The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-12
cL ALBCRNE AND ITS PEOPLE LN7T4E DA YS BEFORE THE WAR
m ACHE WRITES or PIONEER LIFE IN AN ALABAMA RIVER TOWN, WITH ITS VARIOUS CHAR
 ACTERs or NOTE IN THOSE DAYS.
BY N. A. AGEE

AV4 V46xk6 Vx &F~S.
 BY N. A. AGEE.
 When friends solicited me to write %rsminiscences" for the press, I feared would be hampered with the frequent use of the personal pronoun T.. was not mistaken. but am unable 10 eubstitute a better word. I assure the gentle reader that it is not egotism or vanity, but necessity that prompts Its use. What have to be vain CT /! It cannot be earthly honors or ricnes. what then? have not solved the problem of perpetual motion, nor squared the circle. did not first ois- cover the North Pole. but may yet put In my claim. If I succeed In iocat- ing the South Pole. may become siated and inflated. Vanity m Lora Byron might be excused If hattery as pictured by Pollock could turn . mor- tAla head. s41e touched his harp and nations
 heard entrsnced;" W4ts wrote in favor of his wickedness; And kings to do him honor took de- Thus. fuii of titles. iattery. honor Beyond desire, beyond ambition fell.
 He died---ne died of what? Of wretch edness. Drank every cup of joy. heard every trump of fame; drank early. deeply drank: drank draughts mat common millions might have quenched; then died of thirst. because tnere was no more to drink"
 All is vanity and vexation of spirit. eayeth the preacher. Solomon did not aIiude to vain men. puffed up with ar rorance, but to the vanities. deceits and aliuremenfs of the world. l have seen the .'vanity Fair." the vanities of the world. and aiasi have expen. enced much ''vexation of spirit put excuse me from vanity.
 ~Fame's but a hollow echo; gold pure Honor. but the darling of one short yams. honor. beauty. state. train blood Are but the fading blossoms o1 'ne
 earth"
 am conscious that much l write IS cammon pIace. but some portions may serve to "point a moral" If not eoorn
 Betwixt the yellow fever panic or 5ssa the Federal General Lucas's raio fr April, 1865, footing my ofice ana dwelling; the burning of my omce m fs7e. there were left no papers 10 aio these "reminiscences. Nevertheless. witn this explanation and apology p'o- ceed.
 Claiborne ia 1882.
 My father, William Raiford Agee' moved his family to Claiborne In lss2, was then years old. He purcnaseo a dwalling near the Alabama River and near d bayou, or ravine. opening up from the river. and extending into the middle or heart of the town. u was necessarily an unhealthy location, ana eicixnsss proved it.. Chills and fever, bilious fever and every other disease were seemingly my inheritance; caIo- mel. castor oil, salts and senna ana re- ruyian bark were my staple det' doctor. so-called, lived on the adjacent block and it was convenient 10 cal him for the least ailment-, Whether ne had Q diploma or license 10 XII peopIe or not, I have always doubted. But he had all confidence in himseil. ana never hesitated to prescribe his regu- iation nostrums (lkill or cure)-tne most viliianous compounds a sick poy was ever forced to gag at and swallow | thought then that the doctor was not much concerned whether his s"physic" killed or cured, and nave condition lasted for five years till the death of two of the children made dan ger a reality. and we found home away from the bayous and ponds.
 Claiborne was not then healthy place. There were gall berry ponds all around, and after heavy rains there was a pond of water on the main street in the centre of the town. The boys improvised fiat boats and had royal time navigating. and. ducks and geese had a good swimming pool. They would have made fine frog farms and celery beds. No wonder bilious fever. brain fever and congested fever brought a carnival of death!
 Yet 1t never seemed to occur to the sapient heads of Councilmen or others that these nurseries for mosquitoes should be abolished, the ponds drained by ditches, etc. About the year 1850. a travelling circus came along and one of the comic songs by the clown was -Ail the worlds frog pond"
 The lawyer was toad frog. the lover
 green frog jumping from tree
 Is the Doctor with his pills sir; He'il feel you and brister you
 With blisters made of flies, sir. He gives a croak and then the patient And it's crcak, croak-arl the worlds
 "a frog pond-croak croakl
 whether the ponds suggested the song or the song suggested the con nection between frog ponds and doc tors, and disease. can't say; but the subject was at once discussed and it was decided to hire Niles Ryan. an Irishman. to dig ditches wide and deep-right angles and parallel. We got busy, so did Miley Ryan. and soon the ponds were as dry as Sahara and the town as dry as Selma now, q mean not the Conner drouth. but lack of rain) and Claiborne became as healthy as any town,
 Strange and unaecountable this neglect! But there are many strange things that happen and many odd people in this world. They were in Claiborne and I suppose turn up in every town.
 One of the odd mysterious characters remember was a witch, so called She was reverently called old Mrs. Wil1is. She was Iiiiputian In size. swarthy in complexion. with small eyes and wrinkled face. might have passed as a centenariard or visified Egyptian mummy. She lived in a hut or hovel on the outskirts of town, (existed-no one knew how she lived) and kept a pack of fierce dogs to warn off any approach; but she had very few intruders. Where she came from or went no one knew. She may have died or continued to dry up. If she ever was guilty of witchcraft, exor- cised or held in cantation or made a saddle horse of her victims, I never heard of 1t. Yet. she was a witch. no doubt of 1t! Had she lived In the present day of Comerage and insane Legislation, she (and her dogs tool