The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-13
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD

down to the corner of the desk in easy fashion, an expression of mild satisfac- ton OF his face and calm look in his eye. Jrst as he turned the corner he found himself confronting the pelicans. Neither bird gave any signs of life. so he lifted his head slightly and was on the point of turning away. Just then there was a streak of brown neck, huge bill shot out about three feet further than the dog thought it could reach and ca- nacious mouth closed about his head. There was a frightened yelp and the dog made 2 break for safety, a sadder and wiser canine. He had thought he was safely out of reach and did not dream that he was to be the victim of rub ber-neck."
 The latest fad of the Puritan maid who
 resides up about Boston is to roll cigar cites for her swain when he comes to pay a call. With delft fingers and many a pretty motion the girl manufactures mail" out of embossed paper delicately tinted and after the youth has placed 1t between his lips she offers a Tight" Here is a fruitful theme for the reformers. Is the youth of the land to be sent to prison and the insane asylum by the sweet temptation of his lady-love? Is his manhood to be sapped and his brain warped by the pernicious effects of so- ciety cigarette merely for the sake of the fad, ct cetera?-These are few sug- gestions that the evangelists might use to advantage.
 After all a mans stomach may not be such a valuable part of his anatomy as dyspeptics suppose. A recent operation performed on Pennsylvania man has ap- parently inconvenienced him but little, for he has been discharged from the hos pital and is now enjoying life as much as his fellows. Now here Is a cure for in- digestion and kindred complaints that ought to prove effective. If your stomach offends you, cut it out, or rather have it cut out, and then you will know what it is to be happy even though you sub sist on your wifes cooking. Indigestion could certainly have little fears for the man without a stomach.
 The ghost story does not figure very prominently In literature, except in Shakespeares Hamlet and Macbeth and few other great works. But the ghost stories in Hamlet" and In Mac beth" are merely incidents to the play. 1 The ghost story that Is a ghost story from beginning to end and pretends to be
 nothing else in literature is rare. In fact
 It Is so rare that in volume of twenty five ghost stories recently compiled by w. B. Holland only two names of note appear in the list of authors-those of Edgar Allen Poe and Guy de Maupassant. "The Black Cat" by Poe and ''The Played l Hand" and From the Tomb" by Mau- passant are represented in the collection. l The remaining twenty-two stories are by
 writers little known, while a number of 1 them are anonymous. Yet there is great fascination about a ghost story,
 whether it is told at the fireside to ave- struck listeners or read in book. Here
 is a fine field for the imaginative writer,
 but the fact that he is dealing with sub 1 feet that is often ridlculed robs his work l of the dignity it would otherwise possess. 1 It is hard to believe that an author is In earnest when he Is telling a ghost story. P. c.