The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-11-16
MEN, WOMEN
 ;. AND THINGS

1 l do not know of any crowd of men
 who can have better time than can
 bunch of Methodist preachers when they are off guard and have along enough
 laymen to keep them straight
 
 l I was the one Baptist goat among about 300 Methodist sheep who left the conference on Friday noon to go out to the Brmingham-South college to take look at the buildings and grounds and
 partake of an army Inch
 1 sAs
 | About 50 automobiles were in waiting and .as soon as the benediction was pro- nounced the session immediately changed
 from a dignified and orderly pody of men bent on things religious to regular company of good fellows ready for svre enough picnic outing.
 l Dr. John Cumming, the financial sec retary of the combined colleges, and one of my old Barbour county friends 1 grabbed me by the arm and said, Come 1 on, Frank; you must go with us" Now I didn't need any urging, because was | present at the famous North Alabama 
 conference at Woodlawn last year when the union was being discussed,A and sure heard great debate.
 | I got so interested in the subject that [ rushed down to Dothan to attend the South Alabama conference to see how the matter would be treated by that body, for had been tipped off that there ! was to be a great fight staged, and ot course that meant news and was in my
 line. But ] got dokn there to find the
 sweetest spirit possible, and the south l Alabamians, along with the Northern Floridian Methodists, accepted it as the i wise thing, and missed great news paper story.
 | After both conferences had put their seal of approval on the undertaking to make the great Methodist school one to be located at Owenton, then along with | the preachers and the laymen 1 was Tn l the thick of the fight to raise the needed | fund, and spent many pleasant hours at lunch with the workers, at the Southern club. 1t was big thing for the Method lists and for Birmingham, and it aroused considerable enthusiasm outside of 1 Methodist circles.
 ] I was also present at the opening ldin- her at the Southern club when the uni fled plan was first concretely presented 1 to the pastors and laymen of the North | Alabama conference. It was at this din- ner that Bishop Mccoy made wonder full speech which set the keynote for the
 campaign. It was also one time that l
 thought I could sit in a public body
 without making a talk, but when MT.
 Munger was called.on for a speech, with
 out ever having said one word to me he got up and announced that he would give sl5,000, but that he had good friend,
 Frank Willis Barnett, a Baptist brother
 who would do his talking. Now, I have never refused to speak when called upon, fand it was particularly agreeable to do
 when the other man was putting up the money to back my speech.
 Taking everything into consideration, ! l felt that | had perfect right to go out : to the lunch on Friday. l saw how the l army boys got their three meals day without any loss of time. for the dele |. gates and visitors went through the same , system said the Methodists were great on system, and you will believe it when watch in hand, I saw nearly 300 men served in B minutes. I had had luncf downtown, so did not have to go through ) the setting up motions in army style te get a feed.
 MT Munger spied me and asked me tc
 follow him. and in we went through the back door of the kitchen where I was presented to Mrs. Reynolds, the matron who has two splendid boys in the. college : ,rhe kitchen was scrupulously clean, no , merely because it was kept according ] Ito army regulation, but on account o [ E the tidy, housewifely ideas of Mrs. Key
 holds. I know whereof I speak, for | have been a guest in her home at Green : vile in the old days when she lived there
 II
 It was interesting to stand behind thu
 counter and watch the serving of thu crOWQ Dy the uOZen army student dtteIlu ] ants I had seen similar arrangement. -Sl for serving hundreds quickly at the grea 5 nitrate plant at Sheffield. It's cast where a man enters one door, selects z ] knife, fork, spoon, cup and plate ant g I starts down the line, and when ht ] lreaches the other door has accumulated T a square meal and only passes out int
 8 dining room to find a seat and get or n the outside of it.
 a Alex Montgomery said that the fellow . who picked out his piece of steak fol
 him evidently sized him up wrong b,
 thinking that because he was big ant
 stout that he needed to do bit of fast : ing and praying, for he put only a stid : bit of a cut onrhis piate and Alex com : plained that it was sweet and juicy, bu Y he was ashamed to get<in line and rur !, through again for fear of being throwl c out as a ringer" I saw George Stuar c grab the implements as if he was uset 1T to quick lunches
 q The crowd had lot of fun over hay : ing their pictures taken. Knox had hi
 irevolving camera while two other pho :, tographers were on hand with their sta a tionary ones. It is no easy job to se
 la bunch of preachers to keep still lon;
 kz