The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-07-30
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD


 time" and not plantation melodies. Even at that she has been guilty of sacrilege in speaking of the two in one breath. All the old dialect songs of the south were written by white people and all that now appear are the work of white people, unless, perhaps, some of Paul Lawrence Dunbars poems have been set to music. The suggestions were no doubt all de- rived from the plantation negroes in sla- very times but they did not write the songs.
 Now Is the period when 1t is decidedly hot weather in the corn belt People who live in the states near the coast or on the shores of cooling lakes can hardly realize the scorching heat that now pre- walls in the corn fields of Nebraska and Missouri Out there the sun beats down with sizzling rays and every living being seeks shade with parched tongue and panting nostrils. Yet this heat, uncom- fortable though 1t may be, is in a meas ure welcome, because it is needed to ripen the corn crop. Especially Is this the case this year, because the crop is late and early maturity Is essential. It is reported that in some districts Old Sol Is becoming a little too industrious, and his heat has caused the leaves of the corn to curl up and there Is danger of drought. General reports are very hope full, however, and it seems that the great staple crop is advancing finely. The won- derful resources of this favored land are illustrated by the fact that these same farmers a short time ago were bewailing that floods and heavy rainfall would pre- clude all hope of even a fair yield. Now they are shouting for help to garner in the grain.
 Since the death of Whistler, the great English artist. the papers of the two nations England and America, have been filled with stories of his eccentricities and new word has been coined by which they may be designated. The new insult to the long-suffering English language is .'Whistleriana,p and is enough to make Webster turn over in his grave. Along with carlylese and the other linguistic monstrosities it takes it to stand, and will continue to inflict the long suffering puDlc unul the 1maBlnaIlOn or the NnlSL- Ter story tellers is exhausted.
 This Is indeed the accepted time for dealers in omens to get busy and pre- dict all kinds of horrible things for the remainder of the year. They would be justified by the record of past events at any rate. Thinking persons have asked if the year 1903 is bent upon wiping the "Annus Mirabilis" from the human calen- dar. In the first place the weather man was guilty of many freaks. It took the southern people a long time to decide if it were spring, summer winter, and when this doubt was removed a drought of fifty days began with all kinds of troubles thrown in, including the mosqui- to. Wall street seems to be paralyzed, storm fire flood and disasters of varied hue have struck the land in rapid sue cession. Mob law and riot have been ram- pant, and some of the darkest crimes that have ever been perpetrated by American people have been laid at the doors of American mobs during the past six months. Aside from lynchings, rapes and murders galore, even the suicides have made a record, and many unfortunates have dared to try another world.