The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-08
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD

AGES and would-be philosophers @1 extol the delights of the simple O life while standing amid the bus tie of the strenuous life, yet thousands of people are following the Wagnerian precepts, not because they realize that in simplicity lies happiness, but because they were born into an environment from which they have never emerged. To them there is no other life. They are happy with peaceful joys because they know little and care less about frenzed pleas purse. They go the even tenor of their way. undisturbed by the worlds alarms and safe in the security of oblivion. Just as their joy is not demonstrative so are the bangs of grief soothed and soon for gotten. They lead lives of equlpoise and while their names and achievements are not proclaimed by fame's report, they possess a boon that is without price. a treasure striven after by prince and pau per alike-contentment.
 There are many small towns in the south, away from the railroads and re-
 
 the simple life Is the only life that is understood. In these hamlets there are few events to break the monotony of a commonplace existence. Here peace and plenty reign. There Is ealmness and seren- ity on the faces of the people; there are no hunted glances no frenzied stares- none of the agonizing expressions that mark the masses pushing and mauling in the world for what is called 'place. " Here a small competence is enough Riches are little more than a burden and there is no incentive to strive after vast wealth. The class distinctions of society are not onerous; honest worth is recog- nized and piety is set at It's proper value. Work within the bounds of reason Is deemed essential but nerve wracking toll is unknown.
 There is such a town in Alabama. a beautiful little hamlet where the echoes of the world are but faintly heard A few small stores and twelve or fifteen families constitute the town The rush of the express train Is never heard, the rattle of machinery does not frighten the birds, and no chimney stacks belch forth smoke. There Is none of the noise, the uproar, the confusion and none of the wretchedness that characterizes life in a large city. In summer a drowsy calm prevails and in winter the people gather about blazing fireplaces, where hickory logs crackle in the flames and a picture of domestic bliss is presented that puts tO ch 10 of ct ar,1- heated flat The hills are very blue around this village. In spring and summer they resemble nothing so much as the delicate traceries of master painter or pastels of nature drawn by the hand of a subtle colorist. In summer these people ride and drive through a country that Is smiling and endowed with modest beauty, but the hand of progress is not much in evidence. They dwell in an eddy of the stream of life, They are out of the swift ly moving current and they live ql etly here. noting but few changes in the flight of time
 One day is very much like another in this little town. The two great events in the life of the people are a death and a marriage. The one is a sole topic of con- versation for weeks in advance and the latter fingers long in their memory. A boy and a girl are born. They grow up and some of their friends go out into the world, but they remain. There is an Acadian courtship, then a marriage in the little white church and the two young people settle down to live out their lives as their parents did before them. The years pass quietly. More children ar rive. The snows of age rest on the parental heads as the two old people descend the hill of life gently, hand in hand. One CT the other must go first and soon the day of parting comes. The father and mother die peacefully, one af- ter the other. They are placed in simple coffins, the little white church is visited again and then the bodies are buried side by side In the churchyard, where cedar trees grow all about, green, moss-covered tombstones rise like sentinels and old roses grow profusely. These people don't preach the simple life, they live it. As an evidence of the fact that yellow fever is beginning to affect the prosperity of some of the southern towns in the fe- yer zone the Shreveport Times. an excel lent paper announces that 1t will con- sist of only four pages until quarantine restrictions are lessened and there is re- vival of business. Advertising patronage in Shreveport will not justify the publi- cation of an eight-page paper under the existing conditions and the Times has been forced to yield to the inevitable. There are two excellent reasons why it
 Is to be hoped that yellow fever may soon be stamped out-one is public safety and the other Is public prosperity. Unless the situation improves Louisiana will suffer keenly.
 Theatregoers should begin to sit up and take notice. "Alice-Sit-by-the- Fire" and .AlI-of- -Sudden-Peggy" will be two of the dramatic offerings for the coming season, while there are others" with titles equally bizarre.
 Professor Garner, the Simian expert, will make another expedition to the Con- go for the purpose of studying monkeys in their native habitat. By stopping at Newport a while he may be able to take down a few notes
 With Governor Jeff" Davis of Arkan- sas aspiring to a seat in the senate and already engaged in a hot campaign to defeat Senator Berry. the state has a political fight on her hands that is worth while. Governor Davis stands unique