The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-11-24
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD

A HE horse show is an event of " much importance to Gothamites
 as well as to the country at large. While 1t provokes shafts of wit in some quarters and sarcasm in others 1t Is an interesting American custom that does no harm. Although 1t may he high ly absurd for the elect to sit in boxes, dressed in their finest feathers, while the populace stare in admiration and the horses are forgotten 1t is also amusing. The New York horse show is not a horse show at all but a clothes show and the fine animals are merely a subsidiary attraction to give an excuse to society for displaying itself. It is certainly no cruelty to the animals for in spite of clothes some attention must be paid to breeding the horses for exhibition and they do not feel the indifference of, spec tators. The show this season seems to have been a very successful one and some beautiful animals were to be seen. Metropolitan newspapers have had plen- ty of copy furnished them, the boarding house contingent has enjoyed reading the stuff, society is well pleased with the impression made, the horses are neither turned out satisfactory to all concerned.
 The Louisville fire department has cer- tainly been placed in bad light by the allegations made that six of the men engaged in wholesale footing during the fire which destroyed the old Masonic Temple block a few days ago. If press dispatches are to be believed there were more than six concerned and much valu- able property was carried away People are so accustomed to considering firemen as popular heroes that it is something of a shock to hear them called thieves This is only another illustration of the old saying that there are black sheep in the best regulated families The practice of footing at fires has become so common that firemen do not think they are more entitled to plunder than dsnterested spectators who take no risk There Is no difference in carrying off another mans property when his house is burn ing and carrying it off when the owner Is asleep but many warped brains do not see the matter that way. In the case of a professional thief fire merely offers more advantages for playing his trade. The coolness O. the Louisville fire fighters in trying on shoes while burning rafters were falling about them was remarka- ble and if they had utilized their daring to better purpose they would not now stand dsgraced Bremen are the last people in the world an average citizen would accuse of plundering. Policemen sometimes fall from the narrow path anu other public officials are susceptible to temptation but 1t is a sad blow to hear such tales of the firemen. Fortu- nately for the credit of the country at large and firemen in general the Louis- vile episode Is anything but the rule
 The sensational papers are very fond of digging up distant cousins of million. aires and allowing them to die of starva- tion in attics. Here of late several such cases have been reported. There are front row beauties in the chorus who whisper of their kinship to the Astors or the Vanderbilts and struggling young men by the score are proud of being cous- ins 250 times removed. Such vanity is snobbery of the most disgusting sort but