The age-herald., 1900-04-19
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE

Thou hast very quiet birthday, and thy business and domestic affairs will pro- ceed as usual.
 ."The success and mental qualities of child born on this day will depend entirely upon the hour of it's birth.'
 The state democratic convention, which will assemble at Montgomery next Wednesday, will have enough work to do if it be wisely done. The governor is to be nominated, and likewise all the high of- fcers of the state apart from the judiciary. | There is scarcely possibility in any cir cumstances that a gubernatorial candidate will be agreed upon on the first ballot; but | beyond that is at the moment simplest l conjecture As regards the offices of sec retary of state, superintendent of educa- | ton, and attorney general there is no con test and the present incumbents will be acclaimed. For auditor, treasurer, and l commissioner of agriculture there are va 1 rious candidates, and no attempt is made | to guess at the number of ballots in either l instance. A state executive committee and l a state chairman to be chosen. The l committee will likely enough consist as 1 now of three members for each congress sional district and six from the state at large. It cannot now be foretold who will be the chairman. Twenty-two delegates to 1 the national democratic convention will be | elected. There will be two from each con gressonal district, and four from the state at large In addition to all this, there will be flood of resolutions and the making of the platform. As to who shall be the of fho ctufa
 may now know. The retiring state com mittee will meet in Montgomery next Tuesday, and will probably agree to rec ommend certain men for temporary of- fcers.
 '"The prevailing flood gave me a novel experience in crossing water" safe Will liam DeLoach of Marengo. With others l was kept at Bangor on the Louisville and Nashville railroad for twelve hours waiting for the flood to fall. Finally we were placed on long train loaded with iron ore and pushed by two locomotives. The train was then backed out on a tres tie work which was so deep below the sur face that the water reached halfway up the sides of the cars. Thus we crossed dryshod. and without danger because tlS WdltI was SHACK ana the W6lSnL or the train kept the trestle quite steady Having passed the flood, we boarded a train in waiting and came on to Birming- ham, very tired but dry and sound. I can't say that I care to repeat the ex- perience.'
 At Harper's Ferry on one occasion the flood in the Potomac was so great that it destruction of the costly railroad bridge, which was seen to shake in its unsteadiness," said former Governor Thomas G. Jones' ''When everybody pres ent was looking each moment to the bridge go down, President John w. Gar rett of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad arrived upon the scene Appreciating the necessity of instant action, he gave an ab- rupt order for loaded train of freight cars standing on sidetrack to be run with the locomotive on to the bridge and kept there.
 "'But, MT Garrett, that is a train load of silk, said the local superintendent.
 "' I don't care; run out the cars" com manded the great master of railroads. It would be easier to pay for the silk than to build new bridge
 '"The silk train was run on to the bridge and the structure was saved. The silk was being sent by rail across the continent from San Francisco at which port it had been received from China and Japan. Gar rett was a great man-one of the greatest of those who have aided in the material development of America In emergencies he was very resourceful, as was demon strated in perhaps a small way by the Harper's Ferry incident"
 Word comes that Policeman Pat Sweeny of Montgomery has been awarded a gold watch the most popular man on the force" of that town. The watch was of fered by the Montgomery Journal, and the result of the contest for possession of the timepiece rises to the importance of a state event, since all the public men and thousands who are not public characters know Pat Sweeny He is a good sort, is would indicate, and is big and muscular When he gets after law-breaker he must appear to the hapess individual to be ten feet tall and have a baton as big as a crosstie. But in point of fact, Pat is but seven feet in height and his baton is no larger than mans leg, big and powerful Ildn that ne IS. But the biggest thing about Pat is his heart. Like all truly brave men, he is kind and generous. He couldn't be cruel or unkind. He is one of the best souls in the world, is Pat Swee- ny, and one of the truest officers of the law. To the ticking of the new watch a tender and loyal heart will beat time around the beat assigned to Pat Sweeny. "S'lantha, and s'lantha, and s'lantha again!' as they sing in "all Donegal"
 J. M. Williams the wholesale tobaccon- ist from Lynchburg Va, left Birmingham last night for his old home at Chappell Hill, Tenn, where he will rest and recu- perate for month He is suffering from the lingering effects of "the grip" that malady which makes man sick for six months after he gets well, and is in need of change. MT. Williams is personally known to all the tobacconists throughout this section of the south and is one of