The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-17

you flighty young folks needn't come
A-orderin' me no mo-;
I'm sot In ways my ole Miss taught
And spects to stay jes so.
It's hurry wild you all de time
AS If twas Judgment day,
An l am called of no account
Case I amt made dat way
But age and slowness used to be
Respected in de race
An | want asked to be so swif'
When ole Miss set de pace.
An dere want nothin' in dem days
OF all dis haste and noise,
For 'twasn't manners to be fast
When me and Miss was boys!"
These lines of that dear poet-lady,
Howard Weeden. fitted through my mind
this week when, dusty and hot after a
ride from The Plantation and with the
memory of busy, bustling youthful Bir-
mingham still in mind. we motored into
Huntsville. the beauty spot of north Ala
bama, and the home of the late author.
It is not difficult to understand the spirit
that inspired Miss Weedens quaint plan
tation ballads when one sees the sur
roundings in which she wrote. If all
Huntsville wrote songs of long ago it
would not be surprising. It's old-time
manor houses, the quiet ease of its peo-
pie and their courtly dignity the farm
wagons which gather with their country
produce in the market place, and the
equipages which SO greatly outnumber
the swifter and more modern gasoline
propelled engines are all an inspiration
for poetic fancies.
They are tearing away the beautiful
courthouse which has stood opposite the
big, beautiful spring for almost CEN
tury and been associated with some of
the memorable incidents of Alabama his
tory In its place will stand a handsome
edifice built after a colonial plan and in
keeping with the spirit of progress which
exists along with the love of tradition in
the souls of the people of this charming
north Alabama town. To the visitor, the
tearing away of gray time-worn cement
and plaster and the big fiuted columns
appears almost sacreligious destruction,
yet the exigences of the case demand
sanitary and comfortable conditions; so
the old building is rapidly going. In
other quarters, building is also noted,
proving that Huntsville is not merely
ornamental" but a progressive place,
too
Its social life is charming, as the old
est and most aristocratic families would
naturally make 1t. The Twickenham club
is the largest of the social organizations.
The private entertainments are charm
ing, too. Birmingham matron told of
a bridge party arranged recently in her
hOnor a nj ia inst of ha f,ld
homes She had motored across the
county in order to be there and the big
rooms of the old place were filled with
flowers as sweet and fragrant and as
suggestive of ante-bellum days as were
the century old portraits which looked
down upon her at the bridge tables, or
the pecan trees which have raised their
tall heads high above the crest of the big
house and kept growing through years
OF war and peace. And to the party of
charming, cultured women in their smart
gowns gathered there to meet her, was
served after the games, a delicious lunch
con; then, contrary to customs of haste
and conventionality which prevail today,
at the long table in the dining room
where many distinguished men have BAN
quoted in years gone by, a sumptuous
dinner was served And she was as de-
lighted with Huntsville hospitality as 1
was with an hours glimpse of the homes
of its people from the vantage point of a
moving automobile.
A CITY OF TREES
Few cities even of Huntsvilles age
have their streets lined with trees so
splendid. Some give a perpetual shade,
meeting and interlacing overhead and
presenting to the one approaching a long
cool avenue that bec1ons like a verbal
invitation. And many of the streets are
so bordered, while standing in single
grandeur on the lawn or with other
great forest sentinels in the broad-acred
grounds which surround the ancient
house which may be almost hidden among
them
The charms of Huntsville are familiar
to many of our own people who have in
times past made 1t their home, and love
to return for a visit among kinsmen and
friends. Mrs. Benjamin Griggsby Cope
land was Lucy Turner of Huntsville q
celebrated beauty. She frequently re-
turns for a visit, accompanied by her
two lovely young daughters, Miss Jen-
ME Hammond Copeland and Miss Caro-
line Copeland Mrs. Vassar L. Allen is
also a member of a prominent Hunts
Vile family. the Bradfords. Mrs. May
was Miss Lula Turner of Huntsville, a
cousin of Mrs B. G. Copeland, and Mrs.
J. e. Frazier, who was a north Alabama
girl and lived most of her life in Madison,
spent her young womanhood in Hunts
vile. Mrs. c. Nj. Stanley was Miss Greet
a member of one of the distinguished
Huntsville families and Mrs. George Cas-
tleman Estil was Alice Garth, of an
other patrician north Alabama family.
Judge and Mrs. Oscar Hundley spent
all of their early married life in Hlnts-
vile, coming to this cty-the home of
the latter as Bessie O'Brien-only a few
years ago; their Huntsville residence was
noted the other day, an elegant, substan-
tiai structure on one of the streets of
beautiful homes. Judge Hundley has a
number of influential relatives in Hunts