The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-10-10
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

l " "SAA dll dutoiHOplle III SlSnt anu hO loafers around.
 1 I strolled on up toward the town along l the walk on the side of the street oc-
 cupied for blocks by one of the old homes which is green spot, with it's shade and ornamental shrubs-a rest from the busy l life stuck in the heart Of the little city. | I turned the corner and had gotten nearly up to the square, still seeing lit i tie life, but on corner I spied Jack | Cranford and "Breck" Musgrove with theirsheads together and knew not only that the city was alive,, but safe. Jack
 and "Breck" being pair to draw to- I gave them the countersign and was
 right royalty welcomed.
 I do not know why, but since I have found out that my friend Cranford is 1 trying to pose as young man instead of realizing that he is a grandfather, l take peculiar delight in addressing him as grandpa or Uncle Jack," and so when I pulled the latter on him he said, Its funny thar fellow whose face is as wrinkled as a Dooley yam,
 always insists on addressing me as if was an old man.
 He then turned and said, You may
 not know it, but my friend Musgroye is one of the shrewdest men in the country, and ifsyou doubt it, I will give Judge Charles Ferguson as my authority, for his smartness has been passed on by one of Alabama's most beloved judges. might say it has been taken judicial
 knowledge of" I saw "Breck" get ready
 to have him expose him, but if he had any malice in his heart it never showed
 in his cherubic face.
 q happened to be with my friend here one day when we ran across Judge
 Ferguson in Birmingham, and after he greeted us in his usual way, said, Jack,
 did you ever stop to think you were going about with the smartest man in Alabama?' I replied that I hadn't dis
 covered it. Well, it's true, for he can
 read the signs of the times, for when
 prohibition first loomed up he got on
 the water wagon, and now his job is to put in his time in all of the wet states in the interest of the federal amend
 ment.' I hadn't thought about it in that manner, but Charley is a good diagnostician.'
 Ta.nar hos opa tbipo which ia a ioy
 forever not only to the town, but to the visitors, and that is the overflow ing well set in the midst of the busi- nes block, with seats about tempting one
 to sit down and rest and swap a few
 yarns My, the tales that have been told
 in the shadow of the we'll and the po-
 litical plots which have been matched
 within the sound of it's dripping water! Jasper is justly proud of it's marble courthouse, it's fine churches and it's new postoffice, and it's hotel q wrote par agraph about~it in another story) I am willing to admit that there are other towns in the state where the citizens | from time to time are diverted by poli- tics but the Walker county city has them pushed off the map, for it's in poli- tics all the time.
 I was down to have a part in the dedi- cation of the service flag of the Baptist church. beautiful silk one, with 43 stars. had been made for the occasion,
 and was presented to the Sunday school by Deacon G. D. O'Rear, and accepted by Superintendent W. c. Davis Pastor | j. J. Hagood presided, and made | talk and the choir sang some patriotic songs. It was great evening and l enioyed having a part in it. I was glad | that no golden star was among the black. but sorry to learn that two silver l ones were necessary.
 | Back to the hotel and to bed. l got up and wanted to know if the train Tor Birmingham was on time, but was in- ! formed that while I slept the depot had been burned to the ground and that all l the wires were down and therefore It was best to go down and hang around until it came along. I did so and found
 the building total wreck. I was stand ] ing with a friend when up walked young lady He said, You are out Of
 job,' and quick as a flash she replied, Yes, l got fired last night l It was the Frisco depot which went up 1 in smoke and was Q total loss R. c. Carey. the agent, seems to have hoo- doc. for just a few weeks before his home was burned A crowd of adven-
 turous and curious, boys were poking i around in the debris with bars of iron
 and rakes, and every now and then 8 sharp explosion would send them scat tering. I think about the only thing any
 of them got for their trouble was
 wash pan, certainly useless article Tor | a small boy.
 1 I had ridden up the morning before and I thought the brakeman was Dit officious in making every one show their
 ticket before getting aboard. I heard
 him give countryman sharp answer for not producing his cardboard, evl- 5encing the fact that he was entitled to i ride. and I rather enjoyed the idea oi l seeing a bunch of folks get by him at Jasper without having to exhibit to ms gaze their contract with the Frisco, for l like the ssnakes in Ireland there | weren't any tickets for they all had burned.