The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-19
FAYETTE PROUD OF , ITS GAS OUTPUT Many New Business Houses Are Being Erected OPENING OF SCHOOLS Good Roads in That Section of Ala bama-Boll Weevil Has Made
 Appearance in Several
 Places
OPENING OF SCHOOLS

Columbus. Miss. September 1s.-(spe- eial)-If some of the apples that l saw in .Fayette last week were put on ex- hihition at the state fair to be held here they would certainly take the first prize. They were grown by a farmer near that hustling town and 1 was informed by the proprietor of the newspaper, in whose window they were shown, that they were of the Carter variety, and that the man who brought them in had a great many more.
 This newspaper man must have found the pot of gold at the end of the rain bow of printing and journalism, for after having worked on various papers he set tied in Fayette where he now puts on airs. He has modern linotype machine, press that trims and folds his papers. and everything the last word in journalist lines. An the most wonderful part of 1t is that he has a bank account that is growing right along.
 Fayette is very jealous of her natural gas. One of Uncle Sans men over there does not want it piped away for fear that it might come in to such universal use that he might have to go back to old
 
 wonder they are jealous. Some families use it for everything and the bill does not exceed $l.5o per month. From the way the town is growing and new busi- hess houses going up it would seem that Fayette at least has no fear of European wars A railway line that is operated by a lumber company has been extended to point near the Mobile and Ohio and the merchants feel that it will be of benefit in drawing more lumber and other business to them.
 I had an automobile ride over a portion of the countys good roads that extend from Berry to Bankston. The roads are splendid being wider than most roads and put up as to drain we'll If the roads are rounded up before the rains set in they ought to hold throughout the winter The town council of Berry is mighty progressive bunch. They helped out on the good roads movement, but strange to say, do not have their streets as good as the highway. There, like everywhere else in the country, the Ford cars are seen, and I rode seven miles in l5 minutes in one of them, but that is too fast for me, and if I ever make that trip again I expect to ask my uncle to stipulate that we hold down to 15 miles per hour
 Boil Weevil Showing Up
 Going westward it was noticed that the boil weevil was just beginning to show up in Lamar county, but no damage had been done All along could be seen a slow change in crop methods a little more diversification here and there. At Banks ton a good sized field was planted to second crop potatoes that were looking fine, and from which the farmer ex- pected to net tidy sum.
 Over in Columbus the next morning I met the inimitable Capt Jack Cranford, who was hale and hearty. despite his fail ure to connect with a political office The captain said that his opponent, who won, was more surprised than he was to be defeated. If I am any judge the gen tleman from Walker will not allow over- confidence to catch him in his next race for office
 The captain says he has tried mighty hard to become modernized. and has an automobile, but that he still likes his horse and keeps one to satisfy his long, ing to ride and mediate.
 Further west from Columbus and near West Point were seen large fields or hay and the agricultural agent for the Southern and allied lines told me that several hundred cars of hay were shipped each season and that hay was , proving the salvation of the people. Cattle are also coming into great ia vor in that section and it is said to
 
 gel $25 apiece for yearlings, which are fat and sleek at this time of the year. There was fair cotton crop all along the line west to Greenville. but in the delta the boil weevil had made his presence felt and the top crop will be light. Tn and around Eupora there are immense feilds of corn and it would seem that the traffic officials of the Southern might enjoy the novel sensa- tion of having corn shipped out in- stead of in on their lines. In and around Maben was also seen fine corn and as we passed along I could see the farm CTS making sorghum syrup and every once in awhile get a whiff of the odor Of new made syrup from the pan in would blow the steam from the pan in my face. Some of the farmers over there might show Madison county few stunts on hay and corn if they were to send some of it into the fair here.
 Schools All We'll Attended
 All along were seen bsrefoot boys with cheeks of tan raking hay, hauling it in to be packed, and getting things shaped up so that they might enter school promptly, and in some places where the schools were opening the crowds in at tendance seemed to be record breakers. At one town they were getting ready for opening and the whole place seemed to be headed toward the school building. Ihat iookeu ike hhe pan eo ne anu thought how pleased tho teachers must be to see older heads manifesting such laudatle interest in things educa- tional
 could not help but contrast 1t with the teacher in Mexico, where the pay for a common school teacher that teaches up to the seventh grade, does not exceed s1O per month, and I wondered If our people really know what blessings we enjoy.
 At one little town an elderly lady was out to meet the train, and some girls got off and two ran straight toward her and I heard one call "Gandma," and knew that they were to board With 'sGrandma" and go to school and I knew what their parents, who were farming folks, had to sacrifice to give them ad- vantages and down deep in my heart was glad that lived in such country
 BILL SYKES.