Birmingham Southern College - Southern Accent Yearbook (Birmingham, AL)

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I also find upon yonr roll of honor of tliose who have particularly hcstirred themselves for the welfare of their Alma Mater, the names of Knight, Trawick, I ' eterson and Chris- tenberry, all of whom I have the privilege of claiming as true friends, and it was quite a shock to me to learn for the first time that my good, loyal, wholesouled and energetic friend Christenberry, had gone to his final reward; the State as well as the University has lost a good, loyal and valuable son. I have seen very few of the old boys since I left college, and am afraid that there are many whom 1 shall never see again in this life, for twenty-seven years is a very long time, and the old Reaper is never idle. While on my way to Washington in IS90 I stopped off at Birmingham to visit my brother and met my dear old tenacious friend and fellow student, J. S. Robertson, who still insisted that 1 would e cntually enter the ministry; an idea which possessed him and clung to him during our entire time in college, but so far it has never materialized and there is little hope that it ever will, for it is exceedingly hard if not impossible to train an old goat, or teach an old dog new tricks. While in Washington (1890-1905) where I graduated in law from the National Uni- versity Law School in 1894. 1 had the pleasure of a visit from Hugh Long, Lee Bradley, Dr. J. R. Goodloe, and my brother, W. R. Porter, and also called upon Prof. Grote wh.le he was in Dr. Hamnuiiurs sanitarium, and feared then that I would never see him again; a better man never lived. In 1908 while journeying to Uniontown, -Vlabama, to visit another lirother, I stopped off at Anniston to see my dear old pal and friend, E. W. Ledbetter, and while at Union- town, met that staunch. God-fearing and man-loving old wheel horse, J. W. Roberts, fully occupied with an interesting family and congregation, and also Dr. Sid Whitfield who had also taken unto himself a charming wife. These are aU of the old boys that it has been my jirivilege to see since the good old days at the University, and 1 am afraid that the chances of ever seeing others are very slim. I notice by the . ugust Bulletin that my dear old reliable, wide-a-wake friend, Charlie Rush, has been elected your President, and congratulate liim, the Uni •ersity and the stu- dent body for a Ijetter man could not have been found anywhere, and his announcement is a fair index of what you. the University and the State at large may expect of his admin- istration. God uphold him. And now as to myself, though personally a stranger to you: When I left the Gov- ernment service and entered private practice in February, 1911, my shingle had kissed the breezes but four days before my first case came, which paid me a fee somewhat in excess of my annual salary as a pubUc official which placed me at once on easy street, and busi- ness poured in upon me to an extent beyond my most sanguine hope oV expectation, until December of the same year when I suft ' ered a stroke of paralysis which totally incapacitated me until the following February, and left me so disabled physically that I could not at- tend to my business on hand or take any new business for many months. In the meantime I shall have to begin at the beginning again, with increased age and practically without funds for current ordinary expenses, but if the good Lord will only give me back my strength so that I can remain at my desk, and dame fortune will con- descend to smile upon me as in the past, I shall soon lie on my feet again, physicallv and financially, for I have never yet had a dissatisfied client. -Vnd now my unknown friend, I feel that I am due you an apology for thus using you, without your consent, as a medium through which to reach the dear old friends of mv early manhood; for imposing upon you many matters which are possibly of no interest to you, and especially for the length of this connuunication, but I beg you to remember that reviving the ])leasant nuinorics of an old nuin is about equivalent to starting a grapho- phone or an eight day clock, for they arc all hard to stop after you once get them a ' going. lis this epistle fully demonstrates. Please present me in terms of kind remembrance to all of my old time friends, and especially to the Grote and Chadwick families, and be assured that ray prayers shall ever 23

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ALUMNI LETTER FROM F. E. PORTER, CLASS OF 1887. AiK ' oM, C ' aiuil Zone, Octobei- l,j, IDl-i. Mr. C. W. Segrest, ' Greensboro, Alabama. Dear Sir: The Southron, several communications from Mr. J. H. Baxley, of Dotban, Ala., and your favor of the 11th ultimo relative thereto, were all received while I was in the hospital, where I have undergone several severe operations on my head and been confined since the 18th of last May. Now as to The Southron, it is not just what I expected, for in carelessly reading the l)rospectus I rather jumped at the conclusion that it was to be a kind of register or direc- tory of the S. U. from its beginning, including a roster of the ahmini, which of course, was unwarranted and due entirely to my own carelessness. But I can not say that I was particularly disappointed, for tlic ]uililication is a credit to the institution and to its student body, to whom I tender my sincere congratulations, and is by far the most pretentious and the most creditable publication of its kind that I have ever seen, and this opinion is shared by everyone who has examined it, and as my old black mammy would say, the doctors and nurses in the hospital carried on a regular miration over it. It now occupies a conspicuous position on the center table in my oifice and attracts llic attention of everyone who drops in to gabberfest or otherwise pass the time in a social seance. And notwithstanding the fact that it is not a complete directory, it contains enough to vividly revive my memory of the good old days gone by when the rivalry or rather the emulation between the two societies and the ' arions fraternities then present was respon- sible for divers and various comical stunts, social and otherwise. I find the l)eaming phiz of the then ,Jim, now Bishop McCoy, who ruthlessly, pre- meditatedly, and with his prepense and malice aforethought, snatched from me the declama- tion prize, even when I had thought aforetime that I had it cinched, and that there was nothing left for me to do but to skid out on the rostrum, give to the judges and the audience a stately bow and a winning smile, turn loose my spiel, and walk off with the bacon. But Jim was some speaker himself, and in addition thereto, nursed an insatiable ambi- tion, so that he was not satisfied or contented with this overwhelming triumph, but per- sistently, consistently and assiduously made Clarios and K. A. ' s of the elect whom I had predestined for Belles Lettres and A. T. O. ' s. 1 am not in the least surprised at the eminence he has attained in his calling, and doff my hat to him in deferential admiration and sincere congratulations for being an honor to himself, his State, and to his . Ima Mater, which is also honored by the publication The Southron. Then there is the moon-lieam countenance of Brother C. P. Atkinson, with his perennial .smile and exidierant and never failing good nature and princely comradeship, who was one of the elect who turned a deaf ear to the siren voice, dulcet wooing, and enticing wiles of Brother ,Tim, and landed safely in the A. T. O. camp where he properly belonged, and be- came an honor to it as well as to the University and to Methodism, to all of which he ded- icated his life and ennobling example, which are now in full frviition and of which you are no doubt one of the beneficiaries. And now I come to the classical features of the jirini and reserved Dent, and those of the osculatory ship destroyer Hobson. Dent was there during my time, but Hobson graduated the session before I arrived upon the scene, though I afterwards met him while T was living in Washington. 22

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be for you, for them, and for the University, and for every one now connected, or here- after to be connected therewith. And finally for the most important item, please find enclosed herewith a money order for $3.00 to pay for the copy of The So ithron, ' and kindly excuse the delay. ' ery sincerely yours, FELIX E. PORTER, (P. O. Box 29, Ancon, Canal Zone) (B. P. of ' 87.) REV. J. B. TATE, THOMASVILLE, ALA. Born in Clark County, Miss., May 17, 1864. Reared in Choctaw County, Ala. Entered S. U. September. 1885. Graduated with H.P. degree Jime, 1888. Joined the . labanui Conference, December, 1888. He writes: I had one son to gradua te with A.B. degree last year (1914), have an- other in the Senior Class this year. My oldest daughter is also a co-ed this year. I hope to educate my three younger sons in the same old college. S. U. did more for me than all else except my mother. Sincerely yours, J. B. TATE. 24.