The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-17

I<AA LAAA1 A1Cn veal CBAAlCS iAf lP11 bringing It's promises of the bright future. in addition to a large crop of new year resolutions and mid-winter colds, Eugene F. Ware will step down and out from the lofty posi- ton of pension commissioner. It will be a dark day for Washington when "Iron- quill" takes his departure from the haunts which he has illuminated by his picturesque personality. There will be no more 'Ironquill anecdotes for the corre- spondents, no more poetry and notices will grace the walls of the pension bu- reau and the quaint humor which Eugene brought with him from Kansas will revert back to that thrice blessed state. There Is an air of mystery about the resigna- ton of Pension Commissioner Ware, sc far as the public is concerned. The gen. tienan most interested states that he re- tires in order to resume the practice of law, but he talks in a vague way that leads one to believe that there Is some thing concealed behind the .countenanee of "Ironquill" It will be remembered that he has remarked on divers occasions that being pension commissioner Is not what the youth of the land term "cinch" There is deal of work as- soeiated with the job. and there Is bare possibility that Eugene F. Ware Is weary of the strenuous life. Belike, he longs again to roam the fields of Kansas and woo the elusive muse. It is hard to be poet and pension commissioner at the same time
 The murder of a noted negro miser in Kentucky serves to call attention to curious anomaly. Seldom indeed does one hear of negro miser. Penury is not one of the negro's faiiings, nor Is thrift one of his conspicuous virtues. In fact a ne- gro miser is so rarely found in the south that his presence anywhere would cause remark and something akin to wonder. ment. The average southern negro, es- pecially if he belongs to the uneducated, laboring class, troubles himself very lit tie about tomorrow. If he has enough to eat today and a place to sleep tonight, with clothes sufficient to cover his naked ness, he is not apt to remain awake very long worrying over problems of the fu- ture. Similarly, when one of the shift less southern negroes gets his hands on a sum of money the first thought that enters his mind Is how to spend 1t so that | it will make the greatest display. Per- haps 1t would be a good thing for the race If a miserly tendency were more pronounced, but after all the spendthrift Is better liked than the miser.
 l
 It is rumored that farmers in Warren county, New York, have formed a turkey trust with the avowed purpose of rais- ing the price of white meat to 30 cents a pound. While the movement has not spread very far 1t Is fraught with dire possibilities. Suppose a turkey pool should be formed in the land just at this time when everybody is hungry for tur- key and must have turkey in a few more days at any price? The very thought is painful. Traffic in coal, in oil, in beef, in bread, in lard and in cotton, even, but spare the Thanksgiving turkey from the odium of a trustl All deference and re- spect is due the American eagle, the bird of freedom, whose scream Is heard around the world, but what figure does the American eagle cut with the American turkey along about Thanksgiving day? When monopoly dares to lay its hand on turkey then will an indignant nation rise up and forever put down the octopus.
 Henry Watterson says that about all the democratic party has left is hope and the quality of that Is somewhat impaired. After waging a brilliant battle for dem- ocracy, Colonel watterson is going across the pond, where he will take a rest from