Birmingham age-herald., 1894-12-30

g We stand upon the threshold of an@
 year and stteseast 10 catch a glimpse
 ssf1gs to be, and still look back at rhe things that were, we appreciate the solemnity of the tremendous present. We have just passed through a period which has tried the souls of the bravest and most patient. In our pathways have stood the lean, hungry lions of poverty and despair, and we have fought with beasts which bore the names of all manner of dire ca lamities.. But, thank God, we have crawled out from this jungle of horrors and are on rising ground once more. Above the hilltops the sun of returning prosperity is rising. The mountains are aglow with the radiance of another and brighter day. The clouds are drifting away, the atmosphere is clearing and we can look about us with hearts full of hope aud faith. Another year, full of rich promises, is upon us, and we must meet it with outstretched arms and make it ours! We must grasp every opportunity for ad- vaneemeni; claim every advantage for progress.
 Do not bemoan the past that is hopelessly gouel Do not bewail our misfortunes, they grow heavier with the telling. Do not acknowledge failure, pluck is sure to win. Do not accept defeat, but hold 10 your colors and still press on. If We em- brace the opportunities that a better time is bringing, not looking backward, but up- ward and outward, the south will 3urely once more forge to the front and hecome a section rich and powerful.
 We must greet the New Year with broad views, enlarged sympathies and an in- creased understanding of the great ques- tions which are essential to the prosperity of our part of the nation. We must not be one moment behind the other sections of the country in the consideration of any question which will rebound to our prog ress. We are an educated, cultivated, thinking people, therefore we must be abreast with the latest times. We are now about to enter upon an era which may go down in history as the turning point in the welfare ofthe south, and we must be pre- pared for any and every gift the future can hold.- Like Jacob ot old, our people have wrestled through all the dark hours of a tedious night and the blessing must come with the breaking of the day.
 '.Ring out the old, ring iu the new,
 Ring happy bells across the snow;
 The year Is going, let him go;
 king out the false. ring in the true.''
 ''Ring out a slowly dying cause,
 And ancient forms of party strife;
 Rin z in the nober modes Of life,
 With sweeter manners, purer lawsn
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 On Wednesday evening MT. and Mrs. J. T. Ross entertained a number of friends with a delightful card party at their South Highland home.
 On Friday evening MT. and Mrs. William H. Warrington gave card party to many of their young friends, who enjoyed it inn mensely, notwithstanding the mercury had reached depth rarely attained in this land of blue skies and warm sunshine. The pretty home of Mir. and Mrs. Worthington was appropriately decorated, and delicious refreshments were served after the games were completed.
 The Friday Afternoon Whist club was entertained by Mrs. A. G. Smith, and the prize. lovely cut glass violet dish, was won by Miss Camille Herndon.
 Dr. l.. G. Woodson and MT. A. G :.