The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-08-23
MEN, WOMEN
AND THINGS

Ever since / was at Andalusia have
lbeen wondering who gave it its name.
am sure it was christened by some
one who built air castles in Spain. for
teh mere mention of it evokes whole
train of romance.
1t is said by some lingufts that An
dalusia or Andalucia in fpanish, is a
corruption of vandalusia, SO called from
the Vandal invasion which swept over
the lower part Of Spain in the 5th cen
/ fury and succeeded in conqueroring the
whole country.
| But Andalusia in Alabama is as new
| ash Andalusia in Spain is old, for as late
as 1890 271 Andalusians were set down
in the census as living in it, while We
know the province of Andalusia over
seas was visited in antiquity by the
| Phoeneeians.
Here were born the peot Lucan, the
emperor Traijajnjj,j jthje jpjhjijjljj
emperor Trajan, the philosopher Sem
! eca Latin civilization was firmly es-
: tablished when, in 81 3. c., Andalusia
became the Roman province of Bpetica.
so called after its great waterway, the
Boetis (now known as, the Guadal-
quivir).
| Now, the Guad1quivir valley is often,
| in part at least, identified with the
biblical Tarshish, but a long contro-
versy has ragged around Carthage be-
ing linked with the ships of Tarshish,"
although If we wish we can also diff
J fer with the scholars who get Andalusia
| from yandalusia, and tie on to the
Moorish Andalus or Andalosh, meaning
the Land of the West"
The beauty about ancient history is
you can take almost any side and be
| sure of support in some quarters, but
| equally confident that some other au-
| thority will controvert it, and when
| you mix up the 1inguists you are sure
| to wind up in mo mans land" l call
attention to the fact when Jonah took
ship at Joppa and paid his fare he had
a through ticket to Tarshish.
| Anda1usia through the centuries felt
the he'll of the invader. Phoenecian
Greeks, Carthaginians, Vandals, and
and Moors each held it in subsection
and left it of their civilization. Cen
turtles of alien domination have left
! their mark upon it's character and the
appearance of the Andalusians, a mix
| ed race, who contrast strongly with
true Spaniards and possess many orien-
tai traits.
Now 1 have rambled this far to es-
tablish a basis for having called editor
Digger in his manner as a toast
master a toreador. The man of An
dalusia in Spain are tall, handsome, and
well made, (and the women are the
| most beautiful in all the land). Now
here is where / score, for in the lir-
erature and the drama of his country,
the Andalusian is ready witteds ever
boastful, and the great bull-fighters.
leave it to those present if Digger
didn't qualify as a regular toreador.
| But believe me, l like for a man to
stick up to his home town, and Digger
isn't the only Andalusian guilty of
fondness for Throwing the bull" for he
| has an able coadjutor in President
Whaley of the Chamber Of Commerce,
and both of them are backed up by
every man, woman and child in the
| plucky little city which built itself
| around the diamond velvet bean"
souvenir of which in the shape of a
scarf pin was given to each editor.
| The Andalusian has right to boast
| for in 1890 Andalusia had a popula-
ton of only 200. In 1900 her census
taker could only count 551. In 1910
she has passed the $500 mark and to-
day there are fully 5000 people within
the city limits and the population is
| increasing just as rapidly as homes
can be secured in which to house the
newcomers.
Now This population of 5000 is made
up of live ones. There isn't dead one
| in the bunch, and what more they
know ukow to pull together They are
wide awake and enterprising. They
have vision and faith and courage I'M
tied in strong degree. They have
quit piddlng and have gone out for
big things. This is why they invited
the Alabama Press association to be
their guests. They wanted all the state
to know that they were on the may, and
believe me they are.
| I think run around enough to know
a live town when l see it. The minute
| [ got up en- the square at Andalusia l
| felt the quickening spirit of the people.
| Talk about the morale of an army,
there is just such a thing in city.
| tried to uncover ''knocker'' but fail
| ed to find single one. Either he is
non existent or some of his fellow citi-
zens had stolen his hammer during the
visit of the editors.
ton. and well knowing that l am go
=; ing to get into trouble for being so
impolite, but the court house at Anda-
lusia is in my opinion the most beauti-
full one in the whole state. II may not
have cost as much some, but from
An architectural standpoint it is simply
a classic and would grace any city in
America as home for an art gallery.
| sincerely hope Birminghams audito-
rum viii be built in such good taste.
Having gone this far I might just as
| we'll put my foot in it again for the
| public school building is about the lat