The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-05-07
M B N w o M B N A N D T HIN G $

am Just Dack rom the meetlH6 oA eit0 Alabama Press association at Albany, and believe me it was quite an interest ing as well as informing body.
 Frank. Julian as president starred. It is always delight to have man in the chair who is not weighted down by sense of his importance, and every one who was at Albany will bear witness that the honor sat lightly on Frank,
 l like the chairman who knows enough parliamentary law not to be con tinually letting the body in on the fact that he is a parliamentarian by con- tinually demanding that all of the rules shall be observed even though it may get the meeting into tangle in an ef- fort to run it according to Roberts.
 Frank Julian is on to the game of pre- siding. for while he dispatches business he is not stickler for the chair but keeps the programme running by usins just ordinary common sense eprinkled with sense of humor. He has made an unusually good all-round president poth during the sessions of the body and Tn recess, the latter really being the acid test of worth to the association.
 Albany is progressive city in every way. and I always get great pleasure in visiting it as I have many warm friends to welcome me It, like Birmingham. is ay1'c n and without the slightest wish to dis credit the old men, I think it is true that the spirit of adventure, the courage to dare is an asset of youth. The best part of it being that their enthusiasm ignites the elders in Israel" who contribute just that modicum of conservatism which is needed in solid building.
 Mayor E. C. PaySe, however, is the type of the middle-aged man who still dreams dreams and is ready to work to make them come true. His interest in Albany dates from it's birth and there fore he looks upon it's growth and de- velopment with a fatherly pride and when he is up talking about it his eyes light up and his cheeks glow and his words burn with a love which is unmis- takable.
 In his address of welcome he stated that in meeting one of the speakers had stated that the city council was made up of a lot of fools and that the mayor was the biggest fool in the bunch. Now l am not putting in on local pol itics, but I do say that friend Payne is good sport to be able not to vince but to make a joke of it. I want to say to him that it's no disgrace to be citizen in the Kingdom of Fools If this were untrue quite few of us might be dis credited.
 Albany shows that it is forward look ing city in many ways. It can be seen in it's stores, it's schools, it's churches, its homes, it's Young Mems Christian asso- It boasts that it has more paved streets than any other city of it's population in the state, and the good work of construc- tion is still going on. Its chamber of commerce, the host of the association, is live and up-to-date organization, made up of progressive men and comfortably housed.
 Albany is a far way from Andalusia, but not to far to keep Editor Oscar M. Dugger from attending. I suppose he wanted to show north Alabama that if the Alabama Press association was good enough to have visited his home town he was going to return the compli- ment by getting a glimpse of the Ten nessee valley. The session at Albany demonstrated the fact that those really willing to attend it's meetings wherever held
 There is different atmosphere around every professional gathering. lawyers | convention differs from preachers con- ference, just as a medical session is un- like a newspaper association; but conven- tionite that I am I get pleasure in at tending them all, and in so doing am enabled to keep in touch with what the professions each are doing in my native Stdto. diIi SidQ ludI Ieel peTIeCtly at home in three out of the four. My only regret is that I did not graduate in medicine so that I could fellowship fully with the doctors. It's true I am doc tor. but unfortunately not an M. D.
 
 I'll not attempt to give detailed re- port of the programme carried out by the | association, but I vii content myself in saying that the set addresses the pre- pared papers the informal discussions, and the queries made the sessions inter | esting from the opening to the close. It is always unfortunate, however, that the programme gets overloaded, or perhaps to be more accurate, the body gets In | too big a hurry to carry it out and there is wild rush to adjourn in order to ge. home again.
 I am sure that the editors will pardon me if I fail to name those who made talks and simply call attention to the ad- dresses of the three distinguished vis- itors, Dr. Courtland Smith, president of Washington and Lee university; Lieut.. Gov. Nathan L. Miller, and plain "Bill' Brandon, as he likes to be called. The address by Dr. Smith in the interest of the revival of the School of Journalism founded by Robert E. Lee, was 8 mas terpiece. The address of Hon. N. l.. Mil Ter was thought provoking. and "Bill' was at his best