The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-02-03
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
AND ELSEWHERE

aroused the keeneSt sympathy Tor the I'M
| happy Albanian loaded with irons in the
South American prison" said public man.
| ut would not have seemed so cruel if Judge
| Randolph had been a hardened criminal;
but during all his life at home, except when
| he was a brave and half-staTYing confed-
| crate soldier, ne was used to all the lux
uries, and the constant companionship OF
| friends and admirers. The story of his re-
cent life in Colombia is pitiful. 1t is pro-
test from a strong, brave man, who has
| undergone a long period of indescribable
physical and mental torture. Those who
know Frank Randolph comprehend that
nothing but the EXTREMIST suffering could
| draw from him this passionate cry
of pain. Unhappily, it does not
seem probable that the American
| government will take decisive ac-
ton in the matter the American minister
having reported to the department of state
that he was convinced of Randolph's guilt
as a murderer 1t seems a very hard case
one which arouses the deepest sympathies
of friends who in themselves are powerless
to offer aid or comfort. 1t is Infamous,
though, that dirty little South American
government of semi-savages should be SUI
fered by the United States to SO brutally
wrong an American citizen. All1th Ameri-
can people should demand the righting of
the wrongs inflicted upon Judge Randolph"
Frank Randolph was major in the con-
federate service, and Drawer man never
wore the grey After the murder of Gen.
eral James H. Clanton he became the most
powerful personality in Montgomery; and
for long time during the troublous days
of carpet-bag and bayonet rule-days never
to be forgotten in the Blackbelt counties
Frank Randolph carried his life in his
hands, so to speak, and never finched. Fear
never blanched his cheeks; he had no sense
of physical fear. He did as much as any
other man in a local way to restore Ala
bama to the rule of its own white people,
and, whatever his sins, his shortcomings or
his faults may have been, he is still enti-
consideration of all good people in the
state"
Speaking of the great Clanton last night,
Judge Wilkerson, of Autauga, related a
story of a scene in the room of the circuit
court, when the eminent scalawag, J. Q.
Smith, was judge. "Clanton had come over
from Montgomery to Prattville to represent
some clients in Judge Smiths court. Clan
ton used some ra,ner violent language and
Smith made some yelled threats. Finally
Smith declared that unless perfect order
was preserved in Autauga that he would
cause the county to be placed under martial
law Clanton swept by a whirlwind of
passionate resentment, and being absolutely
blind to personal danger, arose from his
seat, and in half-suppressed rage, he said:
IF it please your honor, you may place
| this county under martial law, but l give
| you fair warning that 1 shall meet you and
| your black cohorts on the banks of the
| Alabama, and if you enter Autauga I shall
| compel you to do so over my lifeless body
1.-THE judge turned pale and made no
| reply Clanton's daring spirit, his daunt-
less audacity were capable of causing the
stoutest heart to tremble. Smith and Clan
ton have long since passed to their maker,
but the lesson of Clantons devotion to his
people remains a proud heritage for the
| white race in Alabama"
Clanton's marvellous hold upon the public
mind in his day has never been equaled in
Alabama. Down in the Blackbelt his
name was one to conjure with. 1t was
taught to the little children as something
to reverence. They bestowed it upon their
playthings and their pets and remembered
it in their simple prayers. Clanton was a
man of some serious faults but to the
boys of the Blackbet he was hero and
| a god. He died by violence and with his
| boots on, but his memory is cherished by
| the children of the men and women whom
| he constantly risked his life to save from
| insult and outrage.
Here in Birmingham there was an album
| dance of weather yesterday. The tempera-
| ture was abnormaly high, and rain fell at
| intervals in excessive volume, coming down
| as straight as arrows. "You have had but
| little cold weather in Birmingham this
| winter" said western man who is largely
interested in business way in this dis
trict, but my information is to the effect
| that you have had more rainy days than
| for many years past, the average being
| about four days of rain each week. The
work on the great steel plant at Ensley is
| about six weeks behind, on account of the
excessive rain. The work of building the
| gigantic plant could not proceed in pouring
| rain. Wednesday was a perfect day. the
atmosphere was charged with ozone, and it
| was a privilege to breathe the health-giv-
ing air. Today Thursday is almost bad
enough to make a man strike his grand
mother 1t has given sie liver as big as a
| stove and quite as hard"
1.-THE agitation concerning proposed legis-
lation at Montgomery is having it's effect
on business" declared one of the leading
merchants of Birmingham. 1.-The decrease
| in trade is noticeable enough this week.
and 1 heartily wish that the legislature
would adjourn. We have the dspensary
bill, which has unsettled real estate values;
| the county commissioners BILL and the
| Birmingham consolidation measure, and
these are keeping hundreds of our own
people in Montgomery, where they are
| spending money that would be otherwise