The age-herald., 1899-03-24
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE

| tie winds Of spring romped through thls
 glorious valley, and warmed the ancient
 trees that cothe the beautiful mountain 1 which stands close sentinel over Birming
 ham through all seasons. After the night l of storm of thunder lightning, and rain, 1 joeund day peeped over the misty noun l tain top, and the valley laughed in the ex-
 uberant spirit of child awakened from it's
 dreamless sleep. How marvellous the pow i CT of the sunshine when the buds are burst l ingl How pitiful all human frailties seems 1 when the morning sun puts out the lights
 in the gilded drinking saloon, and puts new 1 life into the game politics. Many heart l ached yesterday in many valley of the | earth because of politics, and in the some where there were hearts that broke.
 1 Lying politics ne'er at rest as this poor
 earth's pale history runs!
 What is all of 1t worth? A trouble of ants 1 in the gleam of million million suns! l This Is not to decry politics. It Is merely
 to suggest that 1t is really pitiful that l whole city full of men should be disturbed 1 by politics on such a divine day yester- day-brightest sweetest, most benign day ever yet born of a storm.
 l The Age Herald's advices are to the ef- | feet that former governor William c. Oates l has been nominated for delegate to the constitutional convention from the state at | large as representating the senatorial dis 1 trict which comprises the counties of Hen
 ry, Dale and Geneva. It has been under stood since last Saturday night that Gen
 eral Oates had been defeated by young MT. | 70 M Ta
 micrael, sometime auditor of the state;
 but according to the dispatches the dele l gation from Geneva, like that of Henry, 1 has been instructed for the general, and l his nomination by the state convention | thereby assured. As to whether there will l be contest there is information at l hand, but 1t is reasonable to assume that | there will be no contest at all. General 1 Oates was a member of the constitutional | convention of 1S75 and one of the strongest l young men of that famous assemblage. 1 Experience of many years in congress and l two years as governor of Alabama has ad- 1 ded to his fitness for assisting in framing | the organic law. The garnered wisdom of 1 the years will make his services in the con- | vention of great value to the people. The president early last summer appointed the l former governor to be a brigadier general | of volunteers; but he was not shown prop CT consideration by the war department, | and for weeks was kept waiting at his | home in Montgomery for a command. | Finally he was assigned to a brigade, but at the very moment his only son was stricken with typhoid fever and lay for
 weeks in gravest peril of his life. During hfc -ar,'C tbr coI from duty Thus he was with his brigade but comparatively short time before be-
 ing mustered out of the United States service
 MT. Bryan lends the impression that he is physically and mentally stronger than he was on the occasion of his last visit to Br-
 mingham year ago. The lines of his face | seem to have hardened and grown in strength. He probably never before looked | so well. What a remarkable man he is | what unexampled energy impels him! His | face reminds one of the noblest types of | the Roman patrician which have come | down to Such a face Justinian may | have hadIt is face of superb manly force | and beauty probably not surpassed | amongst the seventy odd millions of fel- | low Americans. About him is the glamour of greatness, yet in his manner he is as simple as a little child. Seldom in a life time does the most widely travelled of men look upon any man personally more inn pressive than Bryan. He is splendid be- yond all description, and yet he seems to have the good-felowship of a schoolboy His vitality surpasses belief, his eloquence is supremely great. It is an interesting question whether this mans unexampled power of physical and mental endurance is attributable in any measure to his abstin- ence from all alcoholic stimulants.
 There is great deal of grumbing about | the service on the Highland avenue dummy | line, and there really appears to be the | best of all good reasons for complaint, for | the service Is hopeiessly unsatisfactory. | The property is tied up in the United States | court, and has been for time out if mind ''f | as the phrase goes. It is understood that | capital is ready all the time to put the | roadbed in perfect condition, and put on | electric similar to the magnificent | coaches of the electric and traction compa- | nies, but somehow the property is involved | in legal tange, the strengthening of l | far as time is concerned. There are no | finer cars In the world than those of the | Electric and Traction companies. Take | those "Goldenrod" cars that run to Pratt | and Ensley, for example. They are superb | palaces on wheels. Contrast them with the wretched Highland avenue dummy" Among the distinguished visitors who came to greet MT. Bryan yesterday was | Congressman John L. Burnett, of the Sev- | enth district Singularly enough Mr. Bur- | nett was the only member of the Alabama l congressional delegation who was in Bir- | mingham to take part in the extraordinary | welcome to the democratic leader Gov l ernor Johnston was conspicuous by his ab- | sence. Indeed, no representative of the | state government was in the city, except | the attorney general who was unavoida- | ply prevented from taking part in any pulp | lie function.