would fit nicely into the Wall Street district. Moreover, the tall
buildings of Birmingham lose nothing in height by contrast with the
older buildings, three or four stories high, which surround them, giving
the business district something of that look which hangs about a boy who
has outgrown his clothing. Nor are the vehicles and street crowds,
altogether in consonance, as yet, with the fine office buildings of the
city, for many of the motors standing at the curb have about them that
gray, rural look which comes of much mud and infrequent washing, and the
idlers who lean against the rich facades of granite and marble are
entirely out of the picture, for they look precisely like the idlers who
lean against the wooden posts of country railroad station platforms.

Such curious contrasts as these may be noted everywhere. For instance,
Birmingham has been so busy paving the streets that it seems quite to
have forgotten to put up street signs. Also, not far from the majestic
Tutwiler Hotel, and the imposing apartment building called the Ridgely,
the front of which occupies a full block, is a park so ill kept that it
would be a disgrace to the city but for the obvious fact that the city
is growing and wide-awake, and will, of course, attend to the park when
it can find the time. Here are, I believe, the only public monuments
Birmingham contains. One is a Confederate monument in the form of an
obelisk, and the other two are statues erected in memory of Mary A.
Cahalan, for many years principal of the Powell School, and of William
Elias B. Davis, a distinguished surgeon. Workers in these fields are too
seldom honored in this way, and the spirit which prompted the erection
of these monuments is particularly creditable; sad to say, however, both
effigies are wretchedly placed and are in themselves exceedingly poor
things. Art is something, indeed, about which Birmingham has much to
learn. So far as I could discover, no such thing as an art museum has
been contemplated. But here again the critic should remember that,
whereas art is old, Birmingham is young. She is as yet in the stage of
development at which cities think not of art museums, but of municipal
auditoriums; and with the latter subject, at least, she is now
concerning herself.

Even in the city's political life contrasts are not wanting, for though
the town is Republican in sentiment, it proves itself southern by voting
the Democratic ticket, and it is interesting to n