The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-08-29
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD

healthy cleanliness that lowered about the sailing ships and life on board was far more pict--@-aue than on our modern tramp steamers with their dingy hulls and rakish smokestacks. The adventur- ous glamour of the sea has been sadly dssipated by the great steam vessels that now ply the ocean. The element of danger Is practically removed and the chances of being delayed for days or weeks by rough weather, are eontingen- cies that are never considered. After all. the change has been a good one, for the keynote of this days life and activities Is not picturesque adventure but business, push, commercialism and the art of mak- Ing money.
 To continue on the subject of the sea and things salty the wrecked bark John R. stanhope, which sailed out of the port of Mobile, was passed in midocean a short time ago, drifting along at the mercy of wind and wave, her stern gone and her cargo washed out The derelict is the oceans tragic wanderer and has a strange interest for all people, whether sailors or landsmen. Floating adrift in all the immensity of the water, with not a liv- ing soul on board and frequently ghast- ly crew of corpses in the hold, disman- tied tramp of the sea. it never fails to stir the emotions of any one who has passed such boat on board ship Nowadays there are not so many derelicts as in the time of the sailing vessels and the great ocean liners never get in such a plight but there are enough sbarks and smaller vessels to give up an offering every year to Father Neptune.
 An amusing feature of the second race for the Americas cup was the warfare waged between the competing wireless telegraph companies. The atmosphere was badly chopped up and the patience of the operators sadly tried It is claimed that an electrical storm was superin- duced by the cloud of dispatches sent hurling shoreward but this may be an exaggeration. At any rate the storm was real enough among the representatives of the new system who were struggling for precedence. There were three Asta- tions established for the purpose of trans hitting news of the race. which was to be received from an equal number of boats out in the ocean. To say the re- suit was fiasco would be putting 1t mild ly. Only one intelligib1e message was re- ceived on shore and everything else was hopelessly mixed. Seeing that nothing was to be obtained by legitimate means the rivals proceeded to preempt the att mosphere. with the result that wireless telegraphy was temporarily put to route
 Now does the season of the burly foot ball hero approach. Soon the monarch of the gridiron will again be the pride of the ladies and the despair of other male animals of inferior attainments. Among the large eastern colleges the prospects for the coming season are being anxious 1y discussed and before many more weeks the aspiring candidates will be allowing themselves to be knocked about in the hope that they may be able to make the Varsity. Just when everything gets to running smoothly and a few players are laid up for repairs then the wise- acres will open the timeworn discussion of the brutality of football This harpinS
  winded this year as in former years. It would be fine thing if people could learn the doctrine of let alone" or in other words, mind your own business" It would seem perfectly natural for the parents of college students to be the per- sons most interested in such matters, but as a rule the most violent denouncers of football never played a game in their lives and have no sons vigorous enough to engage in the sport. Of course if the parents want to raise howl against the brutality of the game 1t Is permissible and their just prerogative but why other people, who have no earthly concern whether the fullback gets his back broken or not, should go Into spasms over the subject, is a profound mystery. P. c.