The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-18

BOOQ barometer.
 If we have big crops this summer high degree of prosperity will be the rule in every part of the country l was in Atlanta yesterday and found commer- cial activity prevailing there; and here in Birmingham business seems far better than it was reported to have been two weeks ago.
 New Edition of Poe's Poems
 "The new edition of Edgar Allan Poe's poems, complete in a single vol ume, just published by Hough ton, Mfr flin Co.,, will be scanned with much in- terest by the literary world" said a member of Birpin ghams Virginia col ony. What heightens interest in. this latest collection is the fact that 1t has an unusual history. According to the New York Sun, when Poe was in the office of the Richmond Examiner in De- tober, 1S49. shortly before his death, he had all his major poems and several of his shorter poems put in type and h. revised them more or less exten- svely. Changes in punctuation were. made in almost all of them and in two instances several lines were added and two poems were entirely rewritten.
 "On Poe's death these revised proofs came into the possession of a MT. Thom- as. a member of the editorial staff of the paper, and in turn were committed to the keeping of his successor, J. H. Whitty, who offered them, together with his services as editor, to Hough- ton, Mifflin Co.,, for publication.
 Tt happens that MT. Whitty. in ad- dition to being a literary investi- gator. has been lifelong student of Poe and has been able to add to the edition II authentic and hitherto uncol- lected poems from manuscript sources and to contribute brief memoir cor recting certain curious episodes in the poets life.
 Poe was not only Americas great est poet and romancer but his life was fitful feverish and enigmatic. If, as it has been said, melancholy is all most the invariable note of genius Poe furnishes a striking example of that truth. Superficial persons often refer to Poe as having been of morbid dispo- sition superinduced by intemperance, but I believe the stories of this gifted mans debauches were greatly exagger- ated. His poems are In nowise un- healthy or oserwrought from a liter ary point of view but many of them reveal a tragic vein which, however, is far from being morbid. They are all matchless in their beauty and charm.
 When lived in Richmond many years ago I numbered among my friends three or four men who were timately acquainted with Poe. One of these gentlemen was MT. Clark of Man chester. Va. classmate and roommate of Poe at the University of Virginia. When Ingram, the English man of let ters who wrote the first exhaustive biogra phy of Poe, was gathering ma ! ter,al for his book he called on me to assist him, and as I was saturated with ths reminiscent talk of MT. Clark l was able to supply many interesting facts for Ingram's work
 "The poet died nearly 62 years ago. There are probably several persons still living who had seen him and known him personally. But the only one of my 
 lection of Poe is George Canning Wilde, now well along in the eighties. When he was IS or 10 years old he heard Poe deliver his lecture on the Poetic Frinclple.' It was a weird scene, &C., cording to Mir Wilde, to see Poe as he stood at a desk in the assembly hall of the old Exchange hotel. It, was before the days of gas in Rich mond, and the only lights In the room were tallow candles MT. Wilde says that the poet was singular1y grave and turned the leaves of his lecture ner- vously, but that his>voice was like mu- sic, and that the audience, composed of the flower of Richmond society, was entranced.
 For n young country America has produced several great poets. It is gen orally agreed now that Poe ranks first. There will probably always be differ ences of opinion as to the relative rank of the others, but I suppose that a large body of those competent to judge will place Lanier next to Poe, and as time goes on John Banister Tabb of virginia--Father Tabb-who died a y Lanisr. If these two southern poets had been writing in Poe's day some of their verse would have been used for Illustrating the poetic principle. dis course. I fancy that Poe would have chosen either The Marshes of Glyn' or The Ballad of Trees and the Mas ter by way of leading up to discus sion of the merits of Lanier, and The Summer Wind 'Robin,' Fern Song Indian Summer or Killdee' in dis cussing Tabb."
 Victor Herbert's Nationality
 Victor Herbert. the conductor-con- poser, is an Irishman and is proud of that fact. although many persons who are not familiar with his biography take him to be German" said an acquaintance of the distinguished gentleman who comes to Birmingham with his orchestra next 44