The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-23

here, or going themselves too recklessly perhaps into the zone of danger
 And then one perceived the figure of an old man sitting on the opposite side Of the street, deiectedly sitting, hope lessly. Somewhere in the ruin was the body of his child. The face which in the morning he had kissed had been crushed by the falling brick and mortar. The laughter which had been his great est joy had been transformed into q stified cry and hushed forever
 On the corner two other men attracted attention. Neither was old. One knew at first glance that they llngered-not ba- tiently, but reconciliation the recovery of the bodies-not of daughters who by daily labor added a weekly pittance to the family store-but for wives: wives who had left homes and children in the afternoon, and in shopping had stepped into the trap of death just as the thun- der of the tumbling walls roared.
 From the inside no sound came save the occasional clink of pick against stone, or the grumblng of a shovel thrust be- meath a mortar pile. The observer noted the periodical shifting of the rescung forces, the one squad fresh, inspired by excitement to a love Of toil rushing in to find the dead. perhaps to rescue those who still might live, and the other, worn and Jagged by hours of toll, trailing into the street. and falling into an exhausted sleep on the pavement. It was about 2 o'clock perhaps. when an unusually heavy cloud which from overhead had constant ly threatened. rolled itself southward and downward. until directly behind the jagged stone which marked the horrid grave, it hung. The lights which for the guidance of the toilers in the night had been strung to the rear of the de- stroycd buildings, the dust and smoke sa,d nrf1f .t,- ruins, played together against the ugly cloud as a background, and wrought through strange. uncanny optical illu- sion, of the ragged wall and window frame, Christ-like cross, distinct though evanescent.
 lPerhaps Constantine saw no cross and underneath By this Conquer" At any seemed to hang above the ruins in Bir- mingham gave reinsurance akin to that which calmed the thief who suffered on Golgotha.
 Day came
 On the pavement still sat the old man awaiting the finding of the body of his daughter On the corner the two husbands were still to be seen From the inside the noise of the pick and shovel and occasional shout of direc- tion came.
 In the early dawn the bleak walls rose gaunt. spectre-like. They stood in their blank uglness as markers of their own impotence One was able to perceive through shattered window frames former easements of a hive of industry, the open sky; through door ways, a mass of fallen brick under heath which the dead were buried.
 And Birmingham, with hum, reused itself. Street cars grated upon their tracks Newsboys. in wild acclaim, cried out the story of the catastrophe. Milk wagons rattled loudly across the pavement. More and more crowded be- came the streets.
 Every man was about his labor, hav- ing already--not forgotten-but dis- counted the horror of the afternoon before. That whih hours ago had sent a shock of horror to the marrow of their bones was now an incident and will forever remain an incident. And thus the world will move until again some afternoon a wall caves In, or lives go out in flame or flood or other accident and gives it momentary pause.
 But the old man who had sat silent, accomplishing through the night ard who early in the morn was given the head1ess corpse of his child did not rail against the world. He simply ohoked a moment in his sorrow and quietly moved away.