The age-herald., 1900-11-07
IN HOTEL LOBBTES
 AND ELSEWHERE

1 "Troubles threaten thee on every side;
 beware of law and quarreling; thy busl-
 ness will cause thee much anxiety"
 "A child born on the day will have much
 to contend with all through life it will be
 headstrong and difficult to manage and often in trouble"
 "Brew strong drink; thou mayest have l need of it.
 Astrologer Raphaers prophecies for
 Thursday, November s, 1900: "A most unlucky day" "Thou wilt travel and change, ard meet
 many troubles in thy business: run no
 risks; in thy domestic affairs thou wilt be
 more fortunate"
 "rhe young may court
 "A child born on this day will be very
 unsettled and untruthful fond of pleasure
 and often in trouble; it should keep in em-
 ploy; if a female unhappy in marriage"
 Indulge in strong drink but mildly
 
 "An election in the Blaekbelt in carpet bagger days was exciting, according to the vivid recollection of my early childhood" l said native of the Blackbelt of Alabama
 as party of friends awaited election re- 1 turns last night. My first election experi- ence l never shall forget, though it
 
 white people couldn't vote. and the negroes 1 all went to the county seat to cast their l ballots. The year, of course, I have no 1 knowledge of, but it must have been 1868. l My father, who had been d father in his | kindness to his slaves, and who was known l by sight to many thousands of negroes, was greatly loved by them all for his hu- maneness. We lived twelve miles from the courthouse. On the day before the elec- tion it became necessary for my father to drive to the county seat to attend to some legal business with the judge who, as I recollect, a Federal soldier from Ohio. Upon me was conferred the honor of ac- companying my father; so early after breakfast we drove away carrying our lunch in haversack or something of the sort.
 .The small county town of perhaps three hundred or four hundred inhabitant seem- ed to me to be great city, as it the first town had ever seen. The court house, cheap enough structure of brick, Was to me ineXpressibly splendid and all though since then I have seen almost every famous building in the world, from St. Peters down, none has impressed me with half the awe of that little Blackbelt court house! There were Federal soldiers around, and for two hours 1 hadn't a ray of hope that they wouldn't take me out be- hind the courthouse and shoot me. Two or three of the men l saw that day have since become famous, and one of them (Mr. Brewer) is now member of Congress, and for him I have always felt affectionate esteem.
 We started our homeward journey a1 F,T- had gone about mile when we met about fifty negro men in the road, a few of them carrying old guns. When I saw their guns l remembered to have heard that my father was supposed to be possessed of a great deal of money, and I immediately prepared to die. I knew absolutely that the men were after the white-haired, prim and dignified man by whose side I sat in mortal terror motionless; and if they shot him they would shoot me also. I looked at him and he was smiling, almost imperceptibly, as was his habit and I wondered a his extraordin- ary bravery. As the men drew nearer con- ing down the long slope up which we were driving, my memory says l thought of little prayer which my mother had taught me to say before going to sleep; but be- tween my father and me no word passed as we drew near to what seemed certain murder, and 1 wondered why we didn't turn the horse and drive like forty in the opposite direction. The horses head was in line with the foremost negro who car Tied huge cannon on his shoulder and | l shut eyes!"
 Howd'y, boys
 'Howd'y, boys
 'Howd'y, boys
 Tt was my father speaking in kindly dignity; and I opened my eyes to see every negro man with his cap in his hand salut- ing the grey-hared old man by my side, and saying simply,
 Howdy mahster'
 And so it ran, 'Howdy boys Howd'y mahster, until all the band had passed As soon as I could get my breath, 1 ventured to ask where the men were going, and was told that they were going to the court house to vote on the morrow, and then for the first time in my recollecion I was told what an election was Very soon we met other negroes, and yet others, and so on over the long drive and into the twilight we met band after band of the recently freed blacks, and all the way there was a constant interchange l of 'Howd'y boys and 'Howdy mahster,' between him who had so lately been master and those who had so lately been slaves. The impression on my young mind that day more than thirty years ago is as vivid now as it was then By the way, I was a clerk of election before I was fourteeen years old. But that is another story" l But de ole home ain't what it used to l be, and de change makes me sad an for ! lorn.'
 At the ore mines along Red Mountain ] there are many of the worst negro crim- l nals in the South,' said Frank Latham l who owns store near one of the mines
 There 2Co0 or 5000 men there, and I'd | Tot like to estimate the number of desper- 1 ate characters amongst them. They all go | heavily armed with the best and most ex-