Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1866-08-04

"No, you can hardly say tina,
Sometimes his patience is tried b,
persons requesting him to sit 70
his picture or bust, and on one oc
casion he was heard 10 declare tha
he had rather stand the fire of hal
q dozen OF the best marksmen il
tho Army of Northern Virgini,
than be vcxed by the continued so
licitations Of artists, photographer
and the like. He was particularly
worried few weeks ago by an ole
lady from the South, was insisted
on having q lock or even 'thre,
threads of his hair, which sho hao
promised faithfully to carry back t.
a young female friend in Alabama
or Georgia"
"How did he manage to get rid oi
her ?"
"After considering the difficulty
he persuaded the old lady to put up
with q photograph in tho place OF
the lock of hair. She was by nc
means satisfied, but the general was
firm. He is also annoyed by letters
on all sorts Of subjects. One OF
these, lately received, was from an
old woman in England, who sent
him n bill for four dollars, which a
man of his name, Robert f. Lee,
had borrowed from her in 1862. As
the old lady was evidently in earn.
est, and the letter genuine, the gen
eral promptly replied, and proved
an alibi."
"Is he writing history of his
campaigns" ?"
II think so. At all events, he is
collecting materials for q history.
Many think he would be willing to
publish history just at this time,
when so many of the actors are liv-
ing, and the passions engendered
by the war are still fresh and rank.
ling; but the fact that Richardson,
the New York publisher, paid him
a visit not long since, is regarded
by others as proof that the history
is now in process Of cohipositioG. :"
"Have no other publishers DC,
sides Les, Richard.cocn approached him ?"
Un, yes; one certainly has. A
New York publisher whose ,nane
is withheld, offered to endow Wash
ington College with the sum of ten
thousand dollars, annually, if GEN
eral Lee would contribute one arti-
Gle week to his paper. The pro-
position was made in form to the
Rector by responsible party, but
the Rector, for reasons which you
can appreciate, withheld it,"
General Lee, then, never heard
Of it ?"
"Ycs, he did at least it is said
he did. He became apprised Of it
in somo way and declined the offer"
"DOes he concern himself about
politics"
"Not at all. On the contrary, he
is extremely careful that not even
the suspicion of politics should at
tach to the college"
ellis habits are industrious, I
have heard?"
"They are. AS early as six o'clock
in the morning you may see him
walking into town to get his letters
and papers the remainder Of tho
day is devoted to his manifold du-
ties, and in the evening he rides in
to the country on his white horse,
not unfrequently stopping to con-
verse with the farmers and country
gentlemen, with whom he chances
to meet, about crops and such mat
ters."
"Is there any truth in the story
that during one Of these rides, he
was halted by one of his own sol.
diers, supplemented, enthusiastic
countryman, who insisted on giving
him three cheers then and there in
the middle of the road ?"
IL think not. We never heard of
it."
"Thc family of the General is as
much beloved almost as the Gene
raj himself, / have been told ?"
"Yes every member Of the fam
lily is q great favorite with our peo-
pie"
"Gcn. Curtis Lee is said to be q
man of promise ?"
"He is. In some respects he is
more mysterious man than his faith
er. There is something of Jackson
in him. He is very modest, but he
is very firm is his convictions, and
his opinions are remarkably practi-
cal and sound. He is q thinker"
"Gen. Lce docs not intend TO quit
the college?
1--WE have no reason whatever to
believe that he will abandon the col
lege SO long as he is competent to
the duties Of President.
1t is said that he once expressed a
desire TO become Governor OF Vir-
ginia but that was before the war.
Times have changed, and under the
new order of things, the guberna-
tOral chair Of Southern State can
have few charms for any gentleman,
much less for Gen. Ice. We think,
that he will remain with
us, and this is the reason why you
find our people so cheerful and so
hopeful of the future Of their town
and county, and in fact Of this en-
tire portion OF the Valley"