The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-11-25
MEN, WOMEN
AND THINGS

|
! Now. there is an art even in digging
hole in the ground, from the time the
i first pick is struck into it to the moment
when the last shovelful of earth is
pitched out there is always something
going wrong.
The well digger has had a fascination
| for me from my boyhood days, and many
an hour / have put in around the top
watching the man at the windiass draw
| ing UP the loads from below where
man was at work at the peril of his life,
for in spite of long practice many sea-
soned digger is caught
| Have you ever heard the cry of dis
tress when such an accident happens7
If so, you will never forget the excite
ment of the rescuers. There is always
such sense of shock at the thought OF
mans being buried before his time,
and there is no sound in all the world
quite so dreadful as that of falling clods
on the grave of loved one.
! It's curious how one man fears one
thing and another makes light Of it. l
can fly high above the earth and get joy
out of it, but there isn't enough money
| in the world to make me go down into a
mine to dig iron or coal or copper. The
mere thought of being shut up in the
chamber Of mine all alone or even with
buddy makes my flesth creep.
And yet the, greatest indictment I ever
knew to be leveled at the grind of teach
| ing came from friend of mine, man
about six feet four inches in height, VINO
voluntarily surrendered the superintend-
ency of school in mining town and
took up his pick to work lying on his
side in a four-foot seam of coal rather
than to be deviled any longer by a
bunch Of children and their cantankerous
parents. At the time the pay was about
the same, so it was not case of max
ing better wages which drove him to
cover.
| I never like to go through tunnels. 1t
is not merely the unpleasantness of the
smoke or the feeling of suffocation, but
the unknown dread of the roof giving
way and being caught like a mouse in
a trap. I got more than enough OF the
famous Mount Cents before I had gone
a half mile, and to tell the TRUTH the
one between here and Montgomery just
this side of Helena, is plenty long to
| satisfy me. I do not, however, carry it
as far as some people, who, before they
make a railway journey, select the route
which has the smallest number of tunnels
on it.
| l spent one summer in Chicago with
my wife. We lived at the Moody Bible in
stitute, and in going down town we had
lchoice of the elevated, which crossed the
river on bridge, or of using the street
cars, which went under it. She very much
preferred the underground route. but l
felt very much safer on the one where 1
could see the water, for I always had a
lcreepy feeling as to what might happen
1if the masonry gave way and let the
river in on me. They say drowning is
1.-THE easiest of all deaths. but I have
never been in a hurry to give up the
ghost
The first time 1 ever heard of going
beneath the bed of river for a passage
way was when arrived in London as
boy Some one told me that there was
tunnel beneath the Thames, and l
thought I was being strung. Mr.. McAdoo
land his tubes never reconciied me to the
disagreeableness of travelling like mole
under the surface of the ground, and 1
abominated the underground railways in
London. I'll admit that the elevateA
tstreets, but I hope it will be long time
before they, like the telegraph poles, will
have to be put out Of sight.
Time was when homes and business
houses were set down on the earth, but
after awhile land became 50 valuable and
the mode Of architecture changed SO rad
ically with the use of elevators that
larchitects and builders got together and
began to go down deep into the bowels
of the earth not merely to get firm
foundation, but to secure more room,
until in the great cities the skyscrapers
have from one to four floors hidden out
of sight. but, give me the roof garden.
IL could write story ABOUT the latter,
but will wait until another time.
I lived for about a year in Vicksburg,
Miss I: was just after leaving Wander
bilt and one of the things which inter-
ested and fascinated me was the tale
and the sight of the underground homes
dug in the hillsides when Grant was lay
ing seige to it. There were plenty Of PEG.
pie still living who had experienced the
ser ation, Of dwelling in the sides of the
hills. The soil being adapted to bur-
rowing, it was not very hard for the in
dustrious to make themselves fairly COM
Portable.
But the experience of the Vicksburgers
was as nothing to those who went
through the great war, ended a year
ago in Europe, but prolonged in the Sem
ate to the great discomfort of the thirsty,
who had hoped to see the Saharic sands
sprinkled at least for awhile before
christmas for as yet We are technically
at least living under war conditions. and
the ban of wartime prohibition can
not be lifted. l was talking about dig
I ging in and switched off to strong
drink, SO I'll get back to my subject.
Trench warfare opened up new and I'M
, heard of delvings in the earth. They
saw the doughboys can forget many