The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-20

l last day or the sale the banner day.
 Reports may be made to Mrs Cooke at
 Adams drug store during the day.
 JUST INCIDENTS
 Many men of many minds have been
 discovered by the4 clever women whose.
 time has been given this week to the
 sale of Red Cross seals. Their experi- l ences-which they delight in relating l are eloquent of human natures many
 sidedness. For the most part they tell 1 with enthusiasm of the warm generosity 1 of the Birmingham man, and of the sweet sympathy shown them by the Br-
 miBgham women. It is only occasionally i that one chances upon an incident that l one regrets, for the general response has been noble, splendid, benedicton, indeed, to one of the kindest uplift move
 ments in the world today. These incl 1 dents are, none of them, to be classed
 as rebuffs, for the enlightened public
 does not give rebuffs. They are Just se- l rious enough to make the women who
 tell them do so with a rueful smile. One
 matron said, T would rather have man 1 say to me, Thank you, I cannot buy any l stamps. I am in sympathy with the 1 fight against tuberculosis, but I am un- | able to contribute toward it at this time l thar to have him say, in a bored sort of way, Oh, yes; I will take 25 cents worth of the stamps, but you may keep l them We want people to buy the stamps. Oh yes; but we want them used. have tried in every instance to gain the promise of ecah person to place the stamps on packages and letters. The stamp does our missionary work. If | someone says, I have already bought
 stamps; we thank him, and ask that he use them.
 A pretty incident occurred in one of the popular booths the other day. A young man smilingly walked up to the
 mstron sitting behind the stamp tatle, l laid down coin, and said "There Is
 my cigar moneyl' Why" she said i've | don't sell cigars. We are selling Red 1 Cross Christmas seals. q know it."
 he answered, but as long as the seals I are being sold, l shall spend my cigar
 money that way. When I want a smoke
 invest the money in seals, so long as 1 they are on sale. My mother died with
 consumption" What lovely tribute to, pay to ones mother!
 .
 ! A pretty little stenographer told me | tbis. Her employer, she states, is the | most polite, the most unfaiingly cour- teous of men-but once in ever so often something happens to "ruffle" him Just
 little. One miserable. rainy day last
 week that something happened. As i'll luck would have it. pretty little black eyed woman elected at that inopportune time to call upon him. The door opened gently just as he was bending over a bunch of papers on his desk, with brow black like a thunder cloud. Black gowned and dark eyed, she stood on the thres-
 hold, the most timid of visitors. q would like she said. "to sell you some Christi
 mas seals'-this in the most tentative of voices, but with the sweetest, most n- viting of smiles. With head still bent
 and brow still black. Don't want any"
 came from the desk. After moment pa use, a very small voice said, Pardon
 me. it is for the benefit of the tubercu- losis sufferers of Jefferson county The
 camp on Red mountain is full of them
 men, women and-some children, too. Can I not sell you a few Red Cross seals to help make them more comfortable? The seals are only penny each. I--" And, without so much as a look. again he said, No, l don't want any! The echo of his crisp, incisive tones following her as she silently stole away The stenog- rapher always inclined to excuse him, says that, had he once looked up and seen her there, gentle, sparkling with smiles and pretty as a pink rose in all
 her cloud of black furs, he would never have let her go without purchasing seals
 and many of them. But on the outside
 of the office "she" cuttingy inquired of a habituee of the building: "Who is that old bear I've been talking to?"
 
 Two of the most charming young
 matrons in society stood in a cigar store at a very profitable corner selling seals. They effected sales with no difficulty at all because of the popularity of the cause and-because both looked too pretty for anything and were so gracious and grate- full in proffering requests and receiving
 payment for stamps. The demands of dictatorial and obdurate dressmaker were set forth plaintively by one seal seller and the other with rare and praiseworthy
 magnanimty said "WhY. go and have the fitting if she will keep you waiting
 otherwise. Don't consider me in the mat ter. I don't mind staying alone in the least I shall be so busy that I will not think of it. Go on and don't feel that you must hurry back. A fitting is too | important to hurry over" Exit little matron with blue eyes, volubly acknowl- edging the magnanimity.
 I She stood there and sold, did the Red l Cross lady, so intent upon her success I and so happy over it that she had no l thought of anything else. Everyone who passed and everyone who bought admired | her, for she is like fresh, lovely flower | her dark waving hair and long lashed brown eyes but emphasizing the charm 1 of skin that is like roses and lips that are crimson and always smiling, like | her eyes. She has not been long in Bir- mngham and it Is an unaccustomed pleasure for one to look at her. Stamps she sold in every denomination--the big dollar sheafs of them and the envelopes with but five or ten or fifteen within. And finally it dawned upon her that for
 10 mnues a half hour-an hour-an un- conscionable time-two men had stood and watched her. They had stood and regarded her from this angle, and then quietly and unostentatiously they had walked over to another corner of the store and calmly regarded her, and final ly from another direction they had ob- served the growth of the Red Cross fund Until she began to consider it carefully
 she did not notice that they were there at all but when it finally dawned upon her. there was the subconscious recol- lection that they had been there for n period that seemed ages. And that was why after o'clock a very profitable post was left unoccupled, for in a panic | of embarrassment this perfectly good 1 representative of the Anti-Tuberculosis association hastily gathered up her re-
 maining seals and her money. caught