The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-26
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD

our streets. The two-minute trotter seems almost like a dream to the old-time horseman. but the phenomenon has come to stay and there Is no telling what the future has in store for the race track If next year Is marked by the progress made during the season of 1903 we may expect to see horses going the mile with remarkable speed.
 Henry T. Oxnard, the beet sugar king. has adopted novel plan to introduce his staple in the southwest. He has sent out a number of good-looking young ladies who are expected to be eminently suc- cessful in convincing people that beet sugar is just as good, if not little better, than the cane variety. In south ern California it Is stated that a thou sand pounds of cane sugar are used to one hundred of beet sugar. In this field the fight for supremacy has been start ed. If the girls are as handsome as re- ported and are endowed with the average talking abilities of the sex there is no reason why they should not do land- office business.
 
 America is great country and her peo- pie are even greater This is illustrated by the fact that a promoter owns six companies all bankrupt, and all suing one another, with himself the chief plaintiff and defendant in all the cases. Where else could such state of affairs be dupli- cated? Not in England, surely, although Mir. Whitaker Wright has proven him self to be a remarkable organizer In no other country has the promoting" idea gained such a deep hold on business men and some of them frequently come to grief as result of their eagerness to ''cor- ner" a particular staple. Up in New Jersey about fourty-four infant indus tries" have recently gone to the wall and the end is not yet in sight. After all the surest way to amass wealth is by slow steps The word promoter" has come to have a suspicious sound to eau tious persons, but there are always enough suckers" to subscribe for the stock of a new corporation, no matter what it is. No wonder we are noted for our financiering ability: We scheme so much that our business men cannot help but receive excellent training in the tricks of trade
 It is reported that S. Uchida, Japanese consul, stationed at New York, is plan ming to colonize a number of Japanese in the rice growing sections of Texas It is also proposed to manufacture mat ting and artificial flowers in addition to establishing a distillery for making pake from the rice, Governor Lanham has been consulted on the matter and 1t is probable that the offer will be favorably received by people of the Lone Star State. A colony of energetic industrious Japan csc would make a very desirable addition to the population of any state. These people rank high among the great number of immigrants who come annually to our shores. It has been remarked that if all our new citizens were Irish, Danes Ger man farmers and Japanese we would do very well. As artizans the Japanese are unsurpassed. If the project to colonize them in Texas does not fail we may ex- pect to hear from their achievements be- fore many years have passed. They will be excellent material to supplant the fast disappearing bad man and his bosom friend the cowboy.
 Many gold seekers at Nome are now badly in need of funds to get out of the far north before winter arrives. To add to their embarrassment steamship com panes have announced that rates for tickets home will be raised Numbers are expecting to take passage on the last boats and they will be chagrined to find that the fare has been doubled. It seems that the New El Dorado has not proven such desirable place after al Many laborers have returned to Seattle after period spent at Nome and they say that conditions there are very disappointing. There was not even enough work for ev- eryone. On account of shortage in funds 1t now seems that there will be many prospectors in the gold fields unable to get home this winter unless they receive aid. P C.