The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-04-12
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
AND ELSEWHERE

Yesterday an offer of $4,000 was re-
fused for the Boddie corner, commonly
| called the Hewlett block, at the southwest
| corner of First avenue and Twentieth
| street. Three months ago the same prop
erty was held at 100000 1t is the prop
erty of the Boddie estate OF which Captain
| w c. Ward is the executor. The corner
is famous locally. 1t has a history. The
| late John Bodde owned the vacant lot. He
leased it to certain persons upon condition
! that they should erect three-story build
ing on the ground, pay him ground rental
of $1,000 year and at the expiration of ten
years the building should revert to him.
1t seems that the conditions could not be
CARED out on account of the depression
that followed the great boom in Brming-
ham. But however that may be. the cor
ner'' is still the property of the Boddie
estate, and that s125.cOO is the price de-
manded for it. In point of fact, 1t Is said
that $15G00O would not buy the property
now. The present rental of tn eproperty is
IS. GOO a year. Counting insurance and
taxes, the actual income IS more than per
cent. on $4,000. The boom" price for
this lot was held to be 100000, just about
the value of the lot on which the Hotel
Morris is now built. The late Josiah Nor
rs, the Montgomery banker, built the Nor
ris as a monument to himself; and 1t IS
probably the most beautiful triumph of ar
chitecture in the south. The foundations
of the Morris cost $4,000. The building
itself cost 100000.
Harking back to the famous Boddie
corner 1t is significant that the offer made
for it yesterday is greater than the price
asked for it in the height of the BOOM
This is in keeping with the great sale of
the Handley property day before yesterday
for 100000. 1t all shows the great activity
in Birmingham real estate, which received
fresh illustration last night in the state
ment that Drennen & Co. had closed a deal
for the erection of a great department
storehouse in Second avenue, between
Twentieth and Twenty-first streets. The
building is to front sixty-fve feet on Sec
ond avenue, will be six stories high, and
cost 100000. This is in keeping with the en-
terprise and growth of the Messrs. Dren-
men. Their present premises are wholly in
adequate for their vast and rapidly expand
ing business; they must enlarge their floor
space Added to this is the great palace
of trade that Loveman, Joseph & Loeb are
building in Ninteenth street-perhaps the
largest department store south of the Po-
tomac river. These facts give some idea
of the extraordinary development in Bir-
mingham at the present moment Governor
Sims, of Mississippi, has purchased lot
in Highltnd avenue, near Twentieth street,
and will erect a $4,000 residence. In the
residential districts and the suburbs scores
of dwelling houses are being built. One
investor is building twenty-five handsome
houses.
Whilst Birmingham was having lively
race fer the mayoralty nomination, her sis
ter city-it might be said her beloved par
cnt city, Montgomery-wa going through
a similar struggle that was perhaps livelier
than Birmingham's experience The fight
in Montgomery was between John H. CHS
by, twice elected mayor, and Edward B.
Joseph, for many years an alderman and
president of council. Mr.. Joseph has won
the fight, as The Age-Herald related yes
terday, and it is OF very considerable sig
nificance. Mr.. Clisby has proved himself to
be an enterprising, even a progressive may
cry strong element opposed to him, and
at last he is overthrow. Mr.. Joseph is
one of the best citizens of Montgomery,
and everybody there esteems him. He is a
good mana strong man-one who will hon.
or and adorn the Office of mayor He has
many friends throughout the state who will
congratulate him upon his brilliant victory
Certainly Montgomery is to be congratulate
Z
Mr. Joseph is about IS years Old and is a
man of charming personal and NEST praise
worthy moral qualities.
Former Congressman Thomas s. Plow-
man, Of Talladega, is in town, attending
the meeting of the grand lodge of the
Knights of Honor. Mr. Plowman is the
agent chosen by the trustees of the Girls
Industrial school at Montevallo to select
the $1,000 acres of land granted by the late
congress to this school. He is now engaged F
upon that work. Mr.. Plowman has been
III Tuscaloosa county, and he discovered
that in that county the government still
owns $4,000 acres of. land, about 90 900 acres
OF it mineral lands. Mr. Plowman is. con-
vinced that Tuscaloosa will become one Of
the greatest mineral producing counties Of
the state.
General James Berney Stanley, owner and
editor of the Greenvllle Advocate, who is
now in Birmingham, was one of the origi-
nal organizers of the Alabama Press asso-
citation, and was fer many years its secre-
tary, and subsequently for a number of
years its president. He is the most success
full conductor of country newspaper in
Alabama. Out of the Greenv1lle Advocate
he has made handsome fortune, and is
one of the wealthiest men in South Ala
bama. And he deserves it all, fer no bet
ter man lives in Alabama. He is a great
hearted, good-hearted Christian, filled with
the milk of human kindness. There may
be better men in the world than Stanley,
but they would be difficult to discover.
DR.. B. J. Baldwin, of Montgomery, is in
town.