The age-herald., 1899-11-13
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE


 last night. "4All the abusive stories about
 him that come from the Philippines are
 most likely brought or sent by persons who have been unable to use him to their own
 purposes No thoughtful well informed
 man takes seriously the complaints of the 1 newspaper correspondents. General Otis
 subjects their stuff to censorship. because
 it is his duty to do so. He is a conseien-
 tiou officer of pnrty-eisart year experience,
 and he knows his duty No man can make I use of him to secure personal advantages l of amy sort. He is a man N'no is temper
 ate in most things. He does not and never
 has indulged in strong drink and excessive l indulgence in that direction is in his view l inexcusable. Otis is not West Pointer.
 He was "a lawyer when he entered the Unit | ed States volunteer service in 1881. In 1S65 l fife was appointed to the regular army. l 1 krew him well then, and years afterwards was with hlm fighting Indians on the
 plains. In 1876 he was lieutenant-colonel of rne Twenty-second infantry and was l
 visioning Tongue River; his base of sup
 plies being Buford Moptana, at the eonf1u-
 epce of the Yellowstone and the Missouri rivers. The army wagon train consisted of
 about 125 wagons, each drawn by six mules. l The distance that had to be covered was something like 25O miles, through a coun- try swarming With hostile savages. For l the protection of that long train Otis had | ten companies of infantry and few
 airy. The Indians were net only very an- moving, but were dangerous, and managed l to do considerable damage. But Otis was | too cautious a man to give them battle. He | could not afford ito jeopardize his train. Winter was coming on, and it was aoso- lutely necessary that Tongue River be pro-
 visioned, and Otis proyisioned it. There was no doubt about that. As
 for the silly stories from the Philip 1 pines it is well enough to recall that ir- | responsible newspaper correspondents at l one time convinced Lincoln and the Amer l ican public that Sherman was crazy, and 1 Sherman was relieved of his command un- I til the truth was ascertained. They quoted 1 Sherman as saying t.hat it would require | 200,V00 men to keep Kentucky in the union.
 Otis is a good and brave officer and a good | man."
 1.-The live stock exhibits at the State Fair arc in themselves sufficient to make the I fair SaiH EalL Probably no live stock display of such l importance was ever before seen in the
 state. It is simply splendid. or course, l it is nothing like what it could have been
 made but for the expense to individuals.
 There are Isaac Ross at Auburn Mir. Bates
 in West Alabama, M. C. Scott MT. Hawes
 and myself at oMntgomery, and perhaps 1 others who could make most credfta ole | displays. MT. Scott show from fifty to hundred Jersey heifers that have never calved, and I could do very nearly as well. i But to make such displays at the fair | would entail heavier expenses than most
 of us felt that We could afford. MT. Van.
 derbilt's exhibit has given me a great deal of pleasure. It is, perhaps, the finest live l stock exhibit that could be made in the | south, and none finer could be made in all America. It was thoughtful and kind of
 Mr Vanderbilt to take such a practical interest in our State Fair, and it would be 1 great good fortune if his present action should lead him to take a personal interest 1 in live stock raising in Alabam. In any | choice locality of the Blackbelt he could
 achieve results that would astonish the
 world. He is using something of Gais great
 wealth ito the encouragement of agricuI- | tpral pursuits, and he is therefore a pub
 lie benefactor who is entitled to the gratl-
 tude and highest praise of the people," l
 | The last issue of Public Improvements a 1 New York bi-monthly illustrated publica-
 tion of wide and praiseworthy scope. con-
 tains four page paper on Some Problems
 of Taxation in New York City," written by
 Walter L. Hawley of the Evening Sun, and
 formerly of the Birmingham press. It is
 accompanied by an excellent cut of MT. | Hawley who is now the president of the
 New York Association of City Hall Report | CTS. MT. Hawley makes the interesting
 statement that only 175,ooo persons in a
 total population of 3,5OO,OOO "pay taxes to
 the collector of public revenue One
 thousand persons pay more than half the | expenses of government The total taxes
 collected this year in the great city will be
 $S4,000,0OO or an average of $24 for each | child, woman and man. Five per cent. of
 the population contribute to the support of
 the governmepnt, while 95 per cent enjoy
 the benefits without cost" The assessed
 value of real property for 1899 is s2 950, ,oi6,- | 3n, or more than ten times the total-yal-
 uation of the state of Alabama. The popu- | lation of Alabama is about one-half as