Birmingham state herald., 1896-03-01
THE LATEST ALABAMA NEWS A WelI-known Figure Dashed to
 Pieces BY TWO RUNAWAY HORSES They Freed the Last Slave in Montgomery but New One Will Be Secured if Possi-
 be-Peter Coster Ills Name.
TWO RUNAWAY HORSES

Montgomery, Feb. 29.-(Special)-A pair of horses attached to one of the car riages of the City Transfer company to- day freed the last slave in this section, more than thirty years after the mar tyred president issued his celebrated proclamation of emancipation.
 This slave was one of the landmarks of not only Montgomery, but of Alabama, and there are many men now with gray boards on their faces whose first recol- lection is of the picture of old Peter Coster" in the advertising columns of the Montgomery papers, standing on his pedestal as a sign of drug store, as he has stood ever since 1885,
 Two horses hitched to carriage be- came unmanageable on Commerce street, and, throwing the driver off his seat, ran away and did not stop in their mad ca reer until they struck the base upon which old Peter stood, and the old and familiar figure was thrown to the ground and shattered.
 "Old Peter was the sign standing in front of the Montgomery Drug companys store, on the west side of Court Square, and for more than half century 1t has attracted the attention of not only the small boy and the colored brother, but or every stranger who has visited the city and all over the United States can be found men who remember Montgomery as the place where they saw the old negro pounding the mortar.
 The figure was life-size, and was the product of a master hand, and it's history is one of interest. Along in the early ihrties Messrs. Coster x Coxe estab- lished a drug business in this city, and as an attraction one of the members of the firm decided to get up unique sign. and on visit to New York city commis- stoned MT. Benjamin Tossing, a cele- brated wood carver of that time, to exc cute for him figure of negro man mix ing drugs in mortar. The figure was completed and in 1885 it was placed in position in front of the store occupied by that firm, which was then on the north side of Dexter avenue, and 1t has stood through all the succeeding years in front 1f the.yarious firms which have succeed d ti-sirm which had the statue made more than sixty years ago.
 When the figure was put up in 1855 the firm of Coster & Coxe had as porter a negro slave, the property of Mr. Coster, who was complimented by having the sign named for him. and for the past sixty years the old sign has been known --ta. all the old citizens of Montgomery who hang around the drug store as "Old Peter Goster" The owner of the old porter has passed over the river; the porter has been gathered to his fathers these many years. and the figure made by the New York carver, who is likewise numbered among the dead, was all that was left to remind the oldest inhabitant of the good old days that are gone.
 The Montgomery Drug company will send the shattered fragments of old Pe- tel" to New York, and if they can be put together the figure will be repaired; but if this is impossible an order will be given for new figure to replace "Old Peter.
 Strong and Compact Organization.
 sound money man Is authority for the statement. says the Journal that Montgomery county is dead sure for Johnston. There are but three beats in the county" he said, and those beats are in doubt, in which Clarke has any chance" Montgomery has heretofore had no organized opposition to the Mont gomery Advertiser and it's methods. It has today strong and compact organi- zation, and it is growing stronger every day. The men who are behind it are the best and purest party leaders in the state. They are sans peur ct san re- proche.
 Ten to Six.
 Captain Colquitt. who was member of the grand jury, took poll of the jury to- day as to their preference for Johnston or Clarke. It was a standing vote. Ten stood up announcing their preference for Johnston, and six stood up for Clarke. It stood 10 to in favor of Johnston, just the same as the county committee stood.
 An Oversight by the Advertiser.
 The Journal says: '"The Montgomery Postoffice loves to call attention to the fact that Captain Johnston has some op- position in his own county, which is not a usual thing for a candidate under such circumstances But the esteemed Post office fails to inform the democracy of the state that it has been repudiated at home2at it's own home-by the demo- cratic county committee. It was not on- ly repudiated by the state committee, but by the Montgomery county commit tee. It ought not to.gnore so important an item of news when it is trying to show the alleged unpopularity of the red headed candidate in Jefferson county. It ought not to ignore this item of news from the Mobile Journal. paper pub lined at the home of MT Clarke. which is supporting Captain Johnston
 "A meeting of the supporters of the Hon R. H. Clarke in the Fourth ward was billed for 7:30 o'clock last night In the offices of the Fruit exchange. At the time specified an audience of four per sons. including a newspaper representa- tive. was present In view of the limited attendance and the counter attraction in the shape of the baseball meeting in the Southern hotel, there were no speeches, the desire of the promoter of the gather ing being evidntly to hide the fact as far as possible that the affair ha d been fas- co. Another meeting which was to have