The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-11-23
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
AND ELSEWHERE


for astronomy. but with a longing to linger
late, the aforesaid young man kept faithful
watch almost every night last week at a
certain South Highland home in the COM
panonship of his lady love, waiting to see
the stars fall"
Several evenings were passed with little
reward from a scientific point of view, and
little progress in the other direction. On
the third evening the hours began to
lengthen, and rising to go, the fond but
bashful lover remarked: at seems hardly
worth while for me to stay any longer. We
are not going to see any meteors tonight.
| 1t is a great disappointment, but I have
enjoyed the evening exceedingly, in spite of
| that. And there won't be another great
shower like the one we have missed see
| ing" he added lingering his hat, "for
thirty-three years!'
| WELL" responded the maiden, looking
dreamily out at the darkened skies, 'if
| you'll come we'll sit up and watch for that
| one, too
| Then he put down his hat.
| "Katie,'' he gasped, do you think I'll
| still be coming here as 1 am now, thirty
| three years from this timer"
ut looks like it," she replied demurely.
On which hint he spake-and it was still
| later when he finally did go.
1.-THE disposition of leading American
statesmen to hold fast to the hotels that
they patronized before they had achieved
national fame is rather pleasing trait"
| remarked a well-known public man in the
hotel Hobbies yesterday. 1T will be remem-
bered that President Mckinley, during his
congressional career, lived a long time at
the Ebitt house in Washington, and that
when he went to the capital to be in
augurated he went straightway to that hos
telry.
Former Speaker Crisp, of Georgia, had
been a patron of the Metropolitan, and
after his elevation to the speakership con-
tinued to make that house his home. The
same can be said of the Hon. Thomas B.
Reed and the Shoreham. The continuity Of
this policy is maintained by Colonel D. B.
Henderson, the next speaker of the house
of representatives. Colonel Henderson has
passed seven consecutive seasons at the
tlnue to be his home"
1.-THE postage stamp account of a large
with absolute accuracy" said an old-time
clerk, who passed through the city yester-
day. 1.-THE sales show a big profit although
the law forbids any one from charging more
than face value. The profit comes in on the
change. A man wants stamps for couple
| of letters, to illustrate, and is handed
| either 1-cent stamp or a copper penny in
| change for the nickel he is almost certain to
deposit on the counter. oh! don't want
| to be bothered with that he says, in nine
cases out of ten, and the house is ahead
1 cent. These stray pennies will amount up
to rs cents or dollar in the course of a
day, and would constitute a nice little reve
nue. from one weeks end to the other were
it not for the fact that they are offset by
| the necessity of paying short postage for
| careless guests. You would be surprised to
know how many unstamped letters are
dropped into the mail box in the corridor.
The number is far greater proportionately
than those found in the street boxes in the
busiest section of the city. Why that
should be so l don't know, and 1t is hard
to form any theory in explanation, but the
fact is as | state, and is true of all large
hotels. There are also great number of
| letters and packages on which the postage
is insufficient, and such mail is invariably
brought straight to the desk by the col
| lector. We put on the necessary stamps,
and 1 believe the practice is universal
among upper class houses. If we didn't the
| mail would go direct to the dead letter Of
| flee in New York and the delay would be
| matter of serious annoyance and perhaps
| loss to our guests. OF course, we can't
make a charge for the stamps USED in that
way because it would seem petty, don't you
| know. but all the same 1t mounts up. 1t
| just about balances the profits which l
| mentioned
There has been a slight advance in the
| price of diamonds since the beginning of
| trouble in the Transyaal." said a local
| jeweler, "but it is not enough to affect re-
tail prices as yet. In fact, it is merely the
advance which was announced over six
months ago by the De Beers syndicate, and
the war had nothing whatever to do with
the causes leading to it. AS to the future,
it is hard to say, but it wouldn't surprise
me if prices were to go up with a rush.
You see, Kimberley, where the great mines
are located, and which is at present in a
state of siege, is right on the border of the
Orange Free State and the burghers boast
that they could destroy the properties in
five minutes with dynamite. The nature of
the diggings would make them COMPARE
lively easy prey. The diamonds are not
mined in shafts but by enormous cuts, like
a stone quarry, and ton or SO of high ex-
| plosives, judiciously distributed, would
| blow in the whole face of the works and
| leave them such mass of wreck and ruin
| it would take months to resume operations.
! don't anticipate any such a catastrophe,
but it is distinctly possible, and if it occurs
diamonds will go up like rockets The de-
| mand for the gems all over the United
| States has been something phenomenal dur
| ing the last year, and that of itself has had
| a tendency to stiffen prices. The folk who
are particularly lucky just now are the
| ones who are buying large diamonds on the
| installment plan. You would be surprised
| to know how many people in very moderate