The Washington herald., 1906-10-29
HEARD AT HOTELS.

eastern Alabama, Mr. r. E. L. Cope, a
guest Of the New Willard. told a Herald
man some interesting things regarding
his section of the South.
Il live" said he. "in Bullock County,
which is In the heart Of the black belt Of
our State. There are about FIVE negroes
in the county to every white. but what
We lack IN numbers I am proud 20 say
we make up in quality Of citizenship.
Union Springs, my home town, has the
handsomest public school building of any
town In Alabama and our teachers get
the highest salaries. We have some men
among US also who have done things that
should result in benefit to the whole
South If the people Of Dixie win only
profit by good example.
For instance. might mention what
has been accomplished by one Of our
worthiest men. a farmer named Turnip-
seed. whose estate is but few miles out
Of town Some years ago Mr.. TurniDseed
bought up big tract Of land ordinarily
elassed as worthless. being in the sandy
sell region, on the other side Of what is
locally styled The ridge. the chain Of
hills which separate The poor lands from
the richer prairie country, a division that
extends from the Atlantic 70 the Rockies.
He had conceived the idea that an IN
dustTious ami persistent planter would be
able TO make a fortune by growing on
this poor dirt peaches. strawberries,
pOmegranates- and other fruits. The thin
ner the soil the better it is for peaches.
well he has made a tremendous sue
cess Of his venture, having 1,25 acres
in peaches, on which he grows the most
magnificent fruit and from which he viii
some day derive a princely revenue. A.
it is he must take in not less than $4,000
year from his various pTydUcts. Next
TO peaches he is most deeply inter
ested IN growing something that few
Southern farmers have ever given at
teutiOn-pecans. He has z00 acres iu
pecan trees. averaging ten trees 70 the
acre. and they are now bearing hand
sOmely. From some Of these trees Mr.
Turnipseed gets enormous nuts Of such
thin hull and so fun OF oil as TO bring
Him the fans e~iec Of 8 a pound. Just
a single tree netted him this year $50
The very commonest nuts bring L L.
cents a pound and for the better grades
20 cents is the ruling price.
PecanS are something that the whole
I world wants; no nut begins to equal
. them, and the demand is and always viii
be far and away in excess of the supply
There are immense districts in The South
where the pecan win flourish, and its
culture IS not at all difficult With such
chance Of producing a crop for which
q ready cash return is certain It seems
strange that more people do not embark
in the business"
gentleman. who stood in front Of the
obliging hotel clerk in one of Wash
ington's finest establishments The clerk
dived down into a drawer and pulled
forth the required article It was Of vjr-
sin freshness and ia color the bluest
blue. The guest looked at it askance.
Cant you give me a white blotter?"
he said. After some search the clerk
was unable 10 find a white one. and the
man finally had 10 take the one first
offered, but he did it with manifest re-
Iuctance. As he moved away to his
epistolary Iabors. the clerk smiled and
remarked; 1t simply beats anything how
curiously men VIII act. even IN trivial
matters. That blotter / gave him was as
good IN quality as any white one; he
SlittEls Nil litA id4lL9 II uttrt use OF Us
color. Superstition Not q doubt OF Il
Why, you'd be surprised TO know what
queer bugs are in the brains OF people Of
seemingly high Intelligence. And. strange
y enougif, the male tribe furnishes all
these odd ones have been IN the hotel
business many years and I don't Te-
member enc0Untering any supersuGOUs
women. But the men. View. Every
day you run across some gnt-edged idiot
who is afraid Of a Jonah
why 0nly yesterday "a strapping big
fellow, elegantly dressed, gave me q JOLT
/ from which ! haven't quite recovered.
Money was no object, and 1 gave him
1 first-class room. The bellbOy went ahead
10 deposit his traps. In few seconds
down came Mr. Man. and approaching noe
/ quite close. said with an air Of deep
seriousness; I ike the room first-rate.
cid chap. but you'll have 70 change me
What's the trouble?' I said. 'Trouble2
/ Oh, nothing, except that blasted boy had
to so and place my umbrella down right
I in the middle of the bed. Do You think
I could ever sleep in the bed after that%
It's our business 10 agree with folks,
so I apOloEized for the servants indis-
cretion. and a change was speedily ef-
fected. the man gladly accepting "A much
inferior room. but with a bed innocent
/ OF contact with his umbrella
Mr.. George c. Mcintosh. who owns and
publishes two daily newspape in Charles
ton, and weekly papers III Fayetteville and
Paleigh. ". Va, was seen last evening al
the Raleigh Mr.. Mcintosh is one Of the
ablest and most influential editors Of his
State. and be has also been prominent for
years iu-Republican politics. being chair
man Of the committee Of the Third Con-
gressional district
The approaching elections" he said
"are bound to result in West Virginia in
a big Republican triumph l think we
shall elect solid delegation To Congress.
for though there is a pretty sJif fight be-
ing put up by the Democrats in the Sec
O1d district, il is conceded that all the
chances are in favor Of George c. Sfur-
CESS, the Republican nominee. In our dis
trict Mr.. Gaines viii have an easy tri-
umph.
At the Raleigh is Mr.. G. R. Martin. as
siStant comptroller Of the Great North
ern Railway. with headquarters at St
Paul He is in Washington as a mem
Der of a committee OF railway experts.
who were asked by the Interstate Com
merce Commission 10 get up for its bene-
fit. and that Of the railways, a plan OF
classification Of operating expenses so as
TO secure uniformity of reports by the
roads. as required by the Hepburn bill
"OuT part of the country" said Mr.
Martin, is in fine fix, the only trouble
being that we can scarcely get men
enough to perform the labor required
in every line of business. The scarcity
of hep affects the railroads and the
Great Northern. like all the rest, is pull
ing along with a force that is barely