Telegram-herald., 1889-09-15

q ar-L4. e. -tt" -
ea.tgn. house ana sA.d
General kleile ~ sas never any
talnz oaI t8e llost peEfecl gentle1nanl,
.4t{v .s4 5 80 very A Al tle capita
most - so llul-
-Eefq we'll madam he replied
.gog have my pertnisslon i you can
..tl. Igs very certain can get there
aul uofe VOC 9ill nave 40 objections
t. mg carrying letters y sons oI
guG .giller,t
VITA lloze hesitation be consented.
"Br8- taem 70 me unopened and you
may carry them.
Then begged, Thank you very
much Tor these faVor., DuL ! want voa
o. letm carry SOME deleacies % Ot+f
boys tnere.
He .ooked rae over and laughed out
right. lou may certainly taAe al
you can carry Yourself.
he Ltte klew my capacity ln that
Respect. tof / soon collected and slowed
ia mg 0Ba Lrlus and ia shoe trunk,
pas sa.es al tied and addressed, OF
cakes. dried ngs, JelI ~, and would Nou
nelleVe ll. leV oranges aud lemons
Thus 1 started .uJO tle IUnfederacy,
with a few lad.e. ol Ine same errtnd-
We mad 0nly gone ~ Tar - suffolk
WNeu tae news greeted u-, "All cars 0n
5a the Richmond road. burned %
aslesl'
Bound % get a. lar as possible, We
chartered two hand-cars and rode on
few mile, % Franklin, then few
miles farther Dy wagons. These helped
us % a road, by Wn.cn We reached
junction ln Carolina. From that road
We landed back % Richmond on
regular tram. fruit, Letters and all
| carried my treasures % the camp
five mlics away 40 Naive rn Hills as
soon as possible, and WAS delivering the
message % the eager soldiers when
shooting vas heart-the nrst stray
shots OF the seven days night around
Richmond. At dark We drove back
into the town, expecting sharp
shooter ght make a mark OF Us at any
minute. Boom and bang went cannOns
and guns for = whole week, "A week dis
astrOus 20 both armies IN great loss OF
lives. Cripple soldiers We're broeght
by dozens INTO hospital. VISITED them
every day for month with great
baskets OF fruit. We laughed a great
deal about Gen. Joe Johnston. We
sent hlm some OF the fruit, and he re-
fused TO touch them, thinking poisoned
hands might have mad the sending OF
them, until we sent IN our cards, as
surug him We were personal friends.
But the men at the hospital took our
oranges and lemons a II they were
lile-gvng-sO hot and parched their
throats were, and their poor lips. Oile
suffering young fellow sand: Ion, yes,
give the fruit TO me. | shall live a
IL
more Tor me. THIS Blble-my mother
put IL IN that pOcket-eend It back To
her" It was wet now and stained
with MS own hearts blood. / sent II 10
I her later-Cruel keepsake, though II
was 70 comfort her dying boy.
When / could stay no longer among
/ the wounded ones, / told our boys
I they could all write letters home and
I'd promise 70 take them If they were
I careful not to contain one word about
I the war or anything TO compromise me.
/ And they actually had five hundred
ready for me IN good time. | sewed
compartments in a long piece of linen,
put the letters IN, and wore them a. an
article of dress.
Without knowing what route was open
20 me started with those letters, bound
they should reach Norfolk If | did my
self That burden was an lnsutferabiy
warm one on q very hot day. | neared
F Suffolk again and heard there was a
brutal Federal commander there who
would have his lady inspectors search
me through and through. Well, they
were open letters, but did not know
I a word they said, and the situation
I looked decidedly risky. From the
very weight of the fatal letters, was
I obliged 10 roll the budget up and carry
I 10 As neat parcel IN my arm. | rode
/ into Suffolk on gravel train used for
7 exchanging guards at the outlying
posts. | passed the grOwls OF the COM
I mandant and the search OF the lady IN
spectOr. Ny half empty trunk was ex-
amlned with the greatest detail, and
+ the Innocent looking bundle of letters
never got second glance from the
/ kecu-scented officials.
/ Our city was under Federal rule for
/ the last three years of the war. Some
people kept their WINE and their family
/ silver buried from the day the Yankees
/ entered Norfolk, but there was never a
I thing piliaged OF burned.
+ We laugh az Gen. Butler now, but we
7 stood IN terror of him then. our own
good pastor was called up for some
l thOugntless rapartec-he was always
7 so QulcS at fepNes-befOre the general,
Y then at Fortress Monroe. and was SEN
I fenced to SIX months at Fort Hatteras.
I There he lived on the most wretched
I fare-sea-bisCults, vermn. regular pris-
I ON diet-but he carried on n revival
I right within the prison walls and separ-
sted from his hearers by dismal parti-
F u0ns. From there he was sent into the