The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-08-04
! EAR ADMIRAL GEORGE ".
 MELVILLE was retired from

H EAR ADMIRAL GEORGE ". | " MELVILLE was retired from
 the active list of naval officers Saturday and notable figure in Amer lean public life has passed Into the se- clusion of private life. Admiral Melville career in the United States navy was a long and distinguished one. He entered service in the days of the old wooden ships and has been deservedly called the father of the new navy" He did not have the advantages of a course at the Annapolis academy but entered the navy from Brooklyn engineering works. Ad- miral Melville saw service in the North Atlantic squadron, on the James, and on the Mississippi During the war he gained the confidence of his brother offi- cers by his courage and lofty principles.
 For his connection with the disastrous expedition of the Jeanette to the artic regions Admiral Mellvllle's name will al- ways be noted in the annals of north pole exploration. In addition to enduring the rigors of the far north he has done much for the navy in an engineering way and has written some valuable books He has also been greatly in demand as a speaker at announcements of technical schools on account of his extensive knowledge of engineering subjects. Admiral Melville retlres from the American navy possess ing the esteem and affection of the Am eriean nation and his friends in all parts of the country desire that many years of pleasant literary labors may yet be vouchsafed to the grizzled veteran.
 An American recently purchased an old house In London which is positively stat CT to be the "Old Curiosity Shop" im- mortalized by Charles Dickens He, will bring the quaint old structure to this country. The question has been asked if American are still buying gold bricks. To stranger and a person who has not lived intimately associated with such relics of the past 1t Is extrmely difficult to discover when he is being imposed up- on. Frequently the "rare and valuable" works purchased by wealthy Americans have turned out to be of the most recent manufacture, are not especially valuable and not at all rare. It has even been hinted that J. Pierpont Morgan. with his professional connoisseur and his own boasted knowledge of art, has been swindled by the willy dealers of the Old World more than one time However that may be, 1t is well known that there are skiful workmen in Germany and France who make large sums of money turning out painting of the 'old mast CTS, bits of antique bric-a-brae and other articles which gullib1e Americans are anxious to buy and the owners equally as anxious to sell. One of the best known examples of this kind was the purchase by Americans of a house in London which they thought had been occupied by Sir Isaac Newton. It later turned out that the transaction was all colossal swindle.
 Cyrus Townsend Brady, the we'll known author, has written a pretty story en- titled The Southerners," the scenes of which are laid in Mobile. The story treats of the stirring days prior to and during the civil war. Streets and incidents of the old town are vividly described and the defeat of the confederate battleship Ten nessee in the naval battle between Faragut and Buchanan in Mobile bay is one of the most exciting events chronicled in the novel. Through the book runs a pretty love story which adds much to it's