Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-16
RELICS OF THE SOUTH
Mementos Found in tho Confed-
crate Building.
ON The OUTSKIRTS OF TIE EXPOSITION
Interest Shown in the Exhibits by
Union Soldiers.
SOME AFFECTING INCIDENTS


Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
ATLANTA, Ca, November H. 1895.
"Oh, you needn't mind" said pleasant
voice over my shoulder, as l wiped a few
tears from my eyes. great big men come in
here and cry like babies; why, 1t was only
the other day that looked around and saw
way off in one corner of this little room a
man at least fifty years old, strong. sinewy
man. burying his face In his hands and sob
bling like child
bit my lip and turned to the speaker who
had caught me bending over an old suit of
soldiers clothes in the confederate relic
building at the exposition. She was a tall,
slender, blonde girl, and she volunteered the
Information that she was the daughter Of
the late Gen. Kirby Smith and was in charge
of the building.
Sometimes" she says, II just can't stand
it. and have to go out 1 don't think can
stay In here confederate day. because all
the old soldiers will be coming then. My.
N.Y." she went on. what stories I could
write about my experiences In this building
One morning an old countryman came in
and sat down few minutes in silence. then
lis face lighted on the case containing my
fathers old uniforms. and heard him say
to himself. BY George. If that amt Kirby
Smiths coat, and I fought under him in
every battle from the beginning to the end
of the war And when l told him l was
Kirby Smiths daughter. the old man looked
as though he would embrace me right there
on the spot"
And the women, too" said. must show
lots Of feeling, don't they?"
well, not so much as the men. They
come in-the old ladies who remember those
days and the young women who have been
told about it-look around, bite their lips to
keep back the tears. and as they leave you
are rebellous and say, I declare, I'd like
them to fight 1t all over again. 1T makes me
so mad! But generally they are quiet and
fearful and pathetic, and you hear them say
as they pass out, in Quavering tones. I just
can't keep from crying!"
Interest of Northerners.
And the northern people," said. What
do they think of these old guns and swords.
these proclamations of secession?'
"Oh, most of them are much interested.
and the majority are sympathetic. too. Now
and then a woman will come along and be
disagreeable."
"A woman came in one day with two
Union soldiers. and 1 asked her to register.
She said, with supreme contempt: No,
thank you; 1 don't care to register here
But the men she was with were lovely to
me. They said they had been in the army
and fought on the other side. but they adj
mfred our soldiers and reverenced these
mementoS of the lost cause. 1 really think
the northern people are more interested in
these things than southerners. One of the
sweetest experiences 1 have had was with
a woman from Denver, Col. She came In
and seemed so affected by all the things
that thought she must be a sou hcrn wo
man. Those poor. old. patched clothes over
there made her cry. and as she turned to
me 1 asked her If she had lost any one
dear to her in our army.
"'No. my dear she said. My husband
was killed in the federal army at the battle
OF Chickamauga; but my heart goes out to
all of them, the blue and the gray. for
know we'll how both sides suffered And
she gave me this badge of the Women Of
the Grand Army of the Republic to keep as
a memento between us.
$50 often" said Miss Smith, 1.-THE old SOL
diers who own different relics here will pay
the place a visit. Gen. Bulger. the man
who owned that sword there. was here the
other day. He is the oldest living confed-
crate veteran, being ninety-six years old.
and having lived under the administrations
of all the Presidents except the first two.
THE Cinnamon flock here. too They
seem, on account of having been conquered
themselves, to have a sympathetic instinct
toward the place, and they look at the poor
old flags and swords and pictures with the
most appreciative interest.
Some Southern Relics.
"You see that horn there" she said,
pointing to horn that lay in case be-
side the Bible which Alexander Stephens
carried all through the war. THE man
that owns it paid me a visit recently, and
he told me its interesting history. The
horn was presented to him by famous
old hunter, whom he had never seen, and
he simply fell heir to it through the will of
the dead man, who bequeathed 1t to the
greatest hunter in the nefghborhood next
to himself. 1t gave the first blast for Sc
cession in Charleston. 1t has been the
means for a number of years of earning
for it's owner three hundred dollars extra
year. This good fortune came through
the exchange Of courtesies between him
self and a northern gentleman living near
his home to whom he loans the horn for
hunting parties. And in return for this
the gentleman transacts all his business
through the old soldiers post office. which
in some way assists mis- revenue"
cover there said my informer, us the
fiddle which the same soldier carried all
through the war. and which, between the
hours of conflict, cheered many tagging
and homesick spirit"
Just here the owner of the Georgia barbe-
cue, an old soldier who had served under
General Kirby Smith, carried his pretty
daughter off to dinner. which negro wait
ers truthfully proclaim as DE only square
meal on de grounds, where de ladies am
served polite and quick" And so was left
to investigate the pathetic little secrets of
this sacred place alone.
There is the cradle in which jeff Davis
was rocked; there are the swords of Stone
wall Jackson and Robert Lee; there is an old
spinning wheel, one Of the few things left
from the bonfire of Atlanta, and there is
the saddle from which Gen. Paul Semmes
fell. wounded to the heart, in the battle of
Gettysburg.
In the midst of all these signs and symbols
of sorrow now and then there Is a lighter
note. A pair of satin slippers made by a
plantation shoemaker for bride during the
war; wedding dress, spun and woven and
dyed by a bride bearing the old name of
Calhoun-such poor, ptiful little wedding
dress of brown homespun. corded along the
seams and ornamented with homely brown
buttons. 1t was such dress as the young
mistress would have considered too poor for
the wedding of one of her slaves in the pros
porous days. Then there are queer old bon
nets of black satin and bombaZine, that
most dreadful of fabrics. Coal-scuttle head
gears, that We're considered loves of bonnets
in those meager days.
In case rests an open valise filed with
the garments of a confederate soldier
tucked in one corner the last letter received
from his wife. 1t has never been unpacked
Is just as it came to her with the news of his
death; the story is there as fresh as though
it had happened yesterday.
'Snnctified by Tears"
AS one enters the door he sees on the
wall opposite two confederate flags, held by
a shield on which are written the words:
flames trophy sanctified by tears,
Planted forever at her portal: