The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-29


 MORRIS FRANKEL
 Manager and owner Majestic theatre,
 who is an enthusiastic Elk
 behind breastworks that sappers had pre-
 vicusly thrown up in our rear and taking
 a heavy toll of the northern troops that
 were pressing us back
 Everybody knew. however, that the | war was over, and it was only few 1 days after that Lee surrendered Strangely enough the idea prevailed gen.
 erally throughout the south that all | property would be confiscated and 1t was l for this reason that the vast stores of 1 both tobacco and cotton in the ware | houses of Petersburg were set alight. We
 cut down telegraph poles and used them l to batter in tbe doors Of the warehouses,
 and afterward distributed coal oil about | and set fire to it. As a matter of fact ; I believe that in the case of the tobacco l it was not a total loss for the stuff was packed tightly in hogsheads, and though ! the outside layers were charred, the 1 leaves in the center were largely un- injured. l "As a matter of fact, all this destruc- ! tion of their own property by the south erners proved purposeless, for nothing was actually confiscated. Later we ] burned about one-thrd of the city of l Petersburg itself and about as much of l Richmond, and in both cases this meant 1 a tremendous amount of work. It is a curious thing how difficult it is to burn town, if you want to. You are con
 tinually encountering open spaces that check the fire and have to begin over | and over again.
 It was strange, indeed to hear this well groomed Londoner, typical of the best class of clubman and with the pol ished manners of the old school, sitting there before his glowing grate with the hum of the traffic coming in at the win dcws, talking gravely of the difficulties of burning city-but he told me about
 many a stranger experience than that be- fore he was finished.
 q served in the Confederate army for just over 14 months" Mr. Humph- rey went on, "and was in some of the stiffest of the fighting-at Cold liar Dor, for instance. where 10000 nortE- ern soldiers were killed in 20 min
 utes. This really was the beginning of my monkeyings with the bu<zsaw os existence for I was only IS at the
 time and had recently left college ct
 Quebec. where I finished my aduca- ticn. I hadn't exactly quarrel with my people. but they were intent on
 my taking up an occupation for which
 l had no taste whatever, and so I just took French leave one day and went out looking for trouble. As a matter Of fact. l then had no idea whatever of fighting with the south and, strict ly speaking, I was never officially |. member of the Confederate army though it amounted to the same thing l just wanted to see something of the bigness internicine struggle on record ard so, with a friend, I worked my l way south, first paying a visit to the ! union forces. Both armies were then | iu winter quarters. for there was 1t. 1 tie fighting during the winter months on account of the mud and later I had no difficulty in going on and into the Confederate lines"
 One of the episodes that Mr. Humph- rey remembers most vividly after the war finished was paying $500 in Con- 1ederate. money for pair of boots that proved to be constructed of paper and melted into pulp the first time he got his feet wet. Soon afterwards he spent his last dollar in making his way up the Elizabeth river to where work on the present Albemarle and Chesapeake canal was in progress l There, for while. he worked as an 1 ordinary day laborer, pushing wheel | barrow loads of sand in exchange fer dollar a day and his rations, but 1 soon afterward the expertness with | which he amazed to round up A lot Of timber that had got adrift, step ping lightly from one piece to an- other of it in midstream Ca trick he l had learned on the Ottawa) drew the adnlrins attention of his "boss' and 1 he was placed in charge of a gang Of | men and had his salary "sweetened" l considerably.
 "I missed the chance of a fine iob
 after that that might have made me. J
 remarked Mr. Humphrey, regretfullv. l py denouncing my employer one day l as a d--- drunken old Yankee He
 knew it was true, but didn't relish
 being told so. and, in spite of the fact
 that he liked my work, he gave me
 my walking papers,"
 | After that our venerable special con- stable wandered off into Texas. the bold, bad Texas of the late 60's, when 1 every mans hand was mostly on his l gun" His companion on this trip
 which carried him from New Orleans | to Fl. Paso and the Rio Grande-was
 another rolling stone whose reckless.
 ness may be gathered from the fact y,
 looking on, discovered him to be de. ! liberately cheating in a poker game not half an hour after they had seer ! man done to death in a particu. larly bloodcurdling manner for that
 identical offense. This was in a way.
 side saloon where the two ''tender,
 feet" had stopped for drink and the others who "sat in'' the game were obvious bad men. MT. Humphrey ant his daredevil chum got out of tn. place with their lives thanks chief, to the fact that they were backed UT l by the bartender with a six shooter 1T ! each hand. Disguised completely by
 this experience. Mir. Humphrey part | ed company with his too daring chum
 who was killed a fortnight later. Soor afterward Mir. Humphrey learned that 1 their friend in need, the barkeeper had also been killed by the bad mer for his part in helping them to es cape.
 It was after this that our ''special' had his introduction to mining, frs
 in California and later in Nevada. Ii was in Virginia City. in the latter state that we knew Mark Twain, who was editor of a small newspaper there
 He says that the author of "Huckle berry Finn" was then an inveteratt practical joker but that. like most per.
 sons thus inclined. he was consider, ably less amused by jest at his owr expense. When Mark Twain left Ne. vada City they had whip round anG
 bought a beautiful meerschaum pipe which was to be presented to the hu- morist at a farewell dinner. At the