Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-05-14
THE COWPENs CENTENNIAL.
Everything OYercrowded-AEIan
ia to Spartanburg-Tbe Centennial
CeremORies-Gran Military Dis-
play Final Paragraphs.


ATLANTA. May 12.-As the Constitution of
this morning contains no special telegram
from the Centennial of the battle of Cowpens,
which occurred at Spartanburg, s. c., yester-
day, am led to believe that few special tele-
grams were forwarded from that place last
night. which calls for explanation.
The Western Union Telegraph Company
made no adequate provision for sending press
reports, and all the representatives of the
leading journals of the South were left in
doubt as to whether or not their specials"
would be sent. l put short one in the office
early in the morning. and a long one at three
o'clock in the afternoon, for the MORNING
NEWS, but was told there was great uncer-
tainty about getting them off last night.
do not know who is to blame for this want
of provision. but presume it goes to the ac-
count of too great rush of business The
same was true Of the hotels and railroads,
none OF which seemed to appreciate the mag
nitude of the Centennial, and hundreds of visi-
tors, after hanging on to railroadcar platforms
for hours, arrived in Spartanburg only
to find accommodations. / refer
to- this simply to show that the event
evidently swelled into much larger proportions
than were anticipated it could possibly reach.
The press reporters worked hard during the
many privations and the reading public ought
to know that it was not their fault that no spe-
cial kilograms reached many of the press rep
resented by them.
ATLANTA TO sPARTANBURG.
Governor Colquitt and his staff did not go,
owing to a press of public business, so our
train was not crowded until we reached the
borders of South Carolina.
Mai. w. j. Houston, the genial and efficient
ticket agent of the Air Line, was on board, and
with his usual promptneSs and courtesy, ar
ranged for the comfort of our small party
curing the trip, anticipating crowd at Seneca
City.
General Henry j. Hunt, U. S. A., and Lieut.
j. M. Baldwin of his staff, with Sergeant Grady
and four privates of the Fifth Artillery, had
gone over the day before with their horses
but the splendid band of the regiment, under
Prof Weigand, went with Us on Tuesday and
discoursed sweet music during the trip.
Professor Horace Bradley, the gifted sketch
artist, was my travelling companion, and a
good one he proved to be. His views of the
Morgan statue and scenes attending the cere-
monies are among his finest sketches, aud will
attract much attention when published in HGr-
per'S Weekly and the Daily Graphic of New
York, as they soon will be.
also enjoyed the society of Hon. l. o. Nc
Daniel. of North Georgia father of State Sena-
tor Henry D. Mcdaniel who spent his early
years in Pendleton district, S. c. and was ia
miliar with the history Of the great men Of
that early day. Mr.. Mcdaniel was the only
prominent Georgian who attended the Centen-
nial, although Georgia troops, under the gal
liant Major Cunningham, did noble service at
the battle Of Cowpens.
Our trip to Spartanburg was quite pleasant.
and all all along the line could be seen signs of
improvement The site for the Town of New
Switzerland, just bey ond Mt. Airy, is an excel
lent one, and the Swiss colony will no doubt
prosper there At Mt. Airy we saw General A.
E. Lawton's elegant new summer home, as
well as other handsome places of a similar
character. At Toccoa we had a fine supper
with cousin" John ThraSher, whose peri
patetic eating houses are always well kept and
well patronized, no matter where located or
how often moved
THE CENTENNIAL CEREMONIES.
The military review was very fine. General
Hunt, with his aides. Lieut.. Baldwin and Lieut..
Daniel Morgan Taylor "a descendant of Gen.
Morgan) were in full uniform, and $50 his vel
unteer aides.
There were over twenty companies in line
the Washington Light Infantry, of Charleston,
being the crack corps, ~ and the Governors
Guards, of Columbia, coming next. All the
Charleston companies looked well and marched
splendidly.
General Hampton and others were impatient
at the long interval between the review and
the speaking, which was nearly two hours
This and the dismissal of the spectators before
the statue was unveiled were errors in the man
agemenE that called forth much unfavorable
comment.
Still. considering the magnitude of the occa-
sion, the great rush of people and the confu-
sion incident thereto, / think Chairman Courte-
nay and his committee, and the Charleston
Light Infantry deserve much credit for their
Jealous efforts meet all the various and heavy
demands upon them at the last moment
The addresses of Gen. Wade Hampton and
Col. Thomas w. HigginSon were we'll received
although rather long. The vast concourse Of
people had stood in the hot sun two hours be-
fore the speaking began, yet they behaved
well and listened patiently to the close The
speaker from New Jersey Whose name did
not keep from my telegram) was short spicy
and amusing. and sent the crowd away SInil-
fncr ha QraU Ua lad yuifn vAlo
forms, but all too far eff for the speakers to be
heard on them.
Horace Bradley, who is an artist of the high
est culture, says the statue of Morgan is one
of the most beautiful works of art that he has
ever seen. 1t is graceful, unique and natural
and gives good idea of how the gallant young
hero looked and dressed during his brilliant
career in the army. New Jersey, his native
State, and South Carolina, where he won such
fame, may well be proud of this substantial
and costly memorial to Morgan. All honor to
the States that united in paying such tribute
to Northern valor on Southern soil.
FINAL PARAGRAPHS.
Spartenburg has two new hotels of large
Sizs and many new stores and residences and
her citizens already talk about a great rail-
road centre at that point.
The handsome flag used to decorate the table
on the grand stand used by Gen. Hampton
and the other speakers, came from the Jasper
Centennial at Savannah, and was loaned by
the representative of the MORNING NEWS to
noticed few fences in South Carolina, as the
mo fence" law prevails there, much to the
relief of farmers. 1t is wonderful to see how
much better country looks without fences of
any kind-not excepting the handsome fences
around front yards. Beautiful yards look
more beautiful without fences.
1t is a singular fact that the Western as well
as the Northern press were well represented at
the CowpenS Centennial. and special kilograms
of from five to fifteen hundred words were
sent off at least left at the telegraph office to
be sent after the close of the ceremonies. The
occasion seems to have attracted the special
attention of the press of the entire country.
Coming home from Spartanburg l met on
the train Hon. w. P Price, of DahIonega, who
is the President of the Gainesville and
Dahlonega Railroad, a narrow gauge enter
prise, which owes its existence and success en-
tlrely to his personal laborS and sacrifices. He
expresses himself quite confidently as to the
prospect of increased assistance from the
Richmond and Danville Railroad, and the
! speedy pushing ahead of the road. When COM
| pleted it will open up a valuable mining sec
| tion of the state and bring many new capi-
| taiists to Lumpkn county and that vicinity in
| search of mining investments.
| Col. Thomas w. Higginson, Of Massachu-
| sets, who spoke for New England at the Cow
! pens Centennial, will hardly dare to speak
| otherwise than Ia terms of praise in regard to
! his visit to Spartanburg. He commanded the
| first negro troops formed into regiment in
South Carolina during the late war, and yet
despite this fact, and his anti-slavery views
and laborS, he was most cordially received
and kindly treated at the Centennial. During
! his address he was frequently applauded, and
| paid some deserved compliments to the people
| of the South. Col. HigginSon is a gentle eman
of fine presence, polished manners and
thorough culture, and 1t is to be hoped that
the new South will find in him as good q friend
in peace as he proved to be an enemy in war.
CHATHAM.