The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-01-19
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD

places with bit of a girl7 What though he may be the only man in the elevator to remove his hat and the only man in a trolley car to resign his seat? The les son of his courtesy might be well taken to heart before the demands of the strenu- ous life blot out the last traces of a period when every one had time to be ohivalrous.
 Thomas Queer is dead at Wooster, Ohio. Queer lead a very queer life. He had been mourned as dead forty years before his actual demise occurred He quarreled with his wife Mrs. Queer, fifty years ago and left home After he had been gone ten years news of his death was receiv- ed. Ten years ago he returned and tried to come to terms with Mrs. Queer but failed. When Queer went away from home he left Mrs. Queer with two dauRh- ters who were also Queer. He refused to tell where or how he spent the fifty years of his absence and there was some- thing queer about his life. Mrs. Queer is still living at the age ofN91. What has become of the Queer daughters is not stated. This Is queer world and that was a Queer family.
 The "redoubtab1e" John L, has discov- cred new field and is now a bright particular adornment of the lecture plat form. He has made his debut under fiattering auspices, and there is no dan ger of the former heavyweight champion not being able to draw full house." although his lecture is neither a master piece of rhetoric nor a symposium of learning. Sullivan just talks" and if he succeeds in keeping away from John Barleycorn for while he may be able to make some money There is no rea- son why pugilists should not take their proper place on the lecture platform. Everybody else is there, and it is not meet that such husky profession should be without representative.
 Ere long sages will gravely remark that the backbone of winter is broken. This world would indeed be a place of painful pauses were it not for the wealth. CT. Let humorists vent their airy per- sifage at will. The weather is and al- ways will be live topic
 Now that they are safely out it. Rus sian troops and non-combatants are de- claring that Stoessel "gave awayp Port Arthur. Yet none will deny that the Japs were in earnest about taking 1t away, General Stoessel is hero, even if he did not carry out his threat to make Port Arthur his tomb and while there are many wild stories flying about, his friend, General Nogi will vouch for the valor of the Russian general.
 Now they are talking about showing Ben Hur" in tent When that comes to pass it will be circus. Birmingham did well to take a last look at the chariot race this week.
 The fact that California reports a pro- duction of 125,O0O,OOO pounds of prunes during the past year offers food for re- fection as we'll as digestion. One hun- dred and twenty-five million pounds of prunes! The quantity is appalling. That is one pound of prunes for every person in the United States and some 35,OOO 900 pounds to scatter around in Europe Fur thermore, there were enough prunes pro- duced by California in 1904 to give sev- eral prunes to every inhabitant of the globe and still have a few left over. Clearinghouse frequenters can be ex- cused for shuddering at such a stupen- dous output of prunes. Cranks have been known to live altogether on prunes, under the delusion that this fruit promotes the simple life and longevity What goes with California's 12500O,0O0 pounds of prunes Is not hard to answer They are eaten, and while the prune is not uniyer- sally popular, it dominates the dinner table to an extent realized by few people. P. c.