The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-21

The Huntsville Democrat was then the leading paper of North Alabama. It was the first newspaper I ever be- came a subscriber to, and I enjoyed the reading of it very greatly. It was published by Philip Woodson, and cost 8 year.
 The Mobile Register. weekly. cost s5. as did The New Orleans Picayupe and others of the large daiiies.
 The leading newspapers of Alabama at that time were The Mobile Register, Mobile Tribune and Mobile Advertiser. Montgomery Advertiser. Alabama Jour- nal. Montgomery Mail, Huntsville Democrat, Huntsville Advocate, Tus- caloosa Monitor. Tuscaloosa Observer, and a few others. John Forsyth was editcr of The Mobile Register. and l don't suppose that Alabama ever had an abler or more influential editor. He was a power both with the pen and with the tongue. The same may be said of Charley Langdon. IL was my pleas ure in those days to meet and know many of the prominent newspaper men of our Stlte-Forsyth, Langdon, Jonse Hooper, Thaddeus Sanford, Charley Haynes, Dennis Dykous, Ballentyne and many others of the county and dis trict distinction. But they are gone,
 
 The last editorial has been written and the last form placed away. We hope and pray that the Great Proof Reader has given them the plaudid of Well done," and a home of blessedness in the House of Many Mansions. In thinking of the editors of forty-five years ago, I am reminded of the fa- miIiar lines in Ben Bolt '-"Of all the friends who were school mates then there remain, Ben. but you ane L. Of all my acquaintances of that time who were in the newspaper work, there re- main, so far as l know, only Alfred Agee of Monroe County and myself Agee was editor of The Claiborne Southerner. The paper and the town of Claiborne, then quite business centre, have both passed away.
 I feel more and more. as time passes away and eternity is nearer at hand the responsibility of the newspaper edi- tor and writer. l imagine few of us appreciate, as we should, the responsi- bf.ity of our position. We are talking to large audience every week, some of us every day, and we should seek to talk right and truthfully. so that we may make better men and women Of our readers. We should seek to im- pl ove the morals of youth and of age ara UudhG IuGfH OCttCE anu WASGk dC NhS days are passing by.
 Since we last met, Levy, Mayer Pope, Jemison, Monroe and Grubbs have passed to "the land of the here after and can meet us here no more. Who will be the next to go? No one, perhaps, of this Association, judging from a human standpoint, is more like ly to be called than your aged reader It shall be his desire in the brief fu- ture to so conduct himself that the in- fiuence he has, however insignificant il may be, shall be to make the world better. In the language of another, if I have little of the spirit that would raise mortals to the skies, l trust that I may have ntne of that other spirit that would pull angels down.
 MT. Grants paper was listened to with intense interest-indeed, it was one of the most pleasant features of the day His misgivings. as set forth in his or ening, were groundless, for! on motion of Mir. Rhodes, it was voted unanimously to preserve the paper by publishing it in the proceedings.
 Permanent Meeting Place.
 Mr. Salter of The Evergreen Courant offered A resolution naming Montgom- erv as the place of meeting, unless in- yitation be accepted to meet in some other place. Referred to Committee on Resolutions.
 F Increasing Number of Officers. k. MT. Williams of The Mountain Home offered the following:
 Resolved, that Section 1 of Article of the Constitution be amended to read -four vice presidents" instead of two with the President and Secretary ex-of- flcio members and the Executive and Legislative Committees to be com posed of eight instesd of five members.
 This was referred to Resolutions and subsequently favorably reported and adopted.
 Annual Grafton.
 Hon. H. S. Doster of the Prattvills Progress the annual orator was then introduced to the audience and deliv- cred the following address. The Press and Its Power for Good.
 By H. l.. Doster.
 MT. President, and Fellow Members Of
 the Alabama Press Association,
 Ladies and Gentlemen:
 You will permit me to extend to you my sincere and heartfelt appreciation for the kindness by which l am per mitted to speak to you. Why l have been ClQSCH TUT lAAS OAAASS &S SAS @ AAAA tieth Anniversary of our Press Asso- ciation by my generous friends I can not understand except on the ground that the empty wagon is the one that rattles the most.
 Way down among the rural scenery in my native county of Autauga- where the birds sing the sweetest, the sun shines the brightest, and the Ilowers bloom the most fragrant, there were seated on a log, uncle Sam and his venerable wife. Upon the lap of the old lady was a basket of salad. What you swine ter do with them salads, old lady, exclaimed uncle Sam. Why Sammy Is gwine to cat them, she says. What, wife ,eat them salads? Why, old lady, they will kill us. The old lady thought for a while, and then leaning over she whispered to her old man, Sammy I have struct plan,e we will first try them on our son John. and if they don't hurt him, they won't hurt us.
 Now Mir. President, shall first ad- dress the gentlemen present, and If my remarks do not too seriously affeet them. I shall venture to briefly refer to the ladies; the ladies who in the past have so nobly stood by the Press and who honor us and grace this oc- casion with their presence.
 It is with a mingled feeling of hesita- tion and sadness that l appear before you on this occasion. It is with feeling of hesitation because am aware of the fact that this office hes in the past been filled by some of Ala bama's most distinguished speakers. and by those far more able to enter tain and instruct you than myself. It