Newspapers / The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.) / July 11, 1913, edition 1 / Page 3
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VETERANS HEAR THE PRESIDENT Mr. Wilson Delivers Address at Gettysburg Celebration. DRAWS LESSON FROM BATTLE Oaclsres Great Army of the People Must Fight Peacefully to Psrfect the Nation All Love. Gettysburg, Pa, July 4.—National day In the semi-eentennial celebration of the Battle of Gettysburg was made especially notable by an address de livered by President Wood row Wilson. In his audience were many thousands of the veterans who fought In the great battle, as well as a great throng of other visitors. The president's address follows: 'friends and Fellow Citizens: I need not tell you what the battle of Gettys burg meant. These gallant men In blue and gray sit all about ua here. Many of them met here upon this ground in grim and .deadly struggle. Upon these famous fields and hillsides their comrades died about them. In their presence it were an Impertinence to discourse upon how the battle went, how It ended, what It signified! But 60 years have gone by since then and I crave the privilege of speaking to you for a few minutes of what those (0 years have meant. What have they meant? They have meant peace and union and vigor, and the maturity and might of a great na tion. How wholesome and healing the peace has beenl We have found one another again as brothers and com rades in arms, enemies no longer, gen erous friends rather, our battles long past, the quarrel forgotten—except that we shall not forget the splendid valor, the manly devotion of the men then arrayed against one another, now grasping hands and smiling into each other's eyes. How complete the union has become and how dear to all of us, how unquestioned, how benign and majestic, state after state has been added to this great family of free men! How handsome the vigor, the maturity, the might of the great na tion we love with undivided hearts; how full of large and confident prom ise that a life will be wrought out that will crown its strength with gra cious Justice and a happy welfare that will touch all alike with deep content ment! We are debtors to those 50 crowded years; they have made ua heirs to a mighty heritage. Nation Not Flnlshsd. But do we deem the nation com plete and finished? These venerable men crowding here to this famous field have set us a great example of devotion and utter sacrifice. They were willing to die thai the people might live. But their task Is done. Their day la turned into evening. They 100 It to us to perfect what they estab lished. Their work is handed on to us, to be done In another way but not In another spirit. Our day is not over; It Is upon us in full tide. Have affairs paused T Does the nation stand still? is It what the 60 years have wrought since thotfe days of battle finished, rounded out, and completed? Here is a great people, grtat with every force that has ever beaten In the life blood of mankind. And it is secure. There Is no one within Its borders, there is no power among the nations of the earth, to make It afraid. But has it yet squared Itself with Its own great standards set up at Its birth, when it made that first noble, naive appeal to the moral judgment of mankind to take notice that a government had now at last been established which was to serve men, not masters? It Is secure In everything except the satis faction that Its life is right, adjusted to the uttermost to the standards of righteousness and humanity. The days of sacrifice and cleansing are not closed. We have harder things to do than were done In the heroic days of war, because harder to see clearly, requiring more vision, more calm balance of judgment, a more candid searching of the very springs of right. Tribute to Their Valor. Look around you upon the field of Gettysburg! Picture the array, the fierce heats and agony of Rattle, col umn hurled against column, battery bellowing to battery! Valor? Yea! Greater no man shall see In war; and self-sacrifice, and loss to the utter most; the high recklessness of exalt ed devotion which does not count the cost. We are made by these tragic, epic things to know what It costs to ndfche a nation —the blood and sacri fice of multitudes of unknown men lifted to a great stature la the view of all generations by knowing no limit to their manly willingness to serve. In armies thus marshaled from the ranks of flee men you will see, as it wore, a nation embattled, the leaders and the led, and may know. If you will, how little except In form lta action differs In days of peace from lta action In days of war. - * Mar «e break camp now and be at paae? Are the forces that fight for the Nation dispersed, disbanded, gone to their homes forgetful ot the common cause? Are our forces disorganised, without constituted leaders and the might of men consciously united be cause wo eonteod, not with armies, but with principalities aad powers and wickedness la high places. Are we oomtmat to lie still? Does our anion mee£ sympathy, our peace eoatantr met?" our v%or right aottoa, oar ma terial self-comprehension aad a elsar oonfldsnce la choosing what we shall do? War fitted uu (or action, and ac tion never ccasea Our Law* the Orckra of the Day. I have been chos%a the leader of the Nation. I cannot justify the choice by any qualities of my own, but ao it ha» come about, and here I stand Whom do I command? The ghostl) hosta who fought upon these battle fields long ago and are gone? These gallant gentlemen atrlcken In years whoee fighting days are over, their glory won? What are the orders for them, who ralllea them? I have in my mln4 another host, whom these set free of clvl". strife In order that they might work out In days of peace and settled order the life of a great na tion. That host (s the people them selves, the great and the small, with out class or difference of kind or race or origin; and undivided In inter est, if we have but the vision to guide and direct them and order their lives aright in what we do. Our constitu tions are their articles of enlistment. The orders of the day are the laws upon our statute books. What we strive for la their freedom, their right to lift themselvse from day to day and behold the things they have hoped for, and so make way for still better days for those * hom they love who are to come after them. The recruits are the little chll*ren crowding in. The quartermasters stores are in the mines and forests and fields, In the shops and factories. Every day some thing must be done to push the cam paign forward; and It must be done by plan and with an eye to some great destiny. How shall we hold such thoughts In our hearts and not be moved? I would not have you live even today wholly in the past, but would wish to stand with you in the light tlfa|t streams upon us ncrw out of that great day gone by. Here «.s the na tlon Qod has by our hands. What shall we do ready to act again and always In the spirit of this day of reunion and hope and patriotic fervor? The day of our country's life has but broadened Into morning. Do not put uniforms by. Put the harness of the present on. Lift your eyes to the great tracts of life yet to be conquered in the inter est of righteous peace, of that pros perity which lies in a people's hearts and outlasts all wars and errors of men. Come, let us be comrades and soldiers yet to serve our fellow men In quiet counsel, wV.ere the blare of trumpets Is neither heard nor heeded and where the things are done which make blessed the nations of the world in peace and righteousness and lova. LOOK TO RUSSIAN OIL FIELDS Arc Certain to Play an Important Part In Furnishing Power for Battleships. In discussing the fact that the use of oil instead of coal as fuel in the English navy Is under consideration It is time Russia should pay serious attention to this question. If England is replacing its own cheap coal by the more expensive foreign product, there must be Important advantages on ths aide of naphtha, and In the future Russian fleet the part to be played by this fuel will be a most Important one, the Noroe Vremya says. Many mills and factories have gone over to naphtha as fuel and the consumption Is Increasing every year. Russia owns immense oil fields and It could be the chief supplier of the world. The need of organization in the business is recognized by the government and a number of special meetings have been held for discuss ing the subject. New conditions have been laid down, for the exploitation of government teirltorles, and the regu lations for investigations have been changed. Some territories known aa being rich in oil have been closed to private enterprise, such as the Ap sheron peninsula, near Baku, and vari ous Islands of the Caspian sea, as well as some territories in the Transcas plan Ural and Gerghana districts, and others in the north of Russia and Si beria, amounting to millions of acres. The reason for this action Is the wish to preserve these districts from ex haustion. Another question concerns the mat' ter of investigation. It is quite neces aary that the right of Investigation be granted on a large scale, and not only for comparatively small lots of ground, where the Investigation might not pay. The government is aware of this fact, and, according to the new regulations the plots of ground allotted for Inves tigation are to be increased tenfold. The most advlaable system Is to grant concessions that would induce capitallsta to place their money In such undertakings. Under the new regulations regarding the Investigation of naphtha districts, the government proposes to publish geological de scriptions of the various districts. Ready Wit Saved Situation. A very laughable Incident once oc curred In the bouse of commons. An Irish member having risen was as sailed by lond cries of "Spoke 1 Spoke!" meaning that having spoken once already he had no right to do so a second time. He hail evidently a second speech struggling in his breast for an Introduction Into the world, when seslng after remaining tor some time on his legs, that there was not the alightest chance of being suffered to deliver a sentence of It, he observed with Imperturbable grav ity and In rich Tipperary brogue: "If the honorable glntlemln suppose that I was going to spake again they are quits mistaken. I merely roae for the purpose at saying that I had nothing mors to aay on ths subject" The house was convulsed with laughter for a few seconds afterward at the ready wit of ths Hibernian M. P. HEAT OVERCOMES GETTYSBURG VETERAN M : ;:IhIS9K lljfliHkMHHß^rak fl flflPjjf~*" HMBsp IH ■E§j||C h Blmw VRv ■h h| BR*' >W K#. IfpMMS >^W|!SKK—~^^^W!!!!SH9SBSa^^^^^Pß^^^^H' ,^!^^^^Hr~^^HHßWßW®s?\ f ■ ■ fIM H W| H A pitiful sight Indeed Is this, of a member of the G. A. K. who came un scathed through the three days' fighting of the greatest battle of the Civil war, overcome by the heat at the reunion of Gettysburg survivors, and being led off the field to medical aid by a couplo of young guardsmen. WITH BIUE AND GRAY AT GETTYSBURG Many were the stories told and in numerable were the incidents, both pathetic and humorous, which marked the great reunion of the Union and Confederate veterans on the Gettys burg battlefield. Commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the most stub bornly contested battle of the Civil war, of the hosts which faced each other In that conflict gath ered to renew old acquaintances and to recount the deeds of other daya. Here is a story which was told by A. T. Dice, vice-president of the Read ing railway: Once upon a time there were a vet eran in gray and a veteran in blue. They came to Gettysburg and in the course of events and visits to hotels they happened to meet. They looked over the sights of Gettysburg and the monuments of the field. But they found they mult part. The one in blue lived In Oregon; the one In gray In New (Orleans. They went weeping together to their sta tion and passed by train after train, deferring the parting that must come. Just what they said. Just how they reached the final grand idea of the meeting, Mr. Dice did not know. But, however, yesterday they Anally decided that the time for parting had come. The one from Oregon could not figure how to reach home via New Orleans and his gray comrade, while willing to see the west, didn't have the money for a ticket. They lined upon on the platform as their trains stood waiting and then before the crowd, they slowly stripped off their uniforms and exchanged them there while the curious flocked to see them. The Oregonian who came proudly to town with a coat of blue, went as proudly away with one of gray and the veteran from Louisiana who boast ed the gray of the south sat with swelling chest In his new uniform of blue. James H. Lansberry of St. Louis, Mo., who enlisted In the Third Indiana cavalry from Madison, Ind., recited to his comrades the details of his cap ture In the town of Gettysburg by Confederates 50 years ago. Following the skirmish Just outside of town which marked the opening of what was to be a world-famed engagement, be had been detailed to assist in car rying a wounded officer to the old seminary In Gettysburg. While In town frantic women flocked about him and begged that he tell of the battle. He remained to tell the story, with the result that he had to spend several days In following the Confederate army as a prisoner. After tramping 50 miles over rough country' without shoes he succeeded In escaping and finally made his way back to Gettys burg, where he remained till August In assisting In the care of the wound ed, which were housed in the semln nary, churches, barns and public build "ngs. Harry K. Thaw baa come to the financial rescue of Gen. Daniel. E. Sickles from tale cell In Matt em wan. Ha sent a latter to Chairman Schoon maker, having charge of the celebra tion of the fiftieth anniversary o fthe battle of Gettysburg, In which 91,000 In cash was Inclosed. In the letter Thaw wrote that he felt the deepest sympathy for General Sickles because of the misfortunes that had come to him In hla old age. This sympathy the writer declared, was heightened by the fact that Thaw had two uncles »n the Union army The camp Is full of unexpected meetings. Every day brlngß forth nu merous meetings between men who have not seen one another for many years. Many are commonplace, but some are extraordinary. For in stance, here is one: I. D. Munsee of Erie county, Penn sylvania, a soldier In the 111 th Penn sylvania, was captured by the con federates at Peachtree Creek, Ga., when he was one of Sherman's army on the celebrated march to the sea. He WBB being conveyed to the rear by a confederate soldier when the union batteries opened fire upon the party among whom he was a pris oner. The man who was guarding Munsee was hit and fell, knocking Munsee down and lying on top of him. Seeing his chance of escape, Mun see lay very still under the uncon scious confederate while the battle raged around them. That night he slipped from under the body and es caped to the union lines. "I thought that fellow was dead." said Munsee, "but I saw him today. Poor fellow, his mind's bad, and he didn't recognize me, but I was sure of him. I couldn't even get his name, but I'm goln over later to the Georgia camp and try to find out who he is." One of the most Interesting places In camp was the lost and found bu reau, located under the benches In the big tent. Everything found on the grounds was brought there and thou sands applied every day for missing articles. There were at least 100 crutches plied up in the bureau, dozen or so ap plicants having called for them. Those who come to redeem their lost crutches seldom can recognize them and most of them go away with some body else's. There jvas one wooden leg also ly ing unclaimed. It was brought in by a Boy Scout, who bad found It under a tree. Several sets of false teeth were found. A grandson of Francis Scott Key, composer of "The Btar-Spangled Ban ner," Is here. He is John Francis Key, aged eighty-two, of Plkevllle, Md., and he la a veteran of the Second Mary land Infantry of the confederate army. Wearing a suit of gray, Key came Into town, weak and almost dropping. He has been In falling health, but de clared he was "going to see Gettys burg on this occasion or die." One of the oldest veterans In the big camp Is Captain W. H. Flelg of Houston, Texas, who was ninety years of age on his last birthday, February 23 During the war he served with distinction in the marine department of the confederate navy. Captain Flelg Is one of the best preserved men In camp and Is more active than many of the other veterans a score of years less advanced. Wearing a tattered uniform of gray, Alexander Hunt of Virginia was the central point of Interest on the streets of the town. Mr. Hunter was wearing the Identical suit and hat which he wore at Gettysburg fifty years ago. The suit was in rags and has a bullet hole through one of the sleeves. He carried all his accoutrements used at Gettysburg and wore a union belt taken from a foe here. Mr. Hunter waa a member of the Black Horse cav alry. One of the unadvertlsed reunion! of the celebration occured In the con federate section of the camp. A fife and drum corps of men in blue tramp ed up and down tho streets of the con federate part of the city of tenta. They stopped before the tents, play ed such a fanfare as only drums and fifes can make, summoned forth the occupants and shook hands, threw their arms about the gray shoulders and In a doxen other ways showed their feelings of friendship. They kept It up for hours and vis ited practically every "reb" tent. Their reception was as warm as tbelr greeting. A remarkable coincidence of the camp was the meeting of two men of exactly the same name, coming from towns of the same name, but In differ ent states. One fought on the union side In the battle of Gettysburg, and the other with the confederates. These two men are John Carson of Burlington, N. J., and John Carson of Burlington, N. C. They met by the merest chance. The Jersey Carson was walking along one of the streets, and saw a man In gray. Just to be friendly, the Jersey man stopped him and gave him a greeting. It was not until they had talked for several minutes that they discovered their names were Identical. One bearded veteran of an Illinois regiment told of an Incident that hap pened 50 years ago. "As we rode through Gettysburg that last time," he said, "1 remember a Utile girl stopped my horse and said she wanted to give me a bouquet. I got down and she pinned a ribbon —& little purple ribbon to my coat. 'Wear that In the next battle you go Into,' she said. " 'We're not going to have any more battleß around here,' I told her. " Yes, you are,' she Insisted. 'Those hills back there are full of rebels.' " 'I wore that purple ribbon through the battle. I never saw the girl after ward, but I've kept that ribbon, and It's back at home In Illinois today." A striking contrast is seen In the menu provided for the soldiers fifty years ago and what they enjoyed this year: 1863—Breakfast—Hardtack, bacon, beans' and coffee. Dinner—Bacon, beane, hardtack and coffee. Supper—Beans, hardtack, bacon and coffee. 1913 —Breakfast—Puffed rice, fried eggs, fried bacon, cream potatoes, fresh bread, hard bread, butter and coffee. Dinner Fricassee chicken, peas, corn, Ice cream, cake, cigars, fresh bread, hard bread, butter, coffee, Iced tea Bupper Salmon salad, macaroni and cheese, fresh bread, butter and coffee. When the house of representatives recently undertooluto name a commit tee of Its meirfbeA to represent It at the reunion of the blue and gray at Gettysburg it was found that not a reteran of the Civil war sat on the Re publican side of that body. The only Union veterans In the house, three in number, are all Democrats, and six veterans of the Confederate army also sit on that side. In the senate, how ever, there are six Confederate veter ans on the Democratic side and six Union veterans on the Republican side. As indicating the passage of time, It today in congress more veterans of the Spanish-American war than of the Civil war.. Nineteen members of the senate are veterans of*lhe war with Spain. One member of the house, who has not seen war service at all, served Ave years In the signal corps of the army as a private, and Delegate Quezon of the Philippines was a stall officer under Agulnaldo during the Philippine rebellion. My heart beats faster tonight, said Gen. Daniel E. Sickles. The throng ing hordes who have motored and walked and trolleyed to my camp to day have swept their hats off and hail ed It as "Slckleß Day." And* so I have always regarded July 2. It was on this day a half century ago that God gave me strength serve my country and my maker bet ter than I ever had been able to serve them befopsf It wjfs upon this day In '63 that I lost my leg and did my little part by the mercy of God to preserve the Union. July 2, 1863, broke hot and clear. Just as In the early hours today a mol ten hm poured out of a sky but a trifles, overclouded. I had iwtlred shortly after midnight the previous evening and slept the quiet, dreamless sleep that Is generally attribute to babes. Last night I enjoyed Just the same kind of sleep. But that Is to be ex pected of a young fellow who at nine ty-three Is still able to read without his glasses, eh? Many men who came today to shake my hand told me they were too busy to do so 50 years ago—that their whole hearts and minds were wrapped up In the conflict to come. "I hid In a barn when I discovered that Confederates had arrived In town, but I left It when It was peppered by Infantry Are and concealed myself at the mouth of an alley," said La»»ber ry. "While I remained in the alley two of my comrades attempted to dart across the street to another alley with a hope of escaping from town. They got to the middle of when guns of Confederate* stationed at street intersections cracked and they fell In a heap. I was soon found and disarmed." MRS ADJOURN ROLLINB WAB ELECTED HEAD OP THE NORTH CAROLINA BAR ASSOCIATION. ■ ♦ • » '■ ■ MUCH BUSINESS TRANSACTED Closing Bession By Far Busiest of Fifteenth Annual Convention. —Agi- tation Renewed to Have Special Board Teat Applicanta For License. AshevlUe.—With the election of Mr. Thomas S. Rollins of AshevlUe as lt« president and the adoption of resolu tions on numerous Important topic* the North Carolina Bar Association adjourned. The closing session was by far the busiest of the fifteenth an nual convention. No address was de livered, every moment belnp devoted to tihe consideration of business. At the suggestion of President James 8. Manning the association took due note of the fact that the last day of the meeting was the Fourth of July and with piano accompaniment the meeting was opened by the sing ing of "My Country 'Tls of Thee." In a mighty baaao profundo chorus the lawyers rallied heroically on the first charge, but at the beginning of the second stanza there was a diminu tion of volume —a diminution whicbl increased in a geometrical ratio as the singers reached unfamiliar ground. Only two stanzas were at tempted. On recommendation of the com mittee on membership the 44tih mem ber admitted at this session was re ceived. Chairman Clement Manly of the committee on grievances said that no complaints had been sub mitted until very recently. Two were adjudged to be not of a kind proper for the committee's consideration and the other, case had been terminated by death. There are three other cases, however, which the committee considers of enough gravity to re ceive further consideration but since opportunity 'ias not been presented for proper investigation, the informa tion, with the Individual opinion of each member will be transmitted to their successors. Mr. Charles W. Tillett of Charlotte then presented the report of the spe cial committee on legislation and law reform, this being adopted on motion of Judge Murphy with thanks for faithful services. Charlotte to A»hevllle Highway. Charlotte. —Messrs. W. S. Freeman Bat Cave and J. B. Freeman of Chimney Hock are spending several days In the city for the purpose of In teresting Charlotte people In the Im provement of tUie Charlotte-Asheville highway that extends through from Rutlfterfordton via Chimney Rock, Bat Cave and Hickory Nut Gap to Ashe vllle. They went around and saw a number of Charlotte business men and wherever they visited they were given a most cordial reception and hearty endorsement. To Push Drainage Work Spencer. Good news comes to Spencer concerning tbe draining of Grant's Creek, skirting the town on the North side. It Is that this creek is to be thoroughly drained and that without expense to the town, the work being done by the landowners along the stream. Mr. M. L. Jackson of Salisbury, who has taken an active interest In the drainage proposition fqr months states that all landown ers, except one, along the creek have signed an agreement to have the work done. After An Etcaped Convict, Klnston. —A man-hunt In a swamp it Falling Creek occurred when War ren Smith, a negro, escaped from the Lenoir county convict camp there. Smith, who was doing a 10-months' sentence for assault with a deadly weapon is believed to have secreted himself in the swamp, but he suc ceeded in escaping the posse of depu ty sheriffs and guards who gave pur suit. He Is considered dangerous and vigilant efforts are being made to capture him. Rural Letter Carrier* Adjourn Wilmington.—With a lengthy ses lion the tenth annual convention of the North Carolina Rural Letter Car riers' Association came to an end. Features were the election of offi cers, an address by O. F. Crowson of Washington and the adoption of reso lutions. Officers were elected as fol lows: President, E. L. Wright, Ruffln: vice president, D, B. Honeycutt, Ral eigh; chaplain, D. N. Hunt, Oxford; executive committee; Thad M. Lutz, Henry; A. S. Burnes, Wilson; J. H. Mills, State Press Association Asheville. President James H. Caine of tlhe North Carolfim "Press As sociation announced several days ago that he has secured President Finley of the Southern Railway Company to deliver an address to the editors the state at their annual convention, which will be held here during the lat ter part of bhe month. "The Relation of the Presa to tiie Railroad in Com munlty Development" is announced as the subject of the address of Mr. Fin ley. He will speak at the morning session of July 25th.
The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.)
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July 11, 1913, edition 1
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