The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-13

l i had resigned to enlist in the war with Germany. Speaker Conner administered | the oath and got along very well un- | til he came to where the candidate ! must swear to obey the constitution
 and laws and promise not to trade his vote when MT. Cavett oucHee' stat
 ing it was "against his religion" How ever, the speaker explained and MT. Cayett swallowed it whole while the 1 house roared with laughter. And yet Mir. Cavett is a Confederate veteran, who always wears the gray, and has served several terms in the leSisia- 1 ture.
 HAIRSTON HANGS ON
 Since the last session of the legis- i lature two members of the senate and ] six members of the house have re- signed, while two have died. These | eight resignations were because the men had enlisted in the war. all of i them having been commissioned as officers after terms at the training schools and their successors have been l sworn in. However, there is one mem- ! Ter, J. M. Hairston, floater for Jack | son and Harrison, who holds on in ] spite of the fact that he has been ap- | pointed a major. He is stationed here
 at Jackson as an attache of the of- l flee of the adjutant general M'ADOO MAY COME | 1 son Is to receive a visit from Secre- l tary McAdoo about the middle of Feb | ruary. There is to be a conference | here of all the council of national defense forces, participated in by members of the state organizations of a similar character, and MT. McAdoo | has promised that if he possibly can he will be on hand. His presence would | mean a large attendance from all over the state and the officers of the state | organization hope that he will be able to come.
 LABOR AGENTS BEWARE l It has been decided by the supreme court that labor agents must pay privilege tax of $500 in each and ev- cry county in which they operate. The case came up from one of the southern counties. where an agent
 named Garbutt was arrested for not taking out a license to contract for laborers to be sent out of the state. He was fined the amount of the license Tn the court below and the supreme court affirmed that finding as perfect ly constitutional law.
 DRIVE AGAINST RATES Hinds county is arranging for campaign against rats, mice and oth CT farm pests and no doubt during the week devoted to this cause thou sands of the rodents will be killed. It is said that a rat will destroy at least one bushel of corn or other grain during a year, and if that be true Hinds county is going to save untold quantities of foodstuff. E. W. Wilson, chief of the biological sur vey, writes that he is very greatly In terested in this antirat crusade, and wants a report as to results. A BIG FOOD CROP J. Ed Ruff demonstration agent for the southern half of Mississippi, is urging his forces to do all in their power to have the farmers of their districts plant heavily of food crops this year He calls attention to the lator shortage but is confident that with improved machinery the farmers of Mississippi will be able to culti | vate more land than ever and make a greater food crop than last year. He /, advises that corn be planted early and that special attention be paid to l the sweet potato, cane, pea and bean crops so that an abundance of meat l may be produced very cheaply. It is believed here that the farmers in many localities are going to plant every possible acre to cotton this 1 spring, to the disaster of food crops
 and every agency in the state is being | brought to bear on them to first make
 sure of their food crops for man and l beast
 WHEAT LOOKS FINE The officials of the state peniten- | tiary report that the 1500 acres of I wheat planted last fall on the convict | farm at Parchman looks as well as { could be desired, having come
 through the severely cold weather of
 the past few weeks without any in- | jury so far as can be seen. The con.
 victs are now being fed on biscuits
 made from wheat raised on the farm l last year and they are getting along l Just well as if they were paying
 the western dealers $10 per barrel for l the patented stuff they have hitherto
 been furnished The superintendent of | the convict farms states that he is | well advanced with his work and will
 be through blowing in another week. | He has 400 blows running from day. | light till dark on the 15,000-acre farm 1 In Sunflower county and they are
 bedding up about 300 acres per day
 DOG LAW DEMANDED l From every section of the state
 come demands that the legislature 1 shall enact a dog low that will stick
 and be compulsory in every county, | enacted so that the farmers every where may be encouraged to raise l sheep. The time was when great l flocks of sheep roamed the hills and hollows of south Mississippi. but they l are not there now in anything like the numbers they were 40 years ago, all due to the worthless cur dogs that are giveh free range. Represent tatives Spears of Marshall county has
 a bill for dog law in his peck ct and will spring it at an early day. This always has precipitated a bitter fight in the legislature, always result
 ing in victory for the dog, but during
 these war times it is believed the law
 will be passed.
 Literary Taste in Cigar Factory
 Arthur Barrett .Iaurice in Harper's
 Magazine.
 In the cigar or cigarette factories,
 what impressed the scribe most was