The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-28
NEW PHASE OF HE GOVERNOR SHOWN
  A Ride of Twelve Miles = Through Country HAPPINESS IN STRUGGLE Young Man Who Is Having Hard Time Making Ends Meet Should
 Be Happiest in the
 World. H
BY WALTER HARPER.

A lew weeks dSO 1 lld0 lilS iilail NiiO Thomas l.. Bulger of Dadeville says is the greatest governor of the greatest state in the United States all to myself for a Emile drive over a country round.
 The greatest governor is an interesting man when you get him away from the madding crowd and can get close to him in a heart to hear talk. And he will talk about anything from the statutory control of great railroad systems down to the do- nestle welfare of the lowly farmer, his potato patch, his children and the family COW. He has his whims and bhis fancies like any ordinary citizen. At such q time he comes down from the lofty pedastal on which your imagination has placed him and you feel the common humanity of his personality,
 He has struggled as you have strug- gled, hoped as you have hoped, hated as ] you have hated, loved as you have loved, and thinks as you think. He is man at last A man pure and simple. And you like him better because you have made the discovery. He has made mis- | takes So have you. Perhaps you have | that he has received. Neither have you 1 been smitten with the roses of favor and public approval. He has simply been | raised by his fellows above the common level and thereby exposed to the shafts of public opinion.
 The governor of any state is a great man. And it is refreshing to be thrown in | close personal contact with hhn when he is not expected to smile and play the part of the exalted idol of the people. so far removed from the common herd that to touch the hem of his garment would be saerlege.
 To hear him growl at the heat of the monday sun, squirm at the jolt of the buggy when it falls in rut, speak en- couragingly to the dirty boy playing in the sand at the roadside, is, indeed, a rare treat and a revelation to the man ! who is wont to look upon the G. G. as l a creature of superhuman elements and | thing that cannot be played with. For almost a mile the G. c. had been | silent He spoke up suddenly. Young man, I was thinking. Perhaps as we drive along you take notice of these quiet country homes, homes of struggling farm tenants. You see that most of them have large families and can readily see that they enjoy but few or none of the com forts with which you and l are familiar
 These small farmers work hard and perhaps have a hard time to make buckle and tongue meet, but do you know that they may be the most contented people in the world?
 T have just been reviewing my own life and want to tell you now that the happest days of my existence were those in which l struggled for a foothold in the world. I have enjoyed the fruits of incomes ranging all the way from less than $500 a year to more than 5000 year. and though you may not believe it, l was happier with the $500 than I have ever been since.
 q was in debt and at times sorely pressed, but the hope of finally con- quering was always in view and stim ulated me to fresh endeavor. By my side was young wife who sympa- thized with me and took active part nership in my failures and successes.
 T tell you, young man, while many of those days were gloomy we can look back on them now as the happiest days of our existence. The very joy of winning over difficulties was the sweetest elixir that man ever tasted"
 I have been pondering over what
 
 Birmingham should be the happiest city in the world. It should be burst ing with the eXultant joy of strug- gling misery. I believe l know a thousand struggling young men and old ones, too, in the city of Birming- ham that should be too extremely hap py for this world.
 If being in debt and lodging bill collectors bring the maximum Of joy into human lives Birmingham Is a veri- table paradise. The message from the G. c. should bring added gladness to hundreds of these happy young men who have made a mistake in diagnos- ing what is the matter with their hearts. The clinging sensation you felt at your heart when you unexpectedly met your tailor on Second avenue last night was not pain as you imagined but a hutter of exceeding joy.
 When your landlady sent up your board bill this morning with the ad- vice that it be squared or you could have no sugar in your coffee you probably imagined that the sensation in your bosom was gall and wormwood you were mistaken in the diagnosis. Ii was 6 thrill of peaceful ecstacy.
 Young harried man. when Che doc tor told you that he could not come to see your child until you paid tn bill for curing it of measles last year you were dense enough to think yot were unhappy. When the grocerymar refused to fill your order for a sack of flour and a strip of white meat you would have sworn that life was no worth living What fool you were ' You were intoxicated with happiness and did not know 1t.
 The happy young men walk dowr the sunny side of the street in summer : | knowing their creditors occupy ths ] shady side. They walk two blocks ou of the way to avoid passing the doo ' of the shoe house where they owe bill They imagine they are miserable n knock at the door throws yon int II a panic. You cannot guess If 1t is th ? butcher, the grocer, the furniture man the coal man or the rent man. I 5 doesn't matter much which 1t is bu $ the uncertainty is almost unbearabl E | in your distorted imagination.
 l Ah young man, if you would onl. > stop to consider that you are nov . passing through the happlest perio, ' of your existence how different tn "A world would seem.
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