The age-herald., 1900-12-14

pride, apparently do not intend to present any sort of testimonial. has sailed out to the wide sea for fullest and final tests of it's armament and it's general seaworthi- ness," remarked a native Alabamian last night. Former Governor Johnston and his staff travelled to New Hampshire to see the Governor of that State give the Kearsarge and the Alabama identical testimonials from the people of New Hampshire, and all the newspapers gave full account of the patri- otic proceedings. Now we are told that the handsome bronze tablet, F feet by 5, which the State of New Hampshire presented to the battleship Alabama, is giving the off, cers a good deal of trouble. It was intended to occupy a position on the exterior of the forward turret, directly under and between the two 12-inch guns. Figureheads' having become obsolete, that portion of man-of- war is used nowadays to receive the ship s escutcheon. But the workmen find it inn possible to bore holes in the Harveyized steel in order to rivet it, and 1t may have to occupy a less conspicuous position
 
 Next summer the people will see here a magnificent hotel, one in which Birm- ingham can feel a proper pride, but they will perhaps forget that $90,00O to $40,00O of the money outlay will be unobservable, be- low the level of the sidewalk" said B. F. Roden of the Hotel Hilman Company, as he called attention to the extraordinarily difficult and expensive excavation now be- ing made at Fourth avenue and Nineteenth street.
 'gThe cause of most our trouble Is found in the huge detached rocks boulders found in the course of excavation. We have to blast these rocks and cut through in order to reach the true rock founda- ton, which in some places is thirty feet below the surface. In one of the four cor ners the solid rock was reached at thirty feet, and then found to be of trough formation, which required cement filling over nine feet thick before a brick could be laid. The hotel will have no basement except at the rear for about half the total area, and that will be used for the boiler and engines, the electric light plant the ice plant and the laundry Cellars are no longer constructed for ordinary business purposes, and are used only for such pur- poses as these mentioned. It is cheaper and better to build upward. Before ac- cepting plans for the Hotel Hillman sever al of us went to Chicago and personally inspected the best buildings there and con- ferred with architects and builders, and thus we were enabled to decide upon the best structure possible for ourselves. When this hotel is completed it will be one of the best and most comfortable buildings in the South, or in the country. We are working night and day, and hurrying the foundations to completion as fast as possi- ble, having strict regard to perfectly strong and faultless work. We have about seventy-five men on the day shift and per- haps an equal number on the night shift. The Hillman will be a magnificent hotel when it is finished"
 "The automobile has begun to make its appearance as a private vehicle in Birming- ham, and within a few weeks it will very likely be a familiar object on the streets" said a hardware man. 'eThe first one to be received for private use is that owned by H. D. Williamson, which he has had for two or three weeks. H. Key Milner has purchased a handsome machine of this character a sort of family carriage, and he expects to receive 1t about New Years. About the same time a similar automobile will be received by a Second avenue firm, which has secured the agency for one of the factories, and it will be used privately by members of the firm. Several of the local physicians are considering the advisa- bity of immediately purchasing automo- piles for use in their ordinary practice; and an agent said he expected to sell a half dozen of the horseless carriages in Birm- ingham by the opening of next spring. The county roads of Jefferson are unexcelled for the use of automobiles, though the streets of Birmingham are for the most part rough and filthy beyond compare. But some day the people will see that their streets are kept to some reasonable extent decent"
 MT. J. A. Wood, a leading commercial traveller from New York, is in Brming- ham,
 State Railroad Commissioner Kyle of De catur was in town last night.