The age-herald., 1900-02-17
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE


 'The attendance uhis week has been some thing like s,5OO. There has been only a moerate amount of absenteeism on account of sickness. The teachers all along have been faithful and efficient, but the esprit du corps among them was perhaps never so fine as it is now. The increase in their salaries was certainly appreciated, and 1t has served as a wholesome stimulus to their work. Birmingham is most fortunate in having such earnest and accomplished teachers. In visiting the schools this week I have been impressed with the refining and educative influence of the pictures-engrav- dngs and photogravures-recently placed in the class rooms. The school children seem to be taking more and more interest Tn their studies, and all that is needed now is more room-more buildngs.'
 
 '"rhis Is one of the presidential years which will mot be marked by business de- presson," said a commercial traveller just from New York. 'I have been through five presidential campaigns and in each of the presidential years of my experience busi- ness was dull. In 1896 the house that represent didn't try to push its business. It began to haul in and curtail expenses in the fall of 1895. This year sales are larger than ever before, and there is every indication of brisk trade all the spring..
 
 Tt has been many a year since the Vir- ginia legislature had such lively fight over a railroad charter as that now being made for John Sketon Williams projected line from Richmond to Washington" said a Virginian at the Morris. ''The probabili- xxrilI rxjn Ia hoe up $5O,0OO as a guarantee of good faith. The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac company is doing all 1t can to defeat the charter. but the public is decidedly in favor of the passage Of the bill This line be- tween Richmond and Washington which Williams intends to build is to be con- tinuation of the Seaboard Air Lime, and is therefore matter of interest to all this section of the south. There is no doubt whatever but that the Seaboard Air Line will make a connection with Birmingham before long"
 There is much money spent in tomb- stones and monuments, as every one knows. and in few cities of the south can finer cemetery work be found than has been executed in Birmingham in the past few years" said the proprietor of large marble yard. '"The marble work here is of the highest quality. But 1t Is a re- markable fact that agents from other cities frequently come this way and get orders for monuments at figures more than double those asked by home firms have seen monuments brought here from out side the state which cost $1,000 or more, that were no better-no more artistic than the Birmingham trade could furnish for $500 or $700. The marble works here use the choicest marble and granites and they employ skilled artisans and artistic designers. The tonnage of Italian marble used in this country is enormous. The largest importers are found in Baltimore and Philadelphia. I purchase the marble used in my trade from a Baltimore firm This Italian marble is quarried and ship- ped in large blocks and is sawed up into sizes to suit purchasers. The marble yards in Baltimore and Philadelphia present busy scenes. The blocks are piled high and spread over acres of yard room For the best quality of granite the trade goes to Quincy, Mass, and Barry, Vermont"
 
 Robert Lee Bullard, colonel of the Third
 
 war, is the only commander of an Alabama regiment who received colonels commits sion in the new volunteer army" said an officer of the late Third Alabama yesterday. q noticed in The Age-Herald a few days ago sta tement that Colonel Sargent. who commanded the Fifth Immunes was ap- pointed colonel of the Twenty Ninth regi- ment. Colonel Sargent is only lieutenant xaNlrN taAJ talions at the battle of San Mateo, in which General Lawton was killed And, by the way, Colonel Bulard, who is an Ala bamfan. is distinguishing himself in the Philippines. He has been in several battles with the insurgents around Iloilo."
 We are go,rg to cary Montgomery coun- ty for Senator Morgan, and make Joel Bar nett's prophecy correct" said w. ". Hill, of Montgomery, who was in the city yester- day. MT. Barnett said at the Morgan meeting in this city some time ago that Morgan would carry Montgomery, and we are going to do ft.''
 Captain James Crooks president of the Alabama railroad commission, was in the city yesterday.
 O. M. Stinson, superintendent of the car works at Anniston, is in the city.
 
 w K McNeill, of Mobile. was in the city yesterday
 Paul Calame, the well-known watch maker and Masonic tyler and caterer, has returned from Elgin, H., 9whither he had been to attend the funeral of his mother. MT. Calame lived in Elgin twenty odd years age, he and his father having been employed in one of the large watch Factories there. Only once before since locating in Birming- ham had he visited the town: and while not looking into any of the factories on this recent visit, being bowed with grief he learned that Elgin was holding its own in the watch-making industry.
 Some very fine watches are manufac- tured in the United States" he sad but Switzerland continues to lead, especially in