The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

Under the deep shade of the oaks sur
 rounding the courthouse groups of idle
 negroes were eossiping, or eating melons. ] a flock of pigeons were picking up grain
 or taking dust baths in the wide road ! way. The I.ual loungers watened the 1 everlasting game of checkers, meanwhile discoursing, Intermitteutly. on all the af- | fairs of life, from the ade 10 the grave. 1 invariably intcrruptng the speaker before
 the yarn was concluded, as is the habit of l the village storytellcr. The justice of the peace was moved to speak of automobiles as one whlzzed by the courthouse bearing
 party of ioyriders.
 Times is getting so now that auto-
 mobile is a household necessity fer poor
 man. He needs one just like he needs coffee mill or cornsheller. Gliano and automobiles is getting to ne an agricul- | tural necessity, without which tenant cannot succeed. Besides that it gets you ] into society. The Perkinses used 70 invite | people to go to church with them, occupy I Ing chair in a steer wagon, and nobody was grateful for the ride, but nince the5 i have got little one-lung, second hand, tea kettle automobile, which parts up q hill and fzzes down hll, and smells like s chemical plant and stalls in q mud hole. | folks are ticSled to death when the Pe' kfnses Invite them for a ride. Old Sam Blalock, the blacksmith, wno lives close | to the ford or Peckerwood Creek, is mak | ing good money out of mud hole near l lis place. MEen the road hands started to All up that mud hole and nal-e it pass able old Sam raised a rough hohse-swoss they was taking the bread out Of his | mouth and fixing to starve his children. and the hands let 1t alone. A automobile
 would come honking down the road by Sans place ard when 1t hit that mud hole | there 1t stuck until old Sam go; yoke of steers and hauled the machine out or terrahrma, charging 8 for tho wear ard tear on his steers. This thing would ' happen two or three times q day, and Sundays was always q powerful busy day with Sam and his cattle. Whenever thot mud hole began to dry up ol9 sam would
 let more water in 1t and pile nsre rocks
 in it. Last time I saw him he vas talk
 ing about opening up another branch
 fusness mud hole further down the road, ClOSeT lO iAllit 5iDIt Hs WIS running. The automobile is a blessing in disguise to the down-trodden agricultural class of this country. it don't make any difference if the machines do scare mules. and make
 them run awy. it won't do so long for
 Talking about getting scared" said
 the insurance agent, have you gentle
 men heard of the fact that one of our
 erstwhiie bad citizens has suddenly ac-
 quired religious tendencies? The day that
 Sells circus showed in our town. Punk
 Beverly got lit up with booze, and the
 train left him. Hotel powerfully crowd
 ed, but finally when Punk insisted that
 he was just obliged to have some place to sleep the clerk told him that he could
 put him in with fellow in No. 23. who
 had already gone 10 bed but that Punk
 must be careful not to wake him up
 as he was an old man and i'll as hornets.
 Punk took another drink and softly
 crept upstairs to 23. and found that
 the old snoozer had pulled the sheet
 over his head to keep off the mosqui-
 toes, so he softly eased in beside the
 sleeper and he was about half dozing
 when young courting couple came in the room, so he just breathed easy