The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-21
AT WORK FOR THE
 STREET CARNIVAL
LADIES SOLICITING STOCK FOR COUNTRY STORE ARE MEETING WITH GREAT sUccEss-MEET. ING CALLED FOR TODAY.

Rarely if ever before in Birmingham has any charitable project met with the enthusiastic advance success that is daily crowning the work of the various committees in charge of the Orphans Home carnival and Greater Birmingham Spring festival which is to be held dur ing the week of May g.
 Especially does this apply to the labors of the country store committee, now busy in procuring, through the liberalIty of the local merchants, an immense stock for that feature of the carnival. The members of this committee at the pres ent time are devoting all their efforts to the work of calling upon the merchants of Birmingham in quest of donations No cash is being asked for nor is 1t wanted. All that Is requested, or hoped for, from the merchants is the presenta- tion' for the good of the Orphans home, of some small items that can be placed upon the shelves of the old fashioned country store.
 Stock that Is out of date Is all right for the ladies' purposes; likewise shop worn goods and odds and ends. This does not mean that trash" Is accepta- ble, and the fact that nearly every mer- chant has on hand a certain amount of leftover stock from other years, does away entirely with the probability of trash being proffered.
 There is always a world of fun to be had at a properly conducted country store" and the one to be operated at the coming street fair will be one of the best.
 Here will be found, when the carnival begins, an assortment of goods so di- versified in character, so variegated In classification, as to prove laugh-provok- ing up to the hystercal point.
 Imagine a swell society man and his best girl. stepping up to the counter long enough to plank down 20 cents, the price of two tickets. The sealed envelopes are drawn from bunch of others, torn open and the numbered ticket enclosed decides the article that has been drawn. Not in- frequently the bashful "chappy" finds to his consternation that This" is a pair of corsets, which the country store clerk unrols and spreads out before she hands them to their purchaser And the blush ing maiden. what has she drawn? The number on her ticket tells the tale. If it is a piano, or a rubber tired runabout, or a gold watch. a diamond ring or a silver toilet set. she is happy but If 1t happens to prove a pair of overalls she promptly faints, or feels very much like doing so
 And so the fun goes on, never a dry moment Somebody always buying tick cts and getting the goods they have drawn from the opening of the carnival gates until frequently long after the pandemonium of the shows spiders has been quietd near midnight.
 The greater the country store stock, the greater the fun, and as fun at a carnival means success, it is but fair to presume that the merchants of the city will do all in their power to help make the country store for the Orphans home one great big bowling success
 A special meeting of the ladies serving on the country store committee has been called by Miss Susie E. Fleming, the committee chairman, for this morning at St Paul's hall, 10 o'clock. Every lady who Is connected with the country store work is urged to be present for the pur- pose of perfecting final plans and lines of work.