire in the men to
live a decent life out in the world.
Warden Tom is not sailing smoothly
without criticism, but in spite of this he
is seeing the work progress and knows
in the end he will be able to have brought
about real reform at least at Sing Sing, i
In speaking of his work, Mr. Osborne
says: "Reform in our prison must come
from the inside, must be formulated and
worked out by the men themselves.”
Mr. Osborne says. "We have coined for
convenience the word 'criminal,’ and then
have allowed that word to come back and
to dominate our thought and our reason
ing in regard to the men who commit
crime.” We make the mistake in study
ing the prisoner that a naturalist would
make If he wanted to write something
about the habits of the polar hear and
would go down and study polar bear wan
dering around a tank in a menagerie. He
might find that the polar bear had white
fur, but he would not get very far be
yond that in studying the habits* of the
animal.
"The fact of the matter is that so far
as I myself personally am concerned,
after a rather extensive criminal acquaint
ance both in and out of prison, I have
reached the conclusion, satisfactory to
myself, that there Is no man in prison that
isn't a perfect natural product.
“I do not mean to say that he is nor
mal. Of course there are very few nor
mal persons. Sometime ago I was read
ing the introduction written by Bernard
Shaw to a play, in which Mr. Shaw makes
the statement that he is the only normal
man there is, and he says that is the reas
on he is so remarkable.
"If you will make a careful examination
of the men in prison you will find man
after man who has gone through just this
experience, and the stupid judges (there
are some stupid judges) who condemn our
men to prison will write articles for the
newspapers In which they speak about
these confirmed criminals that go from
one institution to the other, the idea being
that there is something criminally, funda
mentally wrong in the man’s character;
whereas the fact of the matter is that
he has been driven into being a criminal
by the Btupld treatment he has had, first,
in the orphan asylum, then in the chil
dren’s institutions and then in the reform
atories and finally in tlie state's prisons.
We have made him a criminal.
"Perhaps you ask me how I know that. T \
know it from talks I have had with I
these men and their description of the I
treatment they have received when they
were in these reformatories and reform ,
schools. 1 know it from my long ex- !
perience with the George Junior republic, \
for I was for 16 or 16 years president
of its board of trustees, r have dlen chil
dren who had had one term in a reform
school and who were just ns vicious as
j any child who goes his way into state
| prison. 1 have seen those children,
through the system of right education,
which is the basis of the Junior Repub
[ lie, swing right around into the right
path as surely as I have seen the chil
dren of my friends swing into the right
path. Sometimes I have seen the chil
dren of my friends swing into the wrong
path.
"Our prison system, from the orphan
asylum through to the prison has been
a gigantic failure. We might just as
well face the fact first as last; In fact,
we might much better face it first than
to keep on any longer to the last.
“Let me tell you a few of the things I
found in prison. Those who support the
old prison system think they are bestow
ing a very opproblous epithet upon us
who favor a new system by saying thaj
we are idealists; that we are theorists;
that we are impractical.
"On the lips of some men that word
"irr.practical” implies all that is had in
the wolid. Why, every living man and
woman is a theorist. You cannot help
being a theorist.
"We are all theorists. The only differ
ence is that some people act upon the
ories which are contrary to fact and
others have good solid facts at the
basis of their theories. The only differ
ence between the supporters of the old
prison system and those of us who de
mand a new system is that our theory Is
right and their theory is wrong.
“Seriously, I have heard men gravely
argue that it was a painful thing that
prison labor was so inefficient; that we
ought all of us to do something to make
prison labor more efficient; that we
ought to study the subject. It never
seemed to occur to the amiable gentle
men that slave labor Is always inefficient,
always has been and always will be.
"Now, if there is any one thing that is
more cruel and stupid than the system of
silence it is the system of constantly
watching a man. Can you imagine how
you would feel if you were watched
every time you got up In the morning,
when you went to bed at night, and
from the time you got up In the morning
until you went to bed at night? You
read In the newspapers sometimes that a
man in prison has gone suddenly insane.
Do you know why? Because of the sys
tem of silence and the system of con
stantly being watched. A guard watches
you all the time.
Except by slow degrees we cannot do
much in Sing Sing to get a better system
of industry. VV’e have to wait upon the
legislature just as you have to wait upon ;
the legislature here to do away with your i
very wrong contract system.
"All the while you may think It saves
you money, but it doesn’t save you money
in the long run, because it is a vicious
system and the sooner you get rid of U
the better.
“In Sing Sing we have destroyed the
old system of silence. Men can talk to
gether. They talk In the work shops
when they have any business to talk
about, but they are not expected to talk
in the w’ork shops and more than they
would talk in any mill or factory outside.
We are trying to make It an Incentive for
the men to work well.
“We are trying to teach them that it
pays to work well; that it will pay when
they come out If they learn to be efficient
and honest workers in »the prison. The
result is that in our shop for the month
of January they have increased the out
put 66 per cent over last January. It has
been the largest output of shoes in any
one month In Sing Sing prison.
“In the knit shop where they used to
have more disorder and more punish
ment than In any other shop in the insti
tution, in the month of January they in
creased 80 per cent over last year. I
think that is a pretty handsome in
crease.
"During the hour of recreation every
afternoon from 4 to 6 the men can talk
about anything they please all they want
to. They are free to go wherever they
like inside the yard, of course. They can
not go outside, although I am beginning
to feel. as I told the boys the other day.
that the real object of the wall was to
keep people out.
"At meals when they sit in the mess
hall they can talk Just like any other hu
man beings and when they go up into the
chapel for their entertainments they can
talk just like any other human beings.
The result has been an immense Im
provement, an immediate improvement
in the whole morale of the institution
You can see it in the light from tin
eyes. You can see it in the way the!'
heads set upon their shoulders. You can
see it in the way they march to and
from the mess hall.
"Life is no longer monotonous at Sing
Sing. Things are happening every day,
interesting things, things that interest us.
We want to know who is going to be
hauled up before the court this afternoon.
We want to know who has been fighting i
in the mess hall; what the judiciary com- |
mittee is going to do with the fellow when j
they find he Is a disturber, and how they
are going to handle him. Take a fellow'
who has been a disturber outside and
there is nothing so useful as to have
somebody disturb him. You see he gets
to understand his own attitude toward
society by dealing with the other fellow.
"That is what I want to come to. That ,
18 really the rub of the whole question.
The trouble with the old system is that !
it was w holly unnatural. Men didn't I
gain any experience Inside the prison1
which was of the slightest value after |
they got outside. After they got outside !
there was nobody to tell them when to1
march nor how to march. There was
nobody watching them while they were
eating.
"The only way to run a race is to train
for It. If I should start to run a mile race
at the present time I should die of heart
failure before I got very far and the rea
son is that I am out of training. It Is
some time since I used the pick and
shovel out on the highway.
"In just the same way we shut men in
prison and stop them from training and j
then expect them to run their race the
minute they get outside the prison walls.
They die of heart disease.
"The trouble with the men coming out
of prison is that their weakness is so |
strong that what we must do with these j
men is to give them strength inside the
prison walls. We must keep them Inside
the prison all right, whether the prison
is a farm or whether it is Sing Sing. I
believe in exiling the man and keeping
him in prison and keeping your hold right
on him until he Is strong enough to go
out In the world. While he is there he
must be educated. It Is nothing but a
problem of education.
"We must strengthen him physically to
meet the world; we must strengthen him
mentally to meet the world; we must
strengthen him spiritually to meet the
world.
"If we have not done these things we
have omitted to do the very thing which
has made it right for us to set him aside.
We have had no right to take the man
and make him weaker physically, weaker
mentally, weaker morally. That is a
crime to the individual and it is a crime
against God. ,
"We are working out the experiment of
how people can govern themselves as
citizens without any autocrat, benevolent
or otherwise to tell what ought to be
done. When we look across the ocean,
I think we are all pretty well satisfied
that democracy, whatever its shortcom
ings is, after all, a pretty safe invest
ment.
"We are applying the great democratic
principle, the principle which underlies
the whole social system of this country,
the principle which makes this country
what it is. the great democracy. We arc
here working out an experiment which
was in the beginning an experiment. It
has been called 'the great experiment.’
"So we are going to Invest in some of
the same kind of thing at Sing fting. We
are trying an application of democracy
to one of the difficult social problems, to
: the problem of the prison, and it is ex
1 actly the same kind of a democracy that
! we are trying outside. It Is the same kind
of democracy that we ought to try in our
schools.
"It is the idea expressed by Gladstone
| In a letter to Morley that "It Is liberty
alone that fits men for liberty." It *s
only by the experiments of being trusted
and having his own sense of responsibil
ity that a man ever becomes a citizen,
that Is worth the snap of your fingers.
It is liberty alone that fits men for lib
erty.”
War Munitions May Be Manufactured
In Sheffield Iron and Steel Plants
Sheffield. July 23.—(Special.)—An agent
of a big corporation which has the con
tract for supplying one or more of the
nations at war with projectiles, was in
this city this week, making an investiga
tion into the facilities for helping in their
manufacture. His endeavor was to learn
the number of lathes in the various
plants here, both Idle and active. Sv-h
Information he desired to place in the
hands of his company, and it is believed
that some of or perhaps all of the local
plants will become a part or parcel In the
•work of making war munitions.
If the Sheffield plants are called upon
to do this work they will probably only
make the projectiles in the rough from
steel, after which the product will be sent
to other points to be made into the fin
ished article. Reports here from Birming
ham state that a mllllon-dollar corpora
tion has been organised there and will
probably take over and manage some of
the foundries, machine shops and iron
plants in Alabama, such plants to be used
for making war material. The ’ocal
plants would probably become a part of
this organization.
4 ll
_
Jackson Club Issues Book
let Describing City’s Won
derful Attractions
Jackson. Miss, July 23.—(Special.)—TL
E. Blakeslee. commissioner of agricul
ture. and who is in charge of the “grown
in Mississippi” special train to the Pan
ama-Pacific exposition, is In receipt of a
letter from the secretary of the Missis
sippi society at Los Angeles, asking for
the privilege of playing host to the Mis
sissippi crowd during their too short
stay in that city. They will be given
all the time possible, the special train
stopping at Los Angeles two or three
hours.
“Our Town” is the title of a recently
issued ramphlet, compiled by Thomas E.
Kelly, secretary of the Young Men's
Business club, and copyrighted, in which
is set forth the many advantages as
well as the pleasures of life in the capi
tal city of Mississippi. The booklet is
50 pages, filled to overflowing with photos
of hundreds of Jackson's handsomest
residences, places of business, good
roads. attractive landscapes. farm
scenes, churches, state, county and city
public buildings, all of which are played
up to great advantage. The booklet also
contains a mass of data and Information
that is bound to attract the attention of
every person into whose hands it may
happen to fall. The Young Men’s Busi
ness club is the largest and strongest or
ganization of the kind in the state, and
1s making its influence felt in every
direction. As its name would Indicate its
membership is made up exclusively of
young men—those under a certain age—
and they are proving to be a band of
hustling boosters.
The following new charters have been
filed for record with the secretary of
state, viz.: The Mississippi Asphalt com
pany. domiciled at Jackson, capital $500;
the Meridian Oil and Gas company. Me
ridian. capital $10,000; the C. S. Butter
field company. Brookhaven. capital $15.
000; the Majestic Coffee company, Hat
tiesburg. $10,000.
Telegrams were received here last night
advising James O. Trawick that his son
in-law. Shelby Ware of Magee, had acci
ii,
A Porter Special
for Today Only
$15, $18, and $20 (N i
Mohair Suits for q)JLJL
THESE, are the famous Priestley Crava
netted Mohairs in a choice assortment
of splendid patterns. This price—$11—is
for today only, so avoid disappointment—
be among the “early birds.”
PORTER’S closes Saturday evenings at 7:30 during July and August.
We hope the day is not far distant when all Birmingham Mer
chants will join in shortening Saturday hours. We’ll be glad to join in
such a worthy movement.
Everything Men and Boys Wear
$8.50 Palm
Beaches
$6.95
1922-1924 First Ave. In the Heart of Birmingham
In Onlfrln( R«oJ> Pl«»f Mfnllnn THH Aftn-HF.R A I.n
dentally shot and killed himself, and ho
left on the early morning itulf nnd Ship
Island train for the scene of the tragedy.
Mr. W are was cleaning his gun, when it
was accidentally discharged, the load
passing through his body.
Columbus Dairymen Meet
Columbus, Miss., July 22.—(Special.)—-A
number of local farmers and dairymen
met at the Chamber of Commerce Fri
day for the purpose of discussion; the
question of establishing cream route!
and employing a man to collect cream
for shipment to the creamery at the A.
land M. college near Rtarkvllle. Similar
routes have been established in adjacent
I counties and have proven profitable.
| QheenPros^ WeGiveA,™™!?’ s,amp' (XheenPros.
»
Saturday at Caheen’s
-- r p-------j [ I
15c White Pique 10c
30-inch White Pique, me
dium wale, full pieces,
perfect goods, for waists,
suits and white skirts.
Regular 15c
s value .
_
25c White Skirtings
15c
28-inch White Gaberdine
and 30-inch Reach Suit
ing, both very desirable
for white suits and skirts.
Strong 25c 1 Kp
1 values, yard -
-- i
89c Utica Sheets 69c
20 dozen 72x90 genuine
Utica Sheets. The best
Sheet made. A household
standard for fifty years.
Regular 89c
value.
42x36 inch Pillow
Cases 8c
Fifty dozen 42x36-inch
bleached Pillow Cases,
large hems, made of good
muslin. Not more than
t
dozen to a eusto- O ~
mer. Special . Olx
If yyi! : - "3a •' L JJLM.IJB.iin I 'JIT I
mmmmmaam—mmmm—mmmmmm—mmmmmmmmmmmmmm i
Men’s Furnishings
for Saturday
Men’s Soft Shirts with collar to match, in
fancy stripes, only in large* sizes 16 to 171 _•. . V
Men’s Fibreknit Half Hose, in all colors. "|
Special, for pair.
Men’s B. V. I). Drawers and Undershirts,
50c values. The garment. OiJV/
Men’s Check Nainsook Undershirts and
Drawers; 59c values for, garment.
Men’s Buttonless Pajamas, in blue and pongee
shades; Faultless brand; $1.50 d*"| 1 P
values, for.V-*-• At#
Men’s Pajamas in fancy stripes, trimmed
with silk frogs; $1.00 values, for.
Men’s Wash Ties, guaranteed fast colors, in a beau
tiful selection of patterns; "|
25c values, for . Atlv
Silk Combinations Black Silk Coats
$1.69 $2.00
Special sale of .Taponlea Silk a close-out sale of 15 Black
Combinations, Teddy style S1)k coats, made of black
trimmed back and front with ......
lace medallions. Others are de 8ole and black ,af'
plaln with Val lace trimming;. feta. These were left over
Colors flesh and white. All from last season's selling;,
sixes to 44 bust.. d»'| For a quick sale, (ftrt
Special today .... ipA.Ul/ choice .
Jersey Silk Sport Coats, $5.00
Today a special sale of Jersey Silk Sport Coats, made of all pure
silk Jersey, with patch pockets and strap belts, trimmed with
white silk collar and cuffs. flr
All colors. Today ...... ip«J«vrU
Qheen Pros
«
Jr' ] - ■
$1.25 Nainsook
and Longcloth 88c
Two hundred pieces of
K n g 1 i s h Nainsook and,,
Ixingdoth, yard wide, soft
finish, in 10-yard bolts;i
worth $1.25. OO »
Special .OOC
10 Yards Bleached
Domestic 59c
Yard-'widc Bleached Do
mestic, soft finish, no
dressing; worth regular
9c. Special today PQ „
TO yards for ....
$1.50 White Wash
Skirts 95c
Special, 25 dozen Wash
Skirts, made of a good
Beach Cloth and Ratine.
With patch pockets and
belts. These Skirts are
easily worth $1.50. Sizes
up to 56 waist.
Special today....
25c Bath Towels 18c
Fifty dozen large 22x41-lnch
Bleached Towels. Extra heavy
double thread. A southern mill
Towel that will absorb water
like a sponge. Regular "| Q _
j 25c number. Special . . -tOC
."I",1 "5555EI