The age-herald., 1899-09-21
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE

"The democratic caucus of the next gem
 era1 assembly, upon which will deYolve the
 duty of selecting a United States senator 1 for the term Of six years beginning March 1 1, 1901, will be a body very different from
 an ordinary state convention" said lead- 1 ing politician from the Blackbelt. | "0n the second Tuesday after the organi- 1 zation of the legislature for business in November of next year the two houses in l joint session will proceed to the election 1 of a United states sena tor;' but it does not 1 follow that an election will take place on | that day The caucus may become dead l locked and continue so indefinitely, as has been the case with such caucuses in Ala | bama in years gone by It is now praeti- cally certain that the caucus of the demo- cratic members of the Alabama legislature in 1900 will have to consider dne names of three distinguished candidates, if not @ l larger number; and man can possibly know what shall occur then, The candl- Gature of General Oates eomplicates ma ters, and they may be still further compli- cated by ether candidates. When none but Senator Morgan and Governor Johnston was in the contest the situation was quite clear. Unquestionably General Oates has
 strong following dn the Wregrass, and il may be accepted that he will carry sev-
 era counties in that section, to say noth- ing of what he may do elsewhere in the state. The point of main interest is that
 the contest for the senatorship is not for
 the present senator and the governor alone As to Wtdch of the three candidates shall
 Win, or whether some outsider may carry off the prize, l have no opinfon not hay
 ing anything upon which to hazard guess"
 There has been published in the news papers the statement that the stack of the Merrtmac cotton mills now being erected at Huntsville is the tallesit in Alabama
 IL has been asserted indeed that this Is the tallest stack in the south, it being two
 hundred feet in heishl. The stack of the Ensley furnaces at Ensley near Birming-
 ham, which was built ten years ago, is two
 hundred and twenty feet high. The inside
 diameter of this gigantic chimney is twelve
 feet; hence it is almost large enough for
 the passage through it of train of Pull
 man cars drawn by mogul locomotive.
 This Ensey stack furnishes draught for
 and carries off the smoke from the fires tNHNiASN eO AS<il Lue NdleT III seventy SIX
 great boilers, the steam from which is re- quired in the working of the furnaces. It is beautifully symmetrical, standing straight up two hundred and twenty feet without guy or support of any nature above the level of the foundations. Tho stack is, of course, lined with fire-brick Near tkis tall structure, at the immense steel plant, are ten stacks in line of eight hundred feet in length that are one hun dred and fifty feet nigh each and six feat in diameter the inside. Talk about chimney stacks-go Ito Ensley!
 Yesterday was the first autumnal day in Birmingham, although astronomically con- sidered 1t was not the first day of autumn. A popular impression is that September q is the first day of autumn, but that is scarcely accurate. Popular usage makes September, October and November consti- ute autumn, or 'fall," as we Americans term the fourth season of the year. That is quite erroneous. The autumnal equinox is the precise time when the sun "enters the first point of Libra being about the 23d of September" and ends at the winter solstice about December g. In other words, ''the season of abundance begins when day and night are about equal In :, length of reckoned time. This morning | the sun will rise at 5.47 and set at 6 this evening, a difference of thirteen seconds | in favor of sunshine. On next Wednesday, | the Eth, the sun will rise at 5.51 and set at | 5.52, a difference in favor of sunshine of but one second. After that night passes | day in length of time and will maintain l the advantage until the vernal equinox six | months hence. Meantime there is much | cause for rejoicing at the passing of the terrible heat from which the country has | suffered for several months. Yesterday l was perfect day; and the cooling breeze l and falling leaves reminded one of Mill tons lines;
 Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks
 | In Vallombrosa.
 | Never was autumn more heartily well | comed.
 Dewey day. travel has already begun, | and thousands of southerners have turned l their faces towards New York Local rail- l read officials say that the demand for | transportation is unprecedented for this | season of the year, and it is likely to | greatly increase within the next three or l four days. Admiral Dewey will arrive in | New York on the 18th; and f'herefore the l tide of southern travel will be at its high | est about the 25th The roads this far south will probably be able to handle the l extraordinary traffic; but it is scarcely 10 | be hoped that there will be sufficient num- | 6er of Pullman cars to satisfy the demand. l Railroad men say that all the available | surplus cars in the less densely populated | districts of the country are being sent hur- 1 redly to the vicinity of the great cities
 northward. It is believed that the Penn- l syvania road will need to keep in motion
 what will amount to almost one continuous | train extending from Philadelphia to Jer- | sey Clty and back. The three lines from | Birmingham to New York, the Southern,
 Louisville and Nashville, and Central of l Georgia are superbly equipped, and will be