The age-herald., 1899-07-04
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE

l Stallings, candidate for governor, was In | Birmingham several hours yesterday He
 came in from Montgomery by the Louis
 vile and Nashville train which is timed to
 arrive here at noon. The train was on
 time, and the congressman from the Sec
 ond district insists that he himself Is on
 time politically "Our Jess was calmer | than usual-it seemed to be calmness born
 of a confidence in his political fortunes | that amounts to positive conviction. He
 was possibly little less jolly and had
 fewer stories to tell than is his wont; but
 he has assumed more serious responsibili-
 ties He is determined to be governor, and | says he is certain to be chosen for that | office But he would only talk in the old 1 familiar, friendly way, so characteristic of him. He would not be interviewed. Just l tell the boys that you saw mel And then, an after thought, "I haven't got any
 thing to say. Somebody else, anybody else,
 may do the talking just now. I-well, l am seeing my friends" He looked we'll and | very resolute; and acknowledged that he had saved his oat crop. He saw many friends while in town, and lunched as the | guest of one of them at a cafe. In the | afternoon he left for Albertsville, Marshall | COuIly, where He IS S&ptCltu tO ueliNci q | Fourth of July speech today. "I am simp | ly going to the mountains for rest and a change" he asserted; but there are several counties in "the mountains" which MT. Stallings is likely to visit beforeT he sees his home in Greenville again. He acknowi-
 edged that he would probably not return home by way of Birmingham. There need
 not be any doubt that MT. Stallngs is ''do- ing about" the phrase goes, in his can didature for the governorship. He Is not allowing any "grass to grow under his feet"
 There will be a great celebration at Greenville today; but it is ten to one that a large majority of the citizens participat- ing will be for Stallings, so he goes to see his friends in North Alabama. The Con federate veterans of Butler and adjoining counties will enjoy a reunion at Greenville and the Fourth of July in the good old fashioned way. Colonel J. M. Falkner, of the entire state will deliver the oration, and it will be filled with wisdom and sound advice Colonel Falkner has just enough of sentiment in his nature to make strong man tender; but he is pre-eminent- ly the practical man of affairs. He enter tains no weak Illusions; he is no dreamer of wild dreams, but a man of action, as his daily walk goes to prove. His is a life of work. Theories have little attraction for him. Thus the veterans and their sons and daughters assembled at Greenville will lis- ten to an able speech from one of the ablest and most successful men in the state hm- self veteran of the Confederacy who be- came inured to the dreadful hardships of the dreadful days of strife. There will be no politics in the Greenville meeting, and Colonel Falkner's speech will be non-polit- ical from the partisan point of view. The oldest commercial traveller in the United States, and one who is said to do very large business, is at the Morris. He is R. l.. A. Clark, and he represents Chi cago firm of paint manufacturers. Mir. Clark is over 80 years old, and has travelled for the same house fifty-two years. His headquarters are in Chicago. Of course, there was no business house of consequence in Chicago half century ago, for that town was then merely struggling village in a wilderness. So the presumption is that MT. Clarks business was transferred thither from some eastern point The ven-
 
 comes two or three times year to this city, and his present visit here has lasted about two weeks. As might be expected, | he is leisurely in his work, and when he goes to large town that pleases him he takes time to see his customers without hurry or annoyance. Notwithstanding his | advanced age he is in excellent health and almost youthful spirits. MT. Clark was l born in England. He must have travelled I in these ffty-two years a million miles, and sold countless millions of dollars worth | of goods
 Speaking of aged men, Colonel Robert | Mckee, who cannot possibly grow old him. self, declares that people in the Piedmont district of Calhoun county live longer, upon I average, than those of any other part of | the country. He tells of one family of | four sisters and a brother, the least aged | of whom is about S2 years old. One man l died there recently at 93, and only the other | day an old lady of 1OS was baptized by inn | mersion. One farmer lived 67 years on his | farm near Piedmont and was the first per- l son ever to die that place. An old ne- l gro man lived to be 135. And so the story 1 of longevity goes.
 l Colonel Mckee spent Sunday and Monday | in Birmingham and was cordially greeted l by his many friends here. He says that l the Southern Argus, which he is now pulp l fishing at Montgomery, is prospering and | gives promise of most gratifying success, l although the first number appeared but a 1 few weeks ago. The Argus already has a 1 great many subscribers in Birmingham. Trade is most satisfactory this season." l remarked a commercial traveller who sells l high class goods for mems clothing. q am | making better sales than I have made at l any other time for several years, and am 1 therefore more than satisfied The outlook l for the fall trade seems to me to be very promising do not see how it could well l be better"
 Hon. W. P. Pinckard and his son have I r1.tr ,ad frpp cfo 1F