The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-27

clothing, overcoats, etc, during the win- ter Women are seen on the streets fit- ted out with furs and muffs just like in q northern city. The winters, of course, are not cold. but it gets very chilly sometimes. In n large per cent of the houses there is nothing but open coal grates Tor heating purposes These are very picturesque and romantic, but on real chilly day they might as we'll be left go out. About 90 per cent of tho heat goes up tho chimney and what heat does come away from the coals warns one side of you while the other side is freezing. A characteristic of all the cot tages and smaller houses is that nlns cases out of ten there is large hallway running straight through from the front door to the rear. cutting the house clearly in two. They are very bothersome, not only separating the rooms. but making it difficult to heat the house and wasting a lot of valuable room. These houses seldom have cellars or basements. These are found only in the large houses The | hallway feature, undoubtedly is another surviving custom of ante-bellum days. when 1t was a characteristic of the big plantation homes.
 Concrete, which is used with difficulty in the north. on account of the straink from heavy frosts and extremes in tenn peratures, s used very extensively here. l Almost all the sidewalks in the city are of concrete and they are very beautiful and servlceahle. Several concrete frame buildings. among them a couple of large office buildings, have been erected here and are proving satisfactory. These lat- ter. of course. are of the reinforced concrete.
 The ground about Birmingham is dull red in color. It's appearance is very pe- culiar at first, but it Is fertile and one soon becomes reeoneiled to it. Among the southern trees and shrubbery, a northernef will notice first the chinaberry tree or the umbrella tree. the great pine forests which cover the mountains about Birmingham. the magnolia tree and oth- CTS Small varieties of cactus are found on the mountains. Also. and the famous mlstletoe Is often encountered in the woods.
 Among the beasts of burden the mule far outnumbers the horse, just the op- posite of the north. And these southern mules are not like the large mules at home They are much smaller and more active. A strange site quite frequently seen on tine side streets of Birmingham
 is a countrvman driving his OK team or a nigger boy with a goat hitched to . wagon. There are very few interurban electric lines. But one now goes through Birmingham and a second is being built.
 The country is not developed like the farm lands of.the north. Few large farm buildings wen painted and well stocked. are found. The public roads are good on lp Ia \ rpa afy,a m to be forded, there being no semblanc0 of a bridge Of course I am talking now about the rural districts surrounding Br- mingham. In the Black Belt in the cen- tral part Of the state. and in the regular farmg districts f Is different. Birming- ham and the Birmingham district is al- most exclusively an industrial center. mining and manufacturing being the largest industries and therefore the sur rounding country Is not adaptable to ag- ricultural developments. such as you ana | have been accustomed to.
 Jim. think have told you everything I know about this place and conditions you will find here. I had no idea of writing so extensively when started this letter, but found myself expressing things on paper I had never before put into words. I guess l have forgotten now to say anything about the famous south ern hospitality, which is reality, or some of the peculiar southern express slons you will find here. But you will ! appreciate them more if you find them for yourself There remains but one thing I can think of and that Is southern cooking. You will find it q whole lot different from what you arc accustomed to- They eat | gravy on rice, never with sugar and cream: have dozens of different dishes of | greens" that are caution, and arc very fond of COW peas,' the awfulest tasting little bean you ever tackled. | Of course they have their corn bread ana hot biscuits regularly. and they are good, | too. There are dozens of other pecu- | iarities you will encounter, but I don't know enough about the culinary art my. self to go into details for you. Hoping to receive word soon that you are coming [ will close this lengthy epistle and sign myself your affectionato | friend. TOM.
 .o.