The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-08
GREENWOOD BACK
 AFTER FIVE YEARS Went Home to Greece to Stay, But Couldn't TOOK THE AGE-HERALD Not Surprised at Progress of Town as He Had Been Reading Paper.
 Europe Getting the Base
 ball Bug"
TOOK THE AGE-HERALD

After being away five years. the lure
 of the Magic City, proved greater than the land of his nativity and Thomas A.
 Greenwood returned yesterday from Cor \ flu, Greece, to remain in Birmingham for
 an indefinite period He is the eldest of the Greenwood brothers who for the past 10 years have successfully operated res- taurants and grocery stores in this city. Thomas A. Greenwood first came to
 Birmingham 23 years ago. His business ventures were successful and after II years residence he decided to go back to Greece-to Corfu, his home town. He left Birmingham five years ago-never to return, so he said at the time.
 (N A Having Fan
 At the time Thomas Greenwood left Birmingham he was a well known busi- ness man and incidentally raving base ball fan" The fact that he is such a baseball fan" had probably great deal to do with his return 10 America, for while in Greece he states that he re-
 ceived The Age-Herald continuously and also Sporting Life," a weekly devoted
 to the interests of baseball, and, there fore, he is familiar with the work of the oldtimers as well as the newcomers.
 
 ardent reader of The Age Herald greatly lessened his surprise at the growth of Birmingham, when he arrived. after five years absence, for he had read about and seen photographic reproductions of sall the new buildings In The Age-Herald. He was even familiar with the deplorable financial condition of the city treasury.
 Saw Age-Herald Every Day 'I am glad to come -Ack to Birming ham, said MT. Greenwood, and l can
 thank The Age-Herald for the fact that
 l not nonpussed by the vast im-
 provements since my deaArture five years ago for my native land I have been ! steady subscriber for The Age-Herald for Il years. 1 made arrangements when I left this city to continue to receive the paper at Corfu, and l am, therefore, as familiar with the progress of this city as my brothers who remained here. h. cidentally I might state that another of
 my brothers-James Greenwood lives
 at Corfu, is also a subscriber of The Age-Herald. In fact, there is small colony at Corfu of former Greek cit izens and they are ardent admirers and
 readers of The Age Herald
 When I left Birmingham the Wood- ward, First National and part of the
 Brown-Marx buildings were completed. It
 is marvellous. the rapidity of the changes
 of the skyline Just think in five years the consummation of such building achievement as the Jefferson County
 Bank building, the Empire building, the American Trust building, the Tutwiler, the Ridgely apartments, the new Young Mems Christian association building, the Notion and several other of minor con- sequence. Another five years of such progress and we have in Birmingham the metropolis of the south
 EurOpe Quiet
 '1n Europe at the present time every A thing is quiet. There is no seething cur i frent of unrest. Following the Balkan war 1t appears a period of industrial &C., { tivity has set in. Business is at present \ in Europe very good.
 "The result of the emigration of for eigners to this country and their re- turning to their native lands is in the end going to make Europe baseball mad. ( It makes no difference what nationality you happen to belong, once in the United States you get inoculated with the base ball bug It Is but natural that on your return to your native land that you have desire to teach your fellows the won- \ derful American game and there are at Nresent hundreds in Greece playing the 2 tAme. In fact, the boom baseball re- X ceived in Europe did not come from the N round-the-world trip of the Giants and White Sox, but from the hundreds of Greeks Wno came 10 ngnt the iurKs ana H Bulgarians in the late unpleasantness. After the war was over these thousands IA of Greek-Americans had nothing to do f but visit from one native town to another receiving the honors of heroes such as they were and in the course of events 1 they talked baseball among themselves and the curious were uhown the rudi- ments of the game between scrub teams \ made up of the veterans of the wars. &Now the children-the future Greek war | ffors-are rapidly acquiring the knack of playing baseball. That means progress and higher civilization to Greece