The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-15
TUSCALOOSA NOW
 SETTING HOT PACE Kaul's Lumber Plant One of
 Chief Attractions T H l N K The Citizens Are Using the Warrior as Rapidly as Docks and the
 Proper Facilities Can
 Be Installed
POLITICIANS THIN K

Tuscaloosa, March 14-(Special)-1 do
 not know John L. Kaul. l wish l dlo.
 should like to shake the hand of the
 man that has made such a wonderful
 showing here in the manufacture of yell
 low pine lumber, but whose chief clam
 to greatness to my mind lies in the fine
 record his company shows for US em-
 ployes.
 have never seen an industrial city laid out with such fine regard for beauty
 nor with such an evident wish to make life pleasant for the men who make the enterprise possible. 1 have walked today among residences that would do credit
 to South Highlands. I have ascertained
 what rent the employees pay for such
 houses, and I wonder that the company can possibly provide such neat and pretty homes for such a small sum, even though they are manufacturers of lumber. All the houses are painted, a goodly number of them are of the bungalow, while all are modern.
 But the company especially shines in its provision for the negro labor that they employ They have separate districts for lIlc WHllS anu llSSIO CillPAoS SS' OA SON>-~~' but they appear to have spared no pains or money to make their colored quarters the best in the United States. The cot tages are painted, well lighted, ventilated and everything right up to the minute. I have been by the old plant at Holllns. and to contrast it with this modern plant here shows that MT. Kaul has travelled far on that road that leads to the city beautiful; and am thinking that he has found a satisfied employe the greatest asset for his monster business here
 The mill property is kept as neat as a pin despite the enormous amount or lum- Der that is turned out each day Prior to my visit here I thought that Phil Vren- down in the town which bears his name in Monroe county, had the cleanest sawlnill plant in the world. but must look to his laurels if he keeps ahead of the Kaul people,
 I have found one place where the Louis- vile and Nashville must play second fid- dle, and that is here. I know that it must gall that company no little, but the Alabama Great Southern has the run on the business here A lot of it Is due to the diplomat the company has who is agent. I look at the fellow in wonder ment each time I am in this city; he can talk Shakespeare to Professor Losey, logarithms to Professor Denny, plain horse sense to the farmers that drop in on him, good cheer to the brokers, keep the yard crew in a good humOr and with
 1t all carry off the lions share of the business here. But I fear that the Ala bama Great Southern people are piling just a trifle too much work on him, for aside from being good fellow he has quite bit of office work to do that it seems to me could be left to other hands. As proof of Agent Crutchers' diplomacy
 1t is said that he collected the freight charges in advance on a shipment of household goods to a certain college man without arousng the ire of the gentle man who knew everything except the practical end of the railroad game. This thing we call education is all right, reckon, but my observation has been that the fellows who make the best records n the railroad world are fellows brought up on cornbread and new-ground turnip greens like a great many of us Some of these fine days I predict that the Louis vile and Nashville is going to come along and find a vacancy at Tuscaloosa and offer it to the Alabama Great Southern diplomat and then perhaps the Louisville and Nashville won't have to play second fiddle.
 But you ought to see the postmaster of this town and hear him spout postal laws and regulations. I really believe that Sam Ciabaugh sleeps with copy of the reg llations under his head, and I fancy that Mrs. Sam must find her "esposo" coming to be more or less dry when it comes to The postoffice here already enjoys the distinction of having one of the best mailing force in the country, but Postmaster Clabaugh has ordered up about the whole office force, except the jantor, to learn the state of Alabama, n,,I to >h I4 1,o, 4-k ,%A man and'is getting ready to put up an examination the same as the others.
 Tuscaloosa is not running headlines ''The Warrior, What Are You Going To Do With It?'' She is already doing, and 1t will not be a great while until water will amount to something in the commercial life of the city. The last time I was at Tuscaloosa dock was when Lock 1T was opened. I recall that Judge Mayfeld and Senator Bankhead sat on the forward end of the barge chewing Star Navy and splitting in the river, and that we had to tie up to tree, walk out on a slippery gangplank. while Friedman was singing, Nobody Knows How Dry I Anl.'' but now that is being rapidly changed, and there will soon be a dock, where Rick Woodward's yacht can tie up with as much ease as in Mo- bile or other cities where docks mean something. These fellows down here talk water transportation more than they do politics. and that is going some for Tus- caloosa.
 One hears an echo occasionally of the Losey war and President Denny, but it is rapidly passing into the limbo of things that were The college boys still recite when Losey stood up on the burning deck and make sport of the whole matter. It Is not too much to say that great many of the boys admire Losey for his ability to declaim, but they pity his capacity to correctly judge trustee boards.
 The Hobson announcement for Con- gress is being widely discussed in the corridors of the hotels here. Richmond still holds warm spot in the number of people are of the opinion that the captain is running against a strong man. I met a good many people today from Pickens county, admittedly a Hob- son stronghold, and from what I could gather Will Bankhead will mix things up with MT. Hobson. Congressman Oliver seems to be giving satisfaction to the old Sixth. and it is quite likely that he will not have opposition. He is making good, so his constituents say, and they seem pleased with him.
 We are not by ourselves in having hand-shaxing brigade up in Birmingham. Lord, they have as many candidates here, proportionately. as we have. sometimes regret that I do not smoke when so many cigars are passed around The boil weevil has hit old Tuscaloosa county rather hard, but despite politi- clans, boil weevils and all that things are in good shape here. The gospel of crop diversihcation has been preached to good purpose, and scores of farmers will have their own wheat ground on mill in thcir own county. You can walk into stores hereabouts and see sacks of flour bearing