Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1895-10-22

| the boulder and the mountain cliff, there
the smiling beauty of the placid vale.
| There are also many pretty homes here,
| the shrubbery and rare and blooming
| plants surrounding them testifying to the
| refinement and culture Of the inmates.
| Some of the residences are indeed beau
| tiful modern structures that would grace
| the streets of any city, and much to their
credit the people here, l believe, without
| exception own their own homes, which
| they improve and beautify year after
| year. But after all, the people and not
| the brick and mortar make town, and
| the families of MonteVallo are among the
| very best in Alabama. The only draw
| back is there are not many of them.
Some of the most prominent public men
| of the state were reared here and have
| gone to other places to make fame and
| wealth for themselves and to serve their
| state in various capacities.
The late lamented Burwell Boykin,
| than whom no man was ever more wide
| ~ known and loved Throughout Ala
| bama. spent his early manhood here. He
| now lies in quiet spot of one of Tuskaa
| loosa's beautiful cemeteries, having died
| while president of our State university.
| Ex-Governor Cobb and many other
noted men once called this place home.
| 1t may be supposed that these gentle
men considered Montevallo good place
| to move away from, but all the good cit4
| liens have by no manner of means de-
serted the old town. Here reside the
| Careys, the Reynolds the Lymans, the
McConaughys, the Vandergrifts, the La
| thams, the Nabers, and many other fam
| lilies prominent in political, commercial
and social circles.
Mr.. w. +. Aldrich prominent in repub-
lican politics, has a magnificent suburban
| home here, where he and his handsome
wife entertain in lavish and elegant style.
Montevallo was for many years pre-
cedng the war and still Is a noted trad
faf. 70 a
| ing counties. Here they receive the high
est price for their cotton and other pro-
duce and pay the lowest for their sup
plies. As a consequence the merchants
do an immense business all the year
round, and we never hear any complaint
of hard times hereabouts.
The Stae Herald is widely read here
and considered an able paper, but-"tell
| it not in Gath'-to q man Montevalloans
are gold bugs" and upholders of the ad-
ministration. You see these men have
lived here all their lives They believe
in the adage "a rolling stone gathers no
MOSS and they have a thriving business
year in and year out and as they Jingle
the shining coin in their pockets or store
it away for future use they declare that
the gold dollar is good enough for them.
AS for myself | am not at all particular
what form of currency our country takes.
1t may be gold or silver, either or both,
tin or sordid iron, or fragile paper so
long as I can get enough of it to smooth
over the rough places of life and make
the world brighter for my fellow travel
erS.
This is the land of the walnut, the
chestnut, the "skaly bark" and the goob-
er-not the peanut, the pender, nor the
groundpea, but the regular fat goober
that is brother or sister or some such
near relation to the big Georgia goober
We spend the afternoons of these glo-
rious days of the Indian summer in ex-
planning the words. with health, pleasure
and incidentally nuts as an incentive
We become entangled in and finally sur
mount the mysteries of the worm
fence" We creep cautiously under barbed
wire; we scramble through briar patches
and scale rugged heights. At last we
reach the forest, with all it's varied
growth of magnificent timber, it's wealth
of coloring in all the rich autumnal dyes
and its abundance of nuts and Sim
mons" We wade through beds or aro-
matte ferns and press under foot the
carpetng of mint and catnip until the
air is laden with the odors of "Araby,
the blest." We regale ourselves with the
luscious, juicy persimmon, while the boys
throw a stick or two into nearby wal
nut tree. Down comes perfect shower
of nuts in such artistic green and gold
it seems a shame to rob them of their
outer covering. But the little colored
boy who awaits our bidding is regardless
of beauty when so rich treasure as the
"goody' of a walnut is to be reached. So
he seats himself among the soft brown
leaves and with a convenient stone in
hand mercilessly brushes and removes
the fragrant outer hull and then a large
basket is filled with the rough, black nuts
and "Jeems" deposits it upon that safe
and level head of his and we wend our
way homeward through the cleaning,
thanking God in our hearts for the beau
ties in this beautiful earth.
! am invited to take part in a "possum
hunt" some weird, dark night in the near
future. When I catch my possum 1
shall send him to the State Herald force.