The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-01-01
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Special Correspondent of The Age-H Heralt
 Copyright. 1891. by The Age Hernld)

Special Correspondent of The Age-Herald
 Copyright. 1891. by The Age -Herald)
 New York, December 31.-There are pleasanter ways of spending the early morning hours than trying to rescue an obdurate seal from burning theatre. Multiply all the incidental difficulties by three and you have some idea of the task with which fire men were confronted when the three trained seals of the Audubon vaude- : vile house declined to aid In their own escape,
 It was little after midnight when flames broke out In a structure ad- joining the theatre and began to lick at the back stage walls behind which the seal cages were located. A two ton seal is not the sort of thing you plck up under your arm, and belllg- erent two-ton seal is incredibly slip ,pery. Moreover, a course In zoology is not included in the New York fire department regulations, so that when faced by the three bleary-eyed vaude- ville pets the firemen did not at first know what to do with them. Will a seal flip on it's flippers If properly coaxed or will 1t die out of water |? Or can 1t bite when annoyed7 These were some of the problems which the NH% O AASAANFAo were aShC0, III lnc neat and excitement of the moment, to solve.
 Resentful at being awakened by so much confusion, the seals added their hoarse barking to the general uproar and thrashed about in a manner plainly indicative of their resentment at each rescue attempt. Meanwhile the climate back stage was getting far too equatorial for any seal to enjoy and at last the firemen picked up cages and all and with the aid of rollers set them on the sidewalk Here the seals roared so vehemently that they were arrested for disturb Ing the peace and sent to the West llfth street police station to await their owner and a calmer mood. And after all, the theatre escaped with scorching. Every exhausted fireman wears a look of grim satisfaction now whenever he seals a sealskin coat.
 One trouble with New York is the rapidity with which fashionable sec, tions become plebeian, and vice versa. You no sooner procure a marble mau- soleum on upper Fifth avenue than you learn that the really smart peo- pie are moving to Riverside drive. Established in granite mansion of the early storage warehouse period On Riverside drive, you find that so- ciety Is occupying 3o,000 apartments Tn Park avenue. Ensconced in your Park avenue quarters you hear that the Vanderbilts and their crowd have bought quaint little homes on the river front, in the shadow of bridge. And. in the midst of planting gerani- ums around your little home fin thA shadow of the bridge, you discover that this isn't the thing at all. Peo- pie are moving to the top floors and the roofs of the gigantic business buildings down by the Battery.
 Back to the Battery
 Back to the Battery Is therefore the newest war cry. Back to fhe spot where society originally flourished in the days when pantalettes were seen on Wall street. Half dozen mill lionaires, one of whom Is Percy A Rockefeller. have taken apartments on top of such places as the Cunard building at Bowling Green; the building, and the tower of the Exchange at Broadway and Beaver street. None of the ten ants live below the twelfth story and some have 16-room apartments on the very roof. with sleeping porches, verandas and hurricane decks of their own. The views, of course, are mag nificent-the harbor, the Statue of Liberty. Staten Island, Long Island and a sweeping slice of Jersey. At any hour of the day the panorama IS breath taking. At night, with a million lights ablaze. 1t is fafryland. Pure air. wide flung outlook, si i lence emphasized by the faint purr of distant traffic-and 12 stories down the raging whirlpool of the busiest town in the world. Could a magic capet or an Aladdin with his lamp do better in the consummation of mil racles?
 New Indoor Sport
 Max Stephenbeck has originated A