The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-03
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

As sit here at my desk great flakes of snow are softly falling, and in spite of the incessant rain which preceded it. the roofs all about are getting coV- cred with blanket of white.
 
 Born and reared in south Alabama where snow was a seven days wonder and cnly came at long intervals, I can well remember with what awe l First looked upon a world made white over night. It was beyond the range of my childish imagination,
 Frequently during my residence in the north have been asked if wc ever had any snow in the south, and l generally answer that at my old home town of Eufaula we occasionally had light fall, bat we ate it up before it could pile itself into drifts
 My, how my cheeks jingle with joy as I think of how we boys used to go out on the porch and spoon up the flakes and eat it with sugar and cream, or set it out to be frozen during the night It was always great fun to pack it in barrels and set them down in the cellar to keep as a delicacy.
 We never got much of a chance to sled or go sleighing, and yet within twoscore years sufficient amount fell to give the adventurous spirits an opportunity to put runners on their buggies and get up sleighing parties. but the sport was always short lived as old Sol had way of melting it far too quickly to suit the young people.
 It is a bit queer, but the first real snowstorm I ever got into was when 2. lad in a private school in Neuilly- sur-Seine. a suburb of Paris. Our in stitution was not far from the Bois de Boulogne. and I made a trip through it, and to me it was fairer than any dream I had ever had of Fairyland. and the tingling of the sleigh bells on cold, moonlight nights seemed the sweetest music I ever heard
 
 always recall an experience I had. l was the only American boy who board- ed in the school. though several came in as day pupils There was half q dozen or more sturdy English lads. The French boys, who outnumbercd the snow fight and they accepted, and naturally I had to line up with them
 The English were to construct fort and hold it against the French inva- ders. A lot of hard work was put on it. We were pretty well fortified but in spite of heroic resistance. at last the French, by sheer weight of num- bers. were about to take it, and a sortie was attempted. which meant l that a handful had to fight crowd out in the open.
 If it had been an old fashioned south Alabama rock battle I could have held my own, for the branches in which l waeed were filled with just the right kind of stones for effective chunlling, and many time and oft my gang had it out with the various other ones in the town. and a Eufaula boy who wasn't 'an artful dodger' was liable to go about with bandaged head. Our battles were usually in the sum- mer time. and between barefeoted arr mics, who dashed from one side of i the branch to the other seeking either shelter or the best rock beds. But snow was a new element to me, and | the cold bit terribly. and my hands nearly froze. and when big fellow 1 landed an icy hard snow ball on my aching ear l thought he had just cut it off
 I never wanted to run as bad in my life had the desire all right, but the thought of showing the white feather and disgracing America held me II | line. when the thing I most wished te do was to get by warm fire and thaw