The age-herald., 1898-01-02

and if man has not the right to speak at his own dinner. in heavens name on
 what occasions has he the right7 Not being allowed to speak at his own funeral, he should certainly be allowed to speak at
 his own dinner. Another keen-cut citizen
 who knows how to talk when on his feet, is MT. Weatherly. He is a gentleman whom I had never before seen, but had been told a great deal about. He is about
 90 years younger than I expected to find
 him. Everybody was glad that MT. Weatherly had an opportunity to make an honest confession. He had felt like making
 one for along time. but this was his first opportunity. He admitted having been a
 mugwump. It is a good sign when man
 will come forward of his own volition and make candid admission that he has been
 mugwump. Mugwumps are really ob- jects of pity. They should be pitied rather
 than censured MT Weatherly is entitled to the thanks of the entire community for
 manifesting his desire to make the at
 tempt to live down the past. His mug wump days are over
 State Senator Cunningham, he with the alabaster brow and the gold-rimmed spec tacles. I'll bet Cunningham can make the
 
 He looks and acts like Columbian orator. Fairly bubbling over with humor. first class after-dinner speaker. Says a good deal in little, and does not take him long to say it. He would have made longer speech, but had consideration for his host.
 He wanted to give Mayor Evans more time for making speeches. When it comes to using bright metaphors, gracefully rounded nariodS eh I in- clined to take off my hat to Col. Bob Lowe. Daniel Webster never graced the American senate with more dignity than did MT. Lowe at Mayor Evans dinner. John w. Tomln- son is a good after-dinner speaker. His speech was not very long, but he punctu ated it with a number of excellent stories. MT. Tomlinson could have spoken for | considerable length of time, but he knew Mayor Evans wanted some time in reserve | for himself. Ross c. Smith, railroad com | missioner, displayed splendid ability in tell l ing a very brief, but very witty story. | Mir Smith being an intimate friend of Mayor Evans, he was likewise limited for | time, knowing that Mayor Evans desired | to talk. Maj. F. Y. Anderson was indeed | the most modest of all He excused himself | from making a speech on the ground that | he had been to Tuscaloosa the day before at the rivers and harbors convention, and | the humorous MT. Steiner suggested that 1t | was only a water convention, and that
 should not have had any effect. Mai. An
 derson also knew that Mayor Evans wished | for time in which to make a few more ] speeches, and he, like the others, was con l siderate.
 | Bounding Bob Jemison made a strong talk | from the shoulder His was a business | talk He wanted more enterprises in Bir | mingham. More unanimity of spirit. More l fellows pulling in the same direction. More | factories built. In fact, general expan- | sion of industry and commerce. There was | not much humor in Bobs speech, but what | it lacked in humor was made up In solid 1 ity P. G. Bowman is another man who can l talk at dinner. His remarks, though brief, | out of consideration for Mayor Evans, were 1 well delivered and most highly appreciated l MT. Bowman, like MT. Weatherly, was on | the stool of repentance. He had less sins | to be washed away than did MT. Weatherly
 MT. Bowman has never been a mugwump
 He admitted, however, to having been a | populist. But 8 populist, as bad as he may | be, is not so bad a mugwump. The l wayward sons were taken back in full fel-
 lowship. The mugwump the reformed
 mugwump, the reformed populist, the dem
 ocrats. the republicans, the gold democrats
 and the silver republicans, all clasped hands, fguratively speaking, across the
 chasm The past was gone and the future
 was theirs. G. M. Cruikshank, editor of the Ledger, can speak as beautifully as he can write. His remarks were timely and
 appropriate. They sparkled with humor, l md itetx of 4bex Jo1;~
 of the evening. The principal~objection to | MT. Cruikshank's remarks was their brew
 ity, but he had known Mayor Evans for | a good many years, and he was courteous
 in giving up the time allotted to him. Bert 1 Porter was among the first called upon to
 make speech, but he had been in politics
 so long with Mayor Evans that he knew
 the value of time. Instead of making a
 speech, he told delightful story at the | expense of his host which, of course was
 eminently proper. Any gentleman who ac- 1 cepts an invitation to dine has the absolute 1 right and liberty to speak i'll of his host if
 he feels that way. If it were otherwise it would be too much the order of a nu- | tual admiration society. Among the last | to speak, and beautiful speech it was, l too, was delivered by that grand old man. l Gen. Shelley. It was a handsome testi- 1 monial to the mayor and to the governor,
 and a higher encomium could not have | been passed upon the citizens of Birming-
 ham than was delivered by Gen. Shelley
 It was gentle in spirit and goodness of
 heart marked every sentence
 1
 After the evenings entertainment all left
 the dining room with the full appreciation I Of the fact that Birmingham possesses
 some excellent types of manhood. Broad | minded, liberal, progressive men. Capable
 of affording amusement by bright speeches | or upholding the banner of Birmingham's S
 greatness in words that would do credit to some of the most eminent orators of the
 country. Everybody voted Mayor Evans
 dinner an immense success, which 1t was Although the mayor himself made numer- | ous speeches, all of which were admired
 and the best evidence of their being ap- l preciated was that no one left the room
 until after he had finished his last speech