The age-herald., 1899-03-21
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE


 He had been to the Mississippi town on l legal business. MT. Smith was met at the station by his personal friend, General Rufus N Rhodes, who entertained him 1 whilst he was in the city There are strong l ties that bind these two distinguished citizens together. MT. Smith Is the owner 1 of the Atlanta Journal and General Rhodes owns and edits the Birmingham News
 These are probably the best afternoon newspapers in the south, and are undoubt- edly the most prosperous. It is a chapter
 of political history not yet fully written l that Rufus N. Rhodes was the chief instru- ment in securing the appointment of Hoke | Smith to be secretary of the interior in l Clevelands second administration. Gen 1 eral Rhodes had the ear' of the president l at that time, and he still possesses the | confidence of Mir. Grover Cleveland It l was alleged that General Rhodes contended | with the president against Colonel Her l bert for secretary of the navy; doing this 1 against the Alabamian for the benefit of | the Georgian; but that story was demon l strated to be- false General Rhodes did l not oppose Colonel Herbert; he merely | urged the appointment of Hoke Smith. 1 Both Smith and Herbert were appointed. l and General Rhodes was doubly satisfied. l Captain T. H. Moore, one of the three l notable steamboat men of the Alabama, was in the city Sunday. He Is the man who has really demonstrated how to make | steamboating the Alabama profitable 1 in competition with railroads. Captain Moore is one of the directors of the Peo- | ple's line of steamboats of Montgomery. 1 Last summer this company launched at l Mobile the steamer City of Mobile. which l began the river trade few weeks later. | The steamer, which Is of splendid dimen- | sions, draws but eighteen inches of water, l and therefore it can proceed as high up | as Montgomery at any stage of the river. In other words, it is an all-the-year- | around boat. Attached to it's sides | lighters for carrying freight. and lighters | are pushed ahead of it, thus adding ma | terially to the freight capacity, and con- | sequently the profit of the enterprise. The | cost of the City of Mobile about $20.- | 900; and, as might be expected, it is very l handsome craft.
 Ut is wonderful the great increase that | has been. made of late in the weight of l steel rails" said Colonel Stiles, of Illinois. Tt has not been many years since most of | the railroads in this country used forty-five | pound iron rails. Now even street car lines in some cities are using sixty-pound steel rails. Steel rails for the great railway lines are being made constantly heavier Eigh- ty and ninety pound rails common enough now, whilst some of the roads have put down rails weighing 10Sh pounds to the yard. These immense rails make travel safer, allow a higher rate of speed | and assure firmer track, which adds ma l terially to the comfort of the passengers l Steel rails have had to keep pace with the | increasing size of locomotives. Iron rails | are no longer made there being no demand | for them"
 committee of Odd Fellows are in town | for the purpose of agreeing upon a revised constitution for the grand lodge and subor- l dinate lodges of that order in Alabama. | The committee consists of A. F. McGehee of Anniston, deputy grand master; Jacob | Pepperman, of Montgomery, grand secre- l tary, and J. s. Graves, of Talladega. The | revised constitution will be submitted to | the grand lodge at its meeting in Hunts | vile next May. MT. Pepperman, who, by | the way, was formerly tax assessor of | Lowndes county, is the editor of the Ala | bama Knight, a monthly fraternal organ | published in Montgomery. One of his sons was courier to General Miles in the West l Indies. MT. Graves is a professor in the l states famous institution for the deaf, | dumb and blind, at Talladega. Many per-
 sons see in him striking personal resem- | blance to Senator Tiliman. of South Caro-
 lima. MT. Graves frequently goes long dis
 tances to conduct pupils to the institution which he so worthily represents.
 l The death of Patrick Walsh, mayor of | Augusta, and editor of the Augusta Chron- | icle, causes much regret in Birmingham, 1 where he was personally known to many | citizens, and known by reputation to all. l He came to this city in 1891 with two or | three associates, working in the interest of | an exhibition that was planned to take l place at Augusta While here he met a
 number of the leading business men, and 1 immediately won their friendly regard. His l appointment to the United States senate to l fill the vacancy caused by Colquitts death
 caused great pleasure to his Birmingham l friends, as did his election two years ago l to the mayoralty of Augusta, a position he
 held at the time of his death. He was a genial. kindiy-hearted man, who did much | good in the world.
 Judge D. A. Horne is in the city taking | c short vacation after months of hard work l fin developing his gold mining property in | Tallapoosa county. He expresses himself | as being greatly pleased with the progress | and promise of his work of development, | and does not doubt that he has @ property l very rich in gold The judge is in excellent health, and says that he enjoys ''roughing l 1t" in the mountains. Dr. B. J. Baldwin. of Montgomery, was in l the city yesterday. MT. W. P Pinckard has returned from | New York, where he has been staying for | two or three weeks on private business.