The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-04-07
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

! = 70
 Then how comprehensive is the com. ment, And God saw the<ight that it was good. and God divided the light from the darkness.', can close my eyes and in my mind can hear Bob lngersoli making sport of this.
 But in spite of what to him was a < humorous performance, to me the thought that God called the light day, and the darkness night after He had separated them, and of the two great lights one was to illuminate our path way by day and the other by night, Is che of the most beautiful stories re- corded in istory.
 No wonder then that the sun and noon have played such part in the story of the religions of the world, and to me the sun worshipers were very near the heart of Natures God. for in the infancy of the race, light and heat were the things which gave to the people an oportunity to be personi- fled in their religious thinking
 
 |, But I never read the opening chap I ter of Genesis without turning to the opening chapter of John. for in speak ing of the Son of God. he said: "In Him was life and the life was the light of men," and it goes on to tell how the great announcer came for witness, Ito bear witnes of the light, that all men might through him believe"
 But this is not to be a sermon, and may seem a strange introduction to a tale about a lot of business men who I foregathered on Monday and Tuesday in the Tutwiler to talk about ways and means to get the public to use bet ter and more lights. It was an acci- dent pure and simple that I got onto what was going on. was in the lob by and saw a bunch of fellows on the l rnezzanine floor, and strolled up to find cut what was on foot
 I was soon recognized by my Rota- rsan friends, c. R. Matthews and Bob I Brooke, and it wasn't long before I learned that it was the annual mer- I Electric Supply Company of this city but that it had brought to Birming- ham live men from four states; Ala 1 hama, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. 1 and that they were here for an inter- change of ideas and to hear experts 1 from the manufacturers of electrical goods.
 l I accepted an invitation to drop in and expected to remain a few minutes and make getaway, for on the sur lface it did not apear to me that any thing they might say would make any 1 special appeal to a newspaper man. But there was where I was wrong, for 1 shortly after finding seat, I was sit ting with open mouth and fascinated gaze at pictures being thrown the screen.
 I am movie fam" all right, but gen. orally I root" for Doug" "Fatty, .l"Charlie.' or some of the feminine ce- lebrities with turn of humor, for I Ike the funny acts and care little for the problem or sex plays. I have reached the point in life where l am tired of tragedy and want to see come- dy. and therefore, I seek out the billE which cater to the boys and girls, for their laughter is the sweetest accom- raniment that I know anything about.
 
 But the thing which struck me with such force was the fact that was just eating up and crying for moren feet of films showing the birth and devel- opment of the incandescent electric light It is marvellous story to read about, but to see it Is to get new sensation. The making of a modern Mazda is by far more difficult than I had ever dreamed it to be- I am writ ing by one. and as the soft rays fall on the paper, am conscious that I am in the presence of twentieth gentry miracle.
 l I haven't the technical knowledge or even the descriptive power If I knew the secret. to put it down in black and white, how after long years of heart l breaking experimentation, Edison. the lwizard. after 1900 failures. at last discovered the right way to i'm Irison reliable and steady flame in a glass home of it's own to light and cheer the homes of countless thou sands. I take off my hat to him as the marvel worker and confess my per- sonal indebtedness to him for making it easier for me to do my work at night.
 I feel a personal interest in the in- Candescent light, for I crossed the ocean on the first steamship ever light co by them, but the ones used on the Servia, then the finest boat in the Gu r.ard fleet. have been as far distanced rearance for now a kind has been made whereby one gets ten times more light from the same amount of current that he did from the first ones used. and this is only one of the many points in which a revolution has been made through patient work.
 Il I am only speaking of the light part of the programme, for it is the only topic heard discussed; but all the time the reel was being run, I was thinking rot only of the order in creation when Cod, by His simple fiat, said Let there be light. and there was light" hut of the painful steps which man kind has taken in the effort to light his way through life. It's far cry : from sticks and stones and lightwoo knots and tallow dips and candles and kerosene lamps and gas to the incan- descent light.