Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-06-12
THE sTONEwALL GUARDS.
The CIarion-Ledger's Report of Their
First Military Ball.


Brookhavcn "The Jewel Town" of South
Mississippi.
The ball of the Stonewall Guards, at
their new and spacious armory, was
the most extensive affair of the kind
witnessed in Brookhaven for many
years, if not the greatest in its history.
The magnificent hall, one hundred
feet long, fifty wide and forty in
height, was brilliantly illuminated
for the grand event, and presented a
scene of remarkable beauty, having
been most tastefully decorated in
draperies of flags intermingled with
vivid green wreathes and festoons of
trailing vines.
By half past nine o'clock, the hour
for the grand march, the guests had
filed the armory, and the line, con-
sisting of two hundred couples, led by
the elegant and manly Gen. VIM.
Henry, of Jackson, and Miss Adah
Boswell, a fair and queeply daughter
of Brookhaven, wendell it's way keep
ing time to the sound of inspiring
music.
| ADDRESS OF MISS MIRIAM cRUTCHER.
After the grand entire, the Stonewall
Guards formed, marched to the center
of the room, halted before their fair
sponsor, the bright and vivacious Miss
Miriam Crutcher, who, on behalf of
the ladies of the town, presented Capt.
Geo. c. Hoskins, as the representative
of his company, beautiful flag, in the
following well chosen and appropriate
words:
Gentlemen of the Stonewall Guards:
Inspired by a love of country and
an admiration for you who nobly stand
to defend it, / arise in the name of
of Florence Nightingale, or the de-
votion of Joan of Arc, to assure you
of the heartfelt appreciation that
goes out to you from the mothers.
sisters and sweethearts, perhaps, of
Brookhaven; to assure you that our
hearts are beating next your own in
every effort, in every danger, in every
temptation, you-the pride and hope
of Lincoln county-are called to en-
dure. We, as women, loyal and loving,
proudly recall the record you have
already written upon history's page,
| for in letters as bright and golden as
the chains of love or memory, are en-
craven thereon the patriotic zeal, the
pure and lofty purpose that inspired
each heart of yours when, in day
gone by, you risked your very lives to
protect our homes--the women and
the children of Brookhaven. "We
live in deeds, not years." and, methinks,
had the loud cannon pealed its hoarsest
strains, had the DEATH shot come hiss
ing from afar, your sacrifcial lives,
though closing in the first spring time
of youth, or in the flower of noble
manhood, would still have been a lega-
cy rich to coming generations and a
| glorious memory to us-and to others,
who greet you here tonight. "He most
lives who thinks most, feels the no.
blest, acts the best
And now, in the name of the ladies
of our fair city, beg to present to you
this flag:
''Tis the star-spanged banner, Oh! long may
1t wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave.
May the clouds of war that once
lowered upon our country, in the deep
bosom of the ocean be buried forever,
but should grim visaged. war e'er wave
her dread pinions to the "breeze of
morn, peal her loud drum, and twang
her trumpet horn,"
Forever float that standard sheet,
Where breathes the foe, but falls before you,
With Freedoms soil beneath your feet,
And Freedoms banner streaming DER you"
RESPONSE BY CAPT. GEO. c. HOSKINS.
Capt. Hoskins, always equal to any
emergency, stepped forward, bowed
his acknowledgment, received the flag
and responded as follows:
The military spirit of man is said to
come and go like tides of the ocean.
Now it GIBBS, reaching further and
further into the sea, then it flows,
rising higher and higher on the strand.
At present it is rising round the
whole world.
Today, on the Eastern hemisphere,
there are ten millions of men under
arms. From icy steppes fringing the
Arctic ocean, to the sunny plains of
Italy, men are being drilled, that they
may more effectually shoot each other
down, destroy each others cities and
lay waste each others fields This,
with all its coming evolutions, when
the able bodied men of the East are
enlisted in the armies and led by am
bilious military leaders, it necessarily
menaces the peace and prosperity of
our own beloved country.
The commercial and personal rela-
tions of this country have become so
close with Europe, by reason of recent
inventions of steam and electricity,
that it is impossible to foresee what
effect clash of arms in that country
would have on this. 1t may involve us
all, and at such time we should re-
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