The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-07-23
MEN, WOMEN
AND THINGS

This Is to be little story of how
my way from Brompton on the Bir-
mingham special after my disastrous
effort to reach Sid Lees barbecue
proved such a fiasco.
After climbing over the railing OF
| the observation car went through the
Pullmans into day coach and took
seat by a soldier. but soon had to get
up as his chum came in from the
smoker. 1 then moved to where
little lad was seated but upon the APP
pearance of his mother who had been
making her toilet had to vacate.
I had started at the front of the
coach and it looked as if without wish
ing it was about to engage in the
game of changing partners. I saw an
unoccupied place next to a kindly mid
die aged man, and asked If 1 could
share it with him and got such a well
| come that 1t Immediately made me feel
good
We rode for quite a bit before we
had much to say to one another as
was tired out and not very communica-
| tive. Finally 1 saw that he was dis
posed to enter into a conversation and
l gave him a good opening, and right
glad I am that 1 did SO for 1 found
him a fine type of the self-representa-
tive Georgia farmer, and higher praise
than this I can give to no man.
W. fr;o I,x
basis, he asked me If 1 knew Dolph
Moore, and told him I was sorry but
there were so many strangers in Biz
mingham couldn't keep up with them
| like in the good old days when 1 knew
| everybody. He then said, Perhaps
you know 'Bennie'," hadn't yet caught
on to who he was referring but not
wanting to let him think that 1 was
| unacquainted with his friends I made
| further inquiry in the hope of locating
| them.
| TN what business are they engaged?"
| asked, ooh, he answered they are in
the wholesale hardware business and
for the first time l realized that he
/ was talking about my good friends J..
| D. and B. F. Moore. AS soon as I got
line on them 1 opened up and was
able to answer all of his questions but
not until he had told me much about
their history as boys and young men.
| His name was j. L. Crews, and his
home was out from Carrollton, Georgia,
1t developed that for quite a while he
/ worked on shares land owned by the
| father of ]. D. and B. F. He always
spoke of him as "old man Jimmie
Moore and he held him in high esteem
as a man of the old ante-bellum planter
with broad acres and hospitable
home
He informed me that Jimmie"
More had settled on land from which
the Indians had been removed and that
| it was one of the finest and best
plantations in the whole country; but
| the thing which made the most impress
] sion on him was the ferry operated
| by Mr.. Moore on the Chattahoochie
river. which according to him was a
most profitable investment and net
1
Now to give you, who read this, an
| idea of how fast the world is moving,
Concord buggy owned by Mr. Moore,
and that buggies were mighty scarce
in those days. People either walked,
rode horse back or went in wagons; but
| "old man Jimmie" had a beautiful
pair of black mares, giving one to
| 'Dolph" and one to Ben" He told
how they took the buggy into Newman
and had a pole put into it.
1t seems that "Dolph" in his early
manhood was school teacher and had
found a school at Roanoke, Alabama
about y miles away; and how later
Ben" Joined him as a teacher. 1t
seems he made four or five trips with
them behind the fine blacks in order to
bring the team back home. but that he
always stayed in Roanoke several days
to give the boys chance to take the
Roanoke bellies out driving.
| 1 could judge from his talk that he
had been hard worker and a saver,
and it was really refreshing to hear
him talk about his farm which was
his very own. 1 could picture it in my
minds eve. His limit being about so
bales of cotton, corn, peas wheat for
his own use, hoogs, sheep, goats. chick
| ems and a vegetable garden, and cows
| in the pasture and fat mules in the
| barn.
| 1t was his proud boast that he lived
| at home" and that high prices never
bothered him, for he made everything
except a little tobacco, sugar, salt and
pepper and such like. 1t was no idle
boast when he remarked that he was
now able to entertain his friends in
comfort and that it was the JOY OF
his life to have guests under his root
AS we got more and more confiden-
tial, he told me that he was coming
over to visit his daughter and as we
got up to leave the train he handed
me his valise to hold to see how
heavy it was for he had told me that
he had in it lot of dressed friers
for her, and his country hospitality
got the better of him and he asked mo
to come round the next morning and
have breakfast with them. 1 told him
was very sorry but 1 had to leave