The Portland daily press., 1895-08-17
THE CONSCRIPTS..
By ALFRED R. CALHOUN.
copyright, 1895. by American Press Associa.
ton
,OrT Tou,r5r,

mouth, o., about the year 1886. and Sc
was 20 years of age at the breaking out
of the war. He received a good common
school education, and as his father was
a mechanical craftsman young Coleman
became skilled in that art At the age
of l s he went to Cincinnati and served
two years appren ticeship in the car
and repair shops of the Hamilton and
Dayton railroad. At the age of 81 he
was considered the best mechanic in
the city, and had he continued the same
vocation in the same place position and
prosperity would have come to him
while he was still a young man.
It was the reaction, after long years
of restaint and the desire to travel that
characterizes so many young men of in
telligence and spirit, that induced Cole
man to 60 south soon after he was freed
from his indentures. Between his e1st
and his 25th years he had worked in the
principal machine and repair shops in
the central southern states. He was of
medium heighs, his face was strong and
unusually intellectual, and his habits
were almost ascetic. Although reticent
and given to study rather than to COM
panionship during his spare hours, his
conduct commanded the respect of his
superiors and the warm regard of his as
sociates.
Coleman reached Atlanta in the sum-
mer Of 1860, and was there when the state
seeded and 1881 brought war. Even
at that early day the young mechanic
saw the possibilities in electricity,
and with view to its better and cheap
er use as medium of communication
he mastered the art of telegraphy, and
l have been told that he was the first
man in Atlanta who could read by
sound, thus dispensing with the prim;-
tive tape.
Although the ring on the flag at
Sumter produced as much excitement in
the south as in the north, the feeling
was Of different kind. On the one
side ID was volcanic indignation, ON
the other it was fierce exultation. At
lanta was all aglow over the event. and
although among the merchant and ar
tisan classes there were many who at
heart were true to the Union, prudence
forbade their giving expression to their
thoughts
Amid all the uproar there was one
man who retained his habitual calmness
of manner and maintained the custo-
mary routine of his life, and that was
James Coleman. The word ''crank"
was not then used in its present sense,
but Coleman's associates voted him to
be an eccentric genius. and believing
him to be too much absorbed in his pro-
posed inventions to have any interest in
politics or war they left him unquestion-
ed. Had his real feelings been known at
that time or his schemes been suspected
he could not have remained alive in the
Gate City for an hour.
No matter how open many of the sub
sequent acts of the Confederate author
tiles are to criticism, it must be con-
ceded that in the beginning they had a
fuller and more accurate prehension
of the extent and continuance of the
struggle on which they had entered
than had Mr.. Lincoln and his cabinet.
They proved this when they made the
whole Confeaeracy an armed camp.
seized centgsl Of every private enterprise
that might in any way aid their cause
and administered the oath of allegiance
to every man capable Of bearing arms.
In the hope of independence the southern
people submitted, without protest, to
martial law, and to conditions that at
first would seem impossible to people
SO spirited and so quick to act where
their liberty was interfered with or their
honor assailed.
AS every railroad in the south was
under the control of the military author
ity at Richmond it followed that all the
employees must be mustered into the
same service and either sent to the front
or retained in their old places. When
the time came, Coleman followed the
example Of his fellow workmen and en-
tered the service of the Confederacy.
Many OF these mechanics, who were
northern men by birth and training, sub.
sequently deserted to the Union lines,
but, with rare exceptions, they did not
join the Union army.
Coleman still continued his electrical
studies and experiments, and his skill
becoming ksoSvn to Governor Brown he
was ordered tsSsport to General Beaure-
gard, at Corlntil, Immediately follow.
ing the battle of Shiloh, in April, 1862.
Without expressing delight or dissent,
he packed up his few belongings and re-
ported to the successor of Albert Sidney
Johnston. The Creole general was quick
to see Celenan's merits, and he at once
appointed him to the charge of the mill
tary telsgraphs in the field.
At this time the signal service was
far from efficient on either side; the
volunteers were entirely ignorant of its
methods and necessities, and She knowl-
edge of the regular army officers was
largely theeretic. From his entrance on
his duties at Corinth till he severed his
connection with the Confedaraoy, Cole
man, in addition to his other work, be-
gan to stady and perfect the signal serv-
ice of the southern army in the west
His talents, habits and his modest self
possession soon made him a favorite
with his new associates, and his loyalty
- l.