LIFE AND WORK OF DR. A. A. MURPHREE


traveled around over the country and gave some
quite effective 'concerts'."
 In his boyhood at Walnut Grove, Albert and
and sisters enjoyed those red letter days known
grandfathers." It was a trip of fifteen miles an
made in a great old carriage. Part of the equi
on these trips was a gourd with a handle four feet
the brood of children became thirsty, the carria


. 


startling but


his brothers
as "going to
d used to be
ipment taken
long. When
.ge would be


stopped near a spring and the father or mother would
out with that long-handled gourd to scoop up a drink of
 Gadsden was the market town or the "trading place.


reach
water.
" In


those days before good roads and automobiles, going to town
to shop was quite an event for the farmer folk. Many of them
came from distances too great to drive round trip in one day,
which necessitated staying all night in the "city." The mer-
chants of Gadsden provided a large warehouse where bunks
could be made down and the night spent in rest before the re-
turn trip next day.
 Farmers would drive in with their loads of cotton, arriv-
ing shortly before night. The next morning they would sell
their cotton, do what other trading was needed and start the
return home. It is interesting to note that today those rolling
hills and fertile valleys of northern Alabama are now trav-
ersed by splendid roads and those two-day journey distances
are now covered in automobiles in a couple of hours or so.
 Judge O. A. Steele, of the Circuit Court of Etowah County,
of Alabama, a resident of Gadsden and a friend of Dr. Mur-
phree's from boyhood days, recalls pleasant days in youthful
environs:
 "We were playmates and comrades. I cherish many happy
memories of those carefree days. Albert was a delightful
partner in play and so full of boyish life always. He had a
vivid imagination. I recall that he used to tell fantastic stories
about ghosts and the like, which he assured me, in great boy-
ish eagerness, lived in the mountains within sight of our
homes.
 "In spite of his natural love for play, he had great regard
for those manly qualities of truth and loyalty. He was a good
pupil in school and was always industrious.