The age-herald., 1898-01-09
MATT MYNOR'S
 SUNDAY OBSERVATIONS

roads centering here than in any other | three cities in the state. It has more ho-
 tels. It ought to have more better hotels.
 There is room in Birmingham for two
 more hotels-frst-cTass hotels During the past six months number of conventions
 have been held here. This is practically the convention city of the state. There is no reason why the next democratic con- vention should not be held in Birmingham. The great auditorium will soon be com.
 pleted, and when done it will be able
 to accommodate an assemblage of many
 thousand people. I am told that all demo-
 cratic state conventions in the past have
 been held in Montgomery. That being the capital of the state, it is to a certain extent the natural political center. In many of
 the other state all political parties hold
 their conventions frequently in the various
 cities away from the capital. This is es-
 pecially true of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
 Pennsylvania and Virginia. Personally, it
 does not make any difference to me where
 it is held. would suggest, however, to the democratic committee to consider the
 matter well and by all means have the convention in Birmingham. This city is
 nearer the geographical center of the state
 than either Montgomery or Mobile. There
 may be a few in the extreme southern part of the state who would object to coming to
 Birmingham, but the percentage of dele gates would be very small.
 There seems to be peculiar custom pre-
 vailing in Birmingham among swell society
 young men, or those who call themselves
 such I saw the other evening four young
 men who, if they did not have the appear
 oxxyaxf m
 society circles. The four men were walk
 ing in Twentieth street with four very ! lovely looking young women Each of the
 four men was smoking. Two smoking cl-
 garettes, one a cigar and the other pipe
 All of the four young men had on dress
 suits and were going in the direction where
 swell reception was to be held They
 were really going to the street car to carry
 them to the reception. They blew smoke most promiscuously in the faces of the
 young ladies, and in the faces of others
 who were passing by. It was apparent that the young ladies did not appreciate
 the fact that their escorts were smoking. I have no doubt that the young ladies made
 a protest, but it did no good. The devotion that the average young man has to ci- garette is very remarkable.
 I have noticed frequently, especially Ill street cars, a number of apparently fash- onable ladies wasting a great deal Of phy- sical force in the most violent chewing or gum Three young ladies accompanied by two young men were in a street car few evenings ago, when each of the three la dies was chewing gum with great vigor.
 The young men were chewing at equal ve-
 locity. It was a sort of chewing match.
 They not only chewed gum, but they talked about chewing gum. One of the girls said she always carried the gum in her pocket, The young men said they were never with out it. The three girls had every appear ance of the "chewing gum sisters" The habit of chewing gum in America has grown to gigantic proportions within the past few years. The best evidence of this is that all the manufacturers of chewing gum have become real capitalists. There must be a wonderful lot of it used in this city.
 Birmingham has some very pretty girls hundreds of them. They are not at all pretty when they chew gum. If the Bir- mingham girls insist on chewing gum | that's their business. For their benefit, | however, I would suggest that if they must | chew chew it at home. Don't chew it in | public. I don't suppose they know how many uncomplimentary remarks are made about them by women who are not chewing gum, and by men who do not like to see women chew gum. They should chew it at home, and when company comes remove it | from their mouths and paste it under a | chair.
 am impressed with the belief that one 1 of the most cowardly murders that has | ever been committed in any state was the | murder of J. l.. Howell by Thomas Collins I at Bessemer the week before last. I have l read with a great deal of care all the tes- | timony that was printed of the preliminary l trial, and it was voluminous. I will defy l any man of ordinary intelligence to read | the report of the trial and point out one l word or sentence from the testimony of the | witnesses which would in any manner jus 1 tify the killing. It was not only brutal | murder-it was a cowardy one. The man who would commit such deed should not under any circumstances be allowed to as- | sociate with any class of citizens. To make | it appear that the man was drunk and not responsible for the decd is to my mind, l one of the absurdities of the modern prac- l tice of law. It is true that men will com l init deeds of violence when under the in- | fluence of liquor that they would not com | init when sober, but if drunkenness is to | be made an excuse for murder, the life of | no man in Alabama is safe. If Collins does | not deserve the full punishment of the law. l then there is no man on earth who does. l The Commercial club has made itself to l a certain extent, the laughing stock of the | town. It was no doubt, all right to take | action on the trading stamp scheme be- l cause it is foreingn, but to jump on, and 1 condemn the periodical stamp plan which l has been in vogue in Birmingham for | many months, and a local concern with | out apparently knowing anything upon the | subject, would indicate that prejudice | rather than reason prevailed in that conl- | mercial body. To undo what it lad al- 1 ready done does not reflect the greatest | credit on the body, yet it showed the most