The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-26
FALSE MESSAGES
 ARE SENT BY WIRE Newspaper Correspondents and
 Others Are Victims WHlTEWASH IS NEEDED Lodge Reealia Firm Sends Objection. able Advertising Matter to Tal-
 Iadega Lodges-object to
 to Privilege License.
WHITEWASH IS NEEDED

Tauadega, September 25-CSpecial )-E'or the second time within year some person has used the name of the accredited correspondents of this city to injure the credit of resident dealer. Twelve months ago the information was falsely wired to The Age-Herald that J. G. Savery a resident coal dealer, had failed, the name of the local correspondent of that paper being signed to the wire. Investigation showed that some unknown person had phoned the special to the Telegraph com pany without the knowledge of the cor respondent, using the latters name. As a result of this false information Mir Savery lost the coal agency at this point.
 Another forgery has been perpetrated on the Telegraph company Our Mountain Home and the Birmingham and Mont gomery' newspapers by parties in Talla- desa, J, G. Savery and Mays & Oglesby, liquor dealers, being the victims.
 A short, chunky negro brought two tele- grams to the Western union office Mon day evening unaddressed in a plain en- velope and asked that they be forwarded at once. Mrs. DuBose, the operator, hesi- tated about opening them, but the negro insisted that he had brought them to the right place, notwithstanding the lack of address. The wire was signed Our Mountain Home" and contained the state ment that J. G. Savery and Mays SS Oges- by had failed. One of these was directed to the Montgomery Advertiser the other to the Birmingham News.
 The statement was untrue, as both of these firms are open and conducting busl- ness as usual. Both these specials were written on regular blanks, in the same handwriting-the chirography being fairly good. Our Mountain Home has offered a reward for evidence to convict the guilty party.
 The local Elks and lodge men are bit stirred up at the reception of printed folders and reading matter drumming them to supply regalia and lodge uni forms, on the back of which is full length picture of full blooded negro with collar and apron on. The cut of the coon on the back page is many times larger than the photograph of f1Ve-story brick building on the first page The Henderson Ames company of Kala- mazoo, Mich. won't be apt to sell many outfits to southern lodges unless the il- lustration is whitewashed
 A hotly contested criminal case, arous- ing more than local interest, was finished on yesterday afternoon. 1t was prose- cution against William Gerstman, local meat dealer and butcher, for selling tainted meat. After elaborate argument on both sides by able attorneys the jury spent several hours in deliberating, and at twilight returned a verdict of guilty against the defendant, assessing fine of S20.
 Mrs. John M, Caldwell and her little daughter of Birmingham spent several hours in the city route to Clearmont Springs, in order to test the curative effects of this celebrated resort
 John K. Irby has sold his livery busi- ness to Jones & Stapp of this county.
 Another cotton mill will at once be erected in this county at Butler Springs. Algernon Blair of Montgomery has been awarded the contract by the Coosa River Spinning company for the building of 10000 spindle cotton mill at this point, the work to be finished by February 1. 1908. When this is completed Talladega county will have six large cotton mills.
 The Birmingham and Atlantic railroad. through its president, Y. Vanderberg, has protested to the city council against the imposition of privilege tax of S25O by the city under its new license ordinance, the present tax being but s5O He states that the road operated last year with a deficit of over $l5000, and that the sum lost in the operation of the road since 1900 is over S1220Oo. The city council re- ferred the communication 10 the chair man of the finance committee, with in- structions that he take the matter up with the city attorney and report at the next meeting.