The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-27

Is there nothing good to be said of Lewisburg? Is she to go undefended be- fore the jury of the world, paraded and advertised as an utterly lawless commu- nifty, summed and hated by the civilized world as is the leper by the well man? Is there nothing good in the little noun tain town to the north of Dixie's great est city? Is this cloud without a silver lining?
 For the past six months crime after crime, as dark as the Egyptian shadows
 in character. has been reported as oc- curing in the vicinity of this place. Peo- pie have gained the idea that to sojourn in this village is suicide; that the men 20 about armed to the teeth shooting whatever and whenever they do not like.
 Lying in the foothills of the Alleghenies. it is one of the most picturesque and beautiful spots in Alabama. In the spring time when the bordering mountains are covered with the verdant bounties of na- ture, it seems to one as the land of the poet, the modern Utopia. But still she Is l summed as is the snake, People of the
 outside world have nothing for Lewis burg and in retaliation for this idea
 Lewisburg will rapidly grow to have nothing for the outside world. But now she has everything for the outside world.
 She has wealth and she has resources which have only to be developed to ma.1e it the garden spot of the world.
 Her people, to the stranger, rival the
 famed Virginians in their hospitality; the air is of the purest and her water sparkes like crystal. Her scenery and
 natural formations bid fair to make her a dangerous second to the beautiful hills and valleys of the Adirondacks.
 l It is true that many black crimes have ] been committed in her borders and that
 many of these black crimes are still in thi columns of the unsolved. But these have been committed wholly among their own people, An outsider, so long as he at
 tends to that which concerns him and l does not attempt to attend to that be-
 longing to the Lewisburg citizen. is all right Where is there set of people
 who are different from these? Who likes ] tc have someone else telling them whaI 1 is to their best interests?
 1 A stranger travelling and striking Lew | ishurg is at once impressed with hei
 value, her scenery and her people. He gazes about him with awestricken wonder at the gifts which nature has given her He is further startled by the hospltali- tv which is extended him by her people 1 Going further he wonders more than ever
 at the great wealth of coal which is i1 the very ground upon which he is tread | ing.
 As entertainers the people of I4ewsbure I have no superiors To be sure it is moi
 done in the style which would character ! ize a drawing room reception in the great
 est social center, but at the same time there is not that sham and hypocrisy which often is observed in the former
 function. The best Lewsburg has is ex- tended the stranger within their gates and it is given him with whole soul and
 free will. It is given because he, too
 is one of Gods creatures.
 1 The men of Lewisburg make for the stranger the best of friends. They wanl
 to become his ally if he will let them. Ii
 they like him, they will tell him so, both with their deeds and with their words | if they do not like him they will tell him
 so and let him go his way. He is kindly received and he is bdden goodby with 1 reluctance when he goes. When he is
 there no man is too busy to perform a
 favor for the stranger to accommodate 1 the visitor is his delight.
 ] Besides possessing the beauties and en- 1 dowments of nature, Lewisburg also pos
 sesses an abundance of that which makes the whole earth habitable-beautiful wom- en. They abound in that section of she | country. They are as God has made them and not as the druggist and the cos metic manufacturer and the modiste of Paris has decreed that they shall be ', They appear before you without the vel | of fashion and style and yet rival the beautiful queens of the drawing rooms 1T elegance and purity.
 It is not the intention of this to condone l or even excuse the many crimes which have been committed within her borders }, and near her portals, but it is to show tc the world that no matter how many crimes may have been committed there | Lewisburg has its good as we'll as it's bd6 traits. When the Bloody Beat is spoken of entertain for her these facts and re member that she Is still on earth ant 1 will ever be and help her to rid herself of the stigma which for many years mus rest upon her. Be charitable. "Ant
 now abideth faith hope and charity. these