The age-herald., 1900-04-01
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE

l The chief concern of fair matrons in Bir- mingham at the moment is the fixing of lawns, putting out plants and sowing l seeds. This not only means much to house. 1 holders; it is of consequence to everybody, since 1t is the privilege of all persons who
 walk the streets to look upon pretty green 1 swards and beautiful flowers. These evil dences of civilization and culture have q l distinct moral value, in that they tend to
 elevate human thoughts and purposes. The | making of an attractive lawn in this cli- l mate is not easy, and it's preservation is | very difficult. Only expert gardeners can | do the work in really excellent manner. The only entirely satisfactory lawn grass obtainaioIe here is Bermuda, and that needs to be obtained in the form of sod
 or turf Real southern Bermuda grass seed are not procuraIble In the Black Belt, where there are great fields of the grass, upon which cattle feed and grow fat, no- body ever sees or hears of Bermuda seed. This grass is very beautiful and very hardy. It is seen in all its charm a lawn grass in front of the superb residence of Hon. William A. Walker, at Eighteenth street and Eighth avenue. That is a per- feet lawn.
 "A fortune of s6O,oO0 in gold is buried somewhere in Big Swamp, near Gayne- ville,'' said former resident of Lowndes county "On the opposite side of the swamp from the county town there dwelt for many years William Cheek, one of the largest land proprietors, slave-owners and cotton planters of Alabama, and relatives of his still reside in the neighborhood. Apart from his possessions in land and slaves, MT. Check was very wealthy in ready money. He built a grand old mansion of brick about a mile from the main road that runs between Haynevile and Mt. Willing, and south I-owndes, and there he lived a prince of the earth. When the fed
 eral soldiers under Wilson began what is historically kncwn as Will sons raid Mr. Cheek concluded that it was best for him to con- ceal his money. Sixty thousand dollars he buried in Big Swamp, near his home, and the identical place of hiding is not now known to any person. Other large sums he concealed in different places, and these, | too, are all lost, except few thousand dol lars found through the oldest of accidents. Long after the civil war had ended, man out shooting squirrels found a large pocket-book filled with money. Upon close examination of the surroundings he dis covered that squirrel had pushed the treasure out of a hollow stump. Mr. Cheek vas known throughout the Black5elt to be a man of large hoarded wealth, and Will sons raiders were not slow to ascertain the fact. These raiders went to Mr. Cheeks place and at once put him under arrest for no reason whatever except that he was charged with being wealthy. They subjected the old man to all sorts of tor lures in the attempt to force him to point out the hiding places of his money, going so far as to hang him by his thumbs and
 then by his neck; but every time they al- lowed him to get his breath he expended it by .cursing them bitterly. Finally they left him more dead than alive, and pro- ceeded to plunder his residence aO then befoul it namelesSly Subsequently, the raiding ruffians attempted once more to capture Mr. Cheek He fled across the fields upon his favorite mare. In attemnt- ing to clear wide ditch the animal fell backward, seriously injurins he masters spine Iie became unconseiousc Afterwards his mind was unbalanced by the cruelty to which he had been subjected by the raiders; and he was unable to remember the hiding places of his nloncy.'
 'If England should need any more sol-