The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-05-06
BURNET'S BARBECUE.
AN ENTHUSIASTIC CONFED-
ERATE REUNION.
BURNETT AND AUSTIN JOIN HANDS
IN RENDERING HONOR TO EN-
CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS.

! Saturday was the day of days of our
neighboring town of Burnet, the Granite
City of Texas, and at an early hour yes
terday morning the people of Austin who
were bent on taking days outing were
all astir, and by the time the train on the
favorite Austin Northwestern railway
was ready to start, which was a. M,
crowds of our people, including babies
and nurses, were at the depot to take their
departure for Burnet.
The advertised time for the departure
of the excursion train was O'Clock, but
by the courtesy of the efficient superin-
tendent, Col. A. n. Leitnaker, the depar-
ture was delayed until 1920. At this time
"all aboard" was sounded by the affable
g. III. ShawhOltze, the conductor, and
away we went Burnetward, with the fast
and safe engineer, Jim Cunningham, at
the throttle. Seven cars made up the
train, and little of incident occurred on
the 10 t, cut to the place of destination.
The train arrived in Burnet at 1916, and
the crowd were met at the depot by the
reception committee, composed of the fol
lowing gentlemen: Mayor j. w. Kyle, +.
II. Holloway, j. j. Mabry, jr., W. II. West
fall, A. l. Haber, Judge r. II. Ward, JAS.
Male, W. G. Sateman and DR.. Stuart Wat
son, with Sheriff John Wolf, grand mar
shall, and j. j. NJ. Smith, deputy mar
shall The procession formed, and the
Lone Star flag, borne by Col. f. H. Hol
loway, and, headed by the Manning Rifles
brass band, of Austin, John Miller, leader,
marched up to the court Louise square,
where the ceremonies were to take place.
The citizens Of Burnet and surrounding
rnai uh hnrhnnH tho Of oh
1000, Joined in the procession, and made
quite respectable display marching on
to capture the capital of the Granite
county.
Arriving at the stand, which was cree
ted i'll the western part of the square, the
great crowd assembled around the plat
form, and just as the speakers and in
vited guests were walking across, pre-,
paratory to taking seats, an unfortunate
accident occurred, which caused Il
little commotion for few min
utes. 1t was the breaking
of a stanchion, about midway the platform,
but carpenters were Immediately called
and within few minutes the damages
were repaired, and the programme was
proceeded with.a Fortunately, in the
breaking through of the platform no one
was hurt, and, save slight interruption,
the feature of the occasion was not mar
red. Judge R. H. Ward, being appointed
to deliver the welcome address, in a few
we'll timed and heartfelt remarks, welcom-
ed the people of Austin and surrounding
country, to the Inequalities of Burnet,
and as a prelude to his remarks, stated
that under ordinary conditions the hospi-
talities of Burnett and her citizens were
free and open to all people, but upon this
occasion, which was for the purpose OF
raising money for the Hood Confederate
Home at Austin, the small sum of twenty
five cents would be exacted from each and
all who partook of the bountiful repast
spread meath the oaks in courthouse
square: Mr.. Ward, who is an entertain
ing speaker, delivered an excellent ad
dress, and appealed to the sympathies O
all present to contribute literally to the
cause for which the barbecue was given.
At the conclusion of his remarks, a sou
stirring air was played by the band, after
which the platform was cleared to make
room for the children, male and female
of the Burnet high school, under the su
perintendency of Prof. Russell. The
children were then marched upon the
platform, when the following exercises
were gone through with: First song
"Sweet Land of Liberty" was sung by the
whole school, with Miss Mollie Reed at the
piano. After a piece by the brass band
came recitation of that grand old poem
written by Father Ryan, 'The Conquered
banner" recited by the whole school
During the recital os this old confederate
poem, the STATESMAN reporter noticed
that many ladies and gentlemen in the
assembly had an involuntary use for their
handkerchiefs-the sun being warm ne
cessarily causing them to shield their
eyes from the glare and heat. After this
the children sang the confederate war
song, composed and written by Harry
Mccarthy, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" To
say that tears we're shed; that hearts beat
with suppressed emotion, and that silent
prayers assembled to God for blessings
upon the manned, wounded and INDECENT
ex confederate soldier, would but family
express the feelings of that vast throng
assembled to do homage to the unfertun-
ates of the "lost cause" With all the ST.
ent feelings, however, there was no
thought rebellious against the best gov
eminent the world ever saw, or of disloy-
atty to the American Union.
At the conclusion of the exercises by
the school children, Ex-Governor Frank
Lubbock was introduced and in ten
minutes speech said as much to crafty
the listeners ear as most men could say
in three hours. Being in hearty sympa-
thy with the movement for which the
barbecue was inaugurated, the venerable
old officer gave voice to sentiments pre-
viously expressed, I'd insisted upon all
present contributing literally to the
cause.
The next speaker introduced was Judge
John Hancock. He promised his remarks
by stating that he was opposed to seces-
sion in the stirring times of 81, and that
although being a citizen of Texas since
1848, when the Lone Star State renowned
her allegiance to the federal union and
took her place among the thirteen states
which formed the Confederate States, he
fled his country, his adopted home, and
sought lands where neither federal MOI
confederate soldiers ever disturbed the
dreams of women and non-combatants
After the war between the states was over
and white winged peace reigned over the
prairie, the maverick and the cowboy, he
returned and exerted what influence he
had with the powers then at Washington
to eXtricate our unfortunate ex-confeder-