The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-02
BY WILL n. sHEEHAN.

I
 The Black Belt City of Selma is city of homes. Its aboreal wealth, Tor the wide and spacious streets are all put overaIched with splendid oaks, the he run beneath, these trees are lined with well Kept lawns which set on the handsome homes well painted and well ward characteristics of the old South
 It is these things. the shade. the sresd verandas hs whch a's give noos the city its distinction, distinction which Is by no means inconsiderable. For be it known that cities are like indiyid- very appearance while others are manifestly of the ordinary and the common. A distinct individuality may give 'r 1t @ uniauens:s. eSy ASty' efty may stand out as noticeably prominent among its fellows. for one or another phase s s on s or Seshs sven or attractiveness may overstep his fel- lows.
 So the peculiarity of the Sc, Southern n whose ways of life have been largely reserved through all the years by its proverbial conservatism sets Selma Is little if any exaggeration. in the statement that for it's size according to the rules of percentage Selma nas | more UOIHcS anu ulOT6 pCOpiC tiNC liA their own homes in Selma than in any other Alabama city.
 | It is no less true. too. that more attention is paid to. the building. the in Selma than in any other city of the State. Even so is the assertion that sepa @ has aessr his home than has the business or the professional man of other sections of
 All this comes home to man who looks over the city's outspread of dis play of homes, ranging from the neat and well painted cottage to the stattlX mansion with the large mean of homes between the class of costly but not ex- pensive structures of the well to do. those which show on their faces that In late years the modern structure in Selma has begun to assume the ascendancy. Time was when city SO essentially Southern of necessity had its residential districts characterized rsposefuI architecture of the old iy in evidence in the Dallas capital. Although the modern buildings have become, perhaps more numerous. there thst I S they. so in 1fs Themselves @ as give give dis. t as the city of all the State wnish h,5 spscloas sas sTse' ans big rSemed cd From this circumstance it comes about | that Selma in this year of 1905. pre- serves more of the outward semblance of the typical Southern city as 1t was known about the time of the war than any other Alabama community. A pride in the old order. a conservatism more or less. jealous of the advent of change in the home and in the life of the family have preserved to a con- siderable extent not only the old GUS, homes in which other years they were lpursued or found expression.
 A City of Homes. | The repose and the comfort of such a style of 1iVIng are sufficiently impress sive and are adequate for its existence. In the making of a home many years the builder turns over the structure to the, owners. The thousand and one little touches that in the years make perhaps the chieftest of all its dis this idea tasteful and beautiful touches in the verandas. with their palms and flower dressings, the curved cement walks. the harmonious architectural treatment have been added to the max whole upon those avenues which are streets, A green and trim lawn, edged with flowers. spacious verandas built near the level of the ground and only two. or three feet above the cement walks are. general features of the | hohOS Sh0e 0SS oAA0 SASSS
 Nor is there anything monotonous about the older homes of the city Southern hom0s. The terms "an old style Southern house" or ''an old Colo nial home" have been taken in the two story house with immense Cor front, This style of architectare is familiar enough, the old two story house set usually in spacious grounds with the big Ivllars running from the wide veranda near the ground to the over the door and leading from the hall of the second story a little porch sometimes held in place by an iron sup many and many adherents in the old CT days. It was an elastic plan winch, while 1t was accommodating enough on means 1t gave. on the other, opportu nifty for a heavy expenditure to the man who was possessor of an ample fortune; It naturally followed that in such old style homes. built upon the idea of the old Greek temple front should, on various plantations and In various cities of Alabama differ from that of the man who put up the build l ing of wood with the big pillars cum ningly made of flooring or scantling to the man who built the Corinthian columns of his home of cement or brick and who added to the sides of the structure wide porte cochere of brick.
 But all the old style houses were not built upon that plan. The Greek temple front style of architecture has become identified with the South, but it is doubtful after all is said and done if 1t Is more typical of Southern streets and Southern plantations than the wide spread homes of one story with ram bling els or spacious projecting wings It is perhaps possible that this plan of building home, with it's wealth of floor space, its wide halls, its spreading verandahs in the front and in the rear has been more generally followed in the South. Being so essentially and conservatively Southern, Selma has its full complement of these rewtful and inviting residences scattered among its trees and lawns.
 There are other aspects to the daily life of the Central City which attract and invite imitation. There is for in- stance the completeness with which business Is put aside late in the sum mer afternoons and the streets are fill ed with driving parties and pedestrians who are wooing the cool air of the sum mer evening The. prevalence of vehicles of every sort from a dashing modern driving cart, or it might be said from the automobiles to the worn buggy with the family horse Is suf- hcient to excite comment. This array of buggies and horses, this unusual nf tA Ia