The age-herald., 1899-01-26
BIRMINGHAM's TASTES
Iontgomery Journal.

rroIn the montgomery Journal.
 No one has ever accused Birmingham of being over-particular about it's ways or the society 1t keeps. It began it's existence as money-scheming, money-making center, and it has never stopped to concern itself about those little proprieties of life which make social existence tolerable and worth the living in other cities, where they are not up-to-date and still foolishly adhere 10 old-fashioned ways in social and business matters. Up in Birmingham they are up- to-date, and in their affairs they cannot make distinction between their social and business obligations, like Montgomery, Mo- bile, Selma Huntsville, which are oldish and proudish in their ways and actually cling to those old ideas of their fathers of the proprieties and social amenities in life, and have an idea, too, that those old ways of their fathers are the correct ways. Birmingham has just set a pace for her sister cities, and if they don't follow it, they are going to the bad The Lyceum club of that city, composed of its leading citizens, its most cultured people, and who seem to have a fine sense of the peculiar fitness of things in Birmingham, where all old-fashoned ideas of the old state have been thrown to the winds, and stamped under foot as out of place in a cultured and up-to-date southern town, have invited the Hon. B. T. Washington, president of the Tuskegee negro school, to Birmingham, ito deliver a lecture to the white ladies and gentlemen of Birmingham as it is put in a communication to the Lyceum from some citizens of Birmingham who have had the audacity to protest against such an invita- tion to negro. In their protest. the cit- zens, who are out of date, according to the Birmingham ideas, say of the Lyceum that they have held 1t in high esteem ''as one of the most aristocratic, honorable and potent for good of all our numerous moral patr- otic and philanthropic societies." but they beg to "enter their respectful protest against this departure from precedents in the past, of honoring only persons of the Caucasian race in entertaining, educating and amusing our people, and to express modestly, yet firmly, our convictions that your invitation extended to our people to visit your hall, and listen to this some what notorious negro, is, to put it mildly, a little inopportune."
 What was the reply of the Lyceum through its secretary to these old fossils, men who love the old south and the old souths ways? Hear it is:
 "The Lyceum is, said MT. White in dis cussing the matter, "a cooperative organ ization with the fee as the only qualification for membership. The membership is com posed Of citizens broad enough to appre- ciate entertainment of an instructive nature from any legitimate source The board of directors. numbered among which are many of the most prominent and substantial citi- zens of the city, were first consulted about the matter, and they expressed the opin- ion that the Lyceum would be glad to hear MT. Washington"
 "The membership is composed of citizens broad enough to appreciate entertainment of an instructive nature from any legiti- mate source." After this rebuke to the protesting citizens and defense of the cul- tured people who compose the Lyceum so- ciety, the Journal doesn't feel called upon to add anything, except to furnish the fol- lowing proof of the cultured tastes of Bir- mingham from another column in The Bir- mingham Age-Herald, and in the same issue in which the foregoing facts are learned: Yesterday was a great day in Birming- ham. The streets have not been so crowded on Saturday before ill years. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon fully 2000 persons were standing about First avenue and Twentieth street, near where Schlatter, the healer,' was pushing his voiceless vocation of heal ing afflicted humanity.
 Among the notable cures effected yester- day was that of the small child of H. l.,
 Williams, which, it is said, was not ex- pected to live. As a last resort, the Divine Healer was sent for and in half an hours time the child was able to talk to his father
 J. C. Musgrove drove up to the doctors hotel yesterday afternoon and was treated in his buggy. He stated that he was some- what improved"
 Other cities visited by the divine healer may call him fake and an arrant humbuy. but Birmingham is broad enough to appre- ciate an entertainment of an instructive na- ture," and 2,0O0 people gather around and about him to do him honor From Schlatter to Washinkton there are those who will contend 1t is not such a great distance.