The age-herald., 1899-01-11
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE

 that was very interesting. He passing by an auction sale of horses, and saw good animal going a low price, so he bought it. just for the fun of the thing. Shortly after the purchase, he casually remarked to two friends that he had just bought horse at auction. It was decided at once that the animal should be inspected and the general and his friends proceeded to F'ies' stables to have a look at the charger which but the other day did bear upon his sturdy back a trooper of Uncle Sam and had smelt powder at San Juan Hill. The two friends were anxious to see the gen. erals purchase.
 The charger from far San Juan was or dered out for inspection, and before he could be produced a sprightly bay mare with four white feet was led out for some purpose, and the general immediately said to the owner, 'I'll swap with you"
 All right" said the owner and the trade was closed.
 Finally the Rosinante from Santiago ap- peared, and was admired by the friends, but they decided that the general had made a good trade. Another horse-owner said he had a grey which he would like to swap to the general for the bay mare. The grey was promptly produced, and trade in- stantly made, and then another grey was brought, and perhaps some other bays, and there was a world of fun, and perhaps some more swapping. However that may be- trading was so rapid that the generals friends came away with some confusion in their minds as to whether the general owned a bay horse which had borne a n ba r11ar prroV IT a mare; but they were convinced that the general made a splendid investment when he bought a steed from San Juan hill for $3S and luck piece of quarter"
 
 "I'll take hundred dollars off of the price paid by the government for each of these horses and then sell them al profit" declared horse dealer who had purchased a large lot of animals at the government sales in Huntsville.
 Asked to explain himself he said that the horses which he had brought to Birming- ham to sell, had cost him from 1925 to s41 head, and that he could add good profit to those figures, and then sell the horses for $100 each less than the government had paid. The horses now in just as good condition as when government agents pur- chased them last spring and summer. They were in on sense broken down army horses, for few of them had seen service more than sufficient to give them ordinary exercise.
 In other words, the government had been greatly swindled, for it had paid S1OO a head more for horses than they were worth. A horse actually worth $50 had been bought for the United States army at $150 Certainly there was not a horse in the en- terprising dealers entire lot that any one would dream of paying anything like $1G0 for.
 This batch of army horses furnished a re- markable example of extravaganza and ras- cality in the conduct of the war with Spain The government was simply robbed by it's agents, and robbed unblushingly The agents must have grown rich, for, judging from the horses brought to Birmingham for sale, those agents had the softest of all possible "soft snaps"
 The horse-dealer made an interesting statement to the effect that the United States government never purchases mares fol army service.
 Apart from municipal politics, which is warming up rapidly, political interest cen- terS Tn the meeting of the state democratic executive committee in Montgomery on the 26th, Chairman Lowe's call for which The ASe-Herald published yesterday morning. Nothing definite is likely to be done by can- didates for the constitutional convention until after the stat committee formulates and makes public the general plan for se- lecting candidates and for prosecuting the campaign.
 q hope that neither commercial bodies nor any other organization will take any step that might embarrass the dem tic committee or the regular party organiza- tion,' said distinguished democrat 's.t night. "The matter of the constitut mai convention has been made a party question and as such the campaign must be con- ducted and fought to a finish. All men de- string to be candidates should come forward at the proper time and declare their wishes, but whatever they may do must be done inside the party and in hearty sympathy with the centrai authority of the party. Otherwise, very Jew candidates could be elected The convention is a democratic measure, and as such it will be carried. Independentism or any other form of op- position must assuredly fail"