The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-14
AnnistOn Man Meets Old Friends Who Are Thor
 Oughly at Home
SIMPLE THINGS OF
 LIFE MAKE APPEAL
Believes There Is Now an Excellent Chance for Alabama to Get the Desired Nitrate
 Plant
By ALLEN GRIFFIN JOHNSON

New I ork, May l3.-t Special )--The building of an air nitrate plant at Mus cle Shoals. in Alabama, is now thought to be probability. following the ac- tion of the National Conservation Con- gress in indorsing the Shields bill This would be the only plant of it's kind in the United States. our supply coming to us from Grille, and, as is we'll known, nitrate is absolutely indispen- sable in modern warfare.
 This probability was brought out by Henry M. Ayers of Anniston, president of the Alabama Press assocation, and editor of the Anniston Star. who has spent the greater part of this week in New York city, having been at the McAlpin hotel. He came nere from Washington, where he went as a mem- Der of the conservation congress, to which he was appointed by the gover- nor.
 In an interview while in this city Mir Ayers said: 'I am highly pleased with the defeat of the Pinchot wing of the conservation congress, and the election of Dr. c. E. Condra of Lincoln, Neb, a practical conservationist, as pres ident
 "'The action of the congress in in- dorsing the Shields bill which has passed the Senate over a protest by Pinchot, will have the effect of speed ing its passage in the lower House, thereby making conditions very favor able for the development of Alabama's waterways. including the building of nitrate plant at Muscle Shoals, on the Tennessee river. At present, there is no such plant in the United States, and this country would be in a bad predicament if the supply from Chile should be cut off in time of war. The erection of such plant would unques- tionably constitute an important fea- ture of the general preparedness pro- gramme.
 Such a plant should also be supple mented by an armor plate plant in the south, 90 per cent of them being in the north today. and within an area rep resenting only about 2 per cent of the country. as whole. Every Alabamian should urge his congressman to sup port the Shields measure"
 MT. Ayers, who is a much travelled man, had some very interesting gen. eral views "in his system" regarding New York, me of which cannot fail to interest.
 "As for my trip to New York;" he continued, q will say that the more I observe people, the more I am con- vfnced that it is the homely, common place things. or heart interest things in life. that interest them. and appeal most strongly. For instance, it is the old heart songs sung occasionally as encores, that make the greatest hits with grand opera audiences, and in the art galleries I find people. finger ing longest before pictures of every day life.
 New Workers are supposed to be busy, unusual people; yet they are attracted by the same kinds of occur rences that stir curiosity in the smaller towns. Yesterday traffic was blocked in front of the McAlpin by the failure of a man to pay his taxi driver. and out at the Polo grounds I heard the fans 'cuss the umpire just as vigor- ously as we do down in Anniston
 'I am like the rest of humanity. these things appeal to me. True, I have seen much here this trip that I never saw before. but the things that interest me most are the success of old Boze Bulger and Miss Otis Greene in the literary field; the fact that I met the Adairs in Atlanta in a crowd rub N bering at the shop windows; that l saw McLane Hilton of Pell City, dressed better than John Drew can ever hope to dress, and holding court, as it were in the Waldorf and that I met Eric Culberson. an old Anniston boy, at the Pekin cabaret Monday night.
 These are the little things that count-why, I have spoken more about meeting w. H. Finn of Anniston, upon the streets of Shanghai. than about anything else during my two-year stay in China.
 Judge J. J. Willett of Anniston, tells me-" concluded MT. Ayers. that one of the good features of Anniston is that it is too small in which to lead a dou- ble life. but have concluded that one can no longer lead that kind of exist ence on earth--the whole place is too small for it these days"