The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-11-06
M EN, w o EN
 A ND THIN G s

AN tHC Hlllt ktl1nBS WHICH snow thc growth of a village into a town and a town into a city, yet am sure that here in Birmingham we measure it's greatness more in terms of coal, iron and steel
 
 I'll take two instances, ''hot dogs and soft drinks" for they go together. can well remember that "wieniesY- were sold only in the evening, and that the cry of he lone night hawk who carried them first in steaming can strapped to his body, and later in buggy was consid- cred A great innovation.
 took the homely wienie first to show just how "wienerwurst" stands have grown up here and there like mushrooms, and that they fange from holes in the walls to handsome places, where marble top counters and plate glass mirrors give evidence to the fact that the trade is not to be despised.
 Not only has there been great change in the character and volume of the busi- ress, but there has also been equally as great a change in the clientele who pa- trcnize these establishments, for mot dogs" are no longer the tid-bits of the sporting element, accustomed to be out late of nights, but any day substantial business and professional men may be seen devouring them with relish
 It was long time before l ever learned the significance of the name. 1 had eaten them in the old days in Bir~ mingilam without for one moment think ing of why they were so called. But later, while a student in Vienna, found out that even in the great university there was a wiener" stand, and that wiener wtrst' simply mean Vienna sausages. Vi- erna in German being Wien.
 Now, if there has been q progress in the wiener business in Birmingh there has also been revolution in the drinks to go with them. Before prohi- bition got in the range of a possibility, and was only the dream of few long haired fanatics, they were taken over by the bars and figured in some places on the free lunch counter. It was in the days when a Teller could buy a beer for a nickle and get away with a quarter feed if he stood in with the barkeep, or was smart enough to keep from being caught
 After the saloons were relegated into the limbo of eternal darkness, an effort was made to serve coffee with "wienies," but somehow the dark fluid failed to har- monize with the red links, for the sauer- kraut and the mustard somehow killed %wiener wurst'' trust would be busted, but just as it was ready to give up the ghost, new beverage with a new name for the various kinds made was put on the market and labelled ''soft drinks And now the two are like the Siamese twins.
 From time immemorial we had been used to bottled drinks named soda water. What boy can ever forget the joy of pressing down on the rubber stopper and seeing the carbonated water begin to fizz. Slap went his hand over the mouth ot the bottle to hold in the effervescng stuff until he could get his mouth ready to let it gurgle down his throat to the very last droD This was long before the dangerous days of straws, which came as refinement of later times.
 Do you know I never enjoy a drink if have to suck it through straw. l lose both the feel of the liquid on my lips and tongue, and l lose the tender mem- ories of yore. when it was an event in my life to get hold of nicke on hot summer afternoon after a swim in the Tom O'Byrnes' store and spend it reck- lessly and joyously for a bottle of straw berry soda. Toms dead now, but I can shut my eyes and see him, for hes 8 as- sociated with some of the happiest hours of my sboyhood.
 The outstanding thing. however. in all my boyheod was one glorious summer afternoon when the Bluff Boys played the Hill Boys" a baseball match on the bluff. I played with the bluff nine. and we beat the hilibillies. and for so doing the manager of the bottling works invited us ever to his plant and told each mem Der of the team that he was at liberty to Hrink all that he could hold. It was a rash thing on his part for nine of us came pretty near e,lhausting his stock
 Speaking of the power of small boy to put away soda water rerpinds me of one day when l went down to Pot sI:a,n with some American friends. The head Of che party was a portly asntleman front Chicago, with stomach like a beer keg The German guide had shown us the place and been with the party all day, and while civil on account of his fee. was nevertheless without any enthusiasm that is, until we stopped at a beer gar den. It was the man from the Windy City" who woke him up, for lifting a quart mug he drained it without ever letting it leave his lips. It was too Herr lieber Gott. das ist canalization.' and after that he was obsequoius and en- thusiastic.
 l realize that the mere msntion of such tisig gs will cause some Of my readers to bark back to ihe time when they could put their foot on rail end blow the foam away; but vanished are the days, and yet quite a few live in the hope that in the future they will return. My prohibition proclivities are too we'll known for any one to accuse me of aid ing or abetting the propaganda for beer and light wines, and yet they are inno- cent and healthful drinks in comparison with the poisonous connections which are being sold throughout the country. '