Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-07-30
bloody

rous Custer rode CALAMITY to his death
in his last charge. 1t sent a thrill Of pain
throughout the length and breadth OF
our land, for in his death n OF the
most daring and unseltish OF men had
persisted, nor can 1t be doubted, had ne
been spared, he would have been n
of the most potential factors In b-ing'
ing about that golden era:
When heroes OF the blue and gray
Shall each to each due homage pay.
And scorn with all their martial souls
The towards, base and venal ghouls,
Who Stunned the conflict they had bred.
And lived but to malign the dead.
A Tribute that Means eomsthinG
There could be no surer sign that the
old wounds are healed and the old bit
terness Is passing away than the refer
ences of Southern newspapers to Presi-
dent Lincoln. incident to his last birth
day. That he should be loved and held
in esteem by those whose beliefs he ex-
pressed and whom he led to victory Is
not surprising, but that his memory
should be honored by those whom he
strenuously opposed, and who owed to
him the downfall Of their dearest hopes,
Is not alone a remarkable testimony to
his greatness; 1t Is quite AS much a
token Of the honesty and magnitude OF
the Southern people
In thus recognizing the purity of Lin.
coins character they honor themselves.
A writer in the Atlanta Constitution
says:
Much of misapprehension on the part
Of the South regarding the character
and career Of this great man has been
removed by the facts of dispassionate
history. Lincoln has been shown to be
a genuinely great man, with a lofty soul
and an honest heart. Gentle and ten
der as a woman. he had also the rugged
virtues of a Roman tribune. No act
of cruelty stains his fair fame. With
opportunity to be a tyrant, he stood for
liberty, and fought with the lance Of q
knight In a fair and open field.
Why should we of the South begrudge
to him the need of his fair fame? When
Northern men can build a monument to
Lee, and their orators praise his genius
and character with unstinted eulogy,
1t Is time for bitter and narrowminded
partisans to be relegated to the rear.
The brave and true recognize worth
and sublimity of character everywhere,
and are willing to crown the hero with
his merited honors, even though his
sword was drawn in the battle against
them.
The Vicksburg Commercial Herald In
an editorial said:
Long ago the Southern people became
acquainted with some Of his elements
of greatness, that caused general ac-
acknowledgement that his death, so deeply
mourned in the North, was profoundly
calamitous to the South. And now there
Is growing up in all minds of all Sec
tons, or rather without regard to Sec
ton, a recognition in Abraham Lincoln
of a grand character, a great and a good
a Such development and growth Of
change in the estimate of a man by his
enemies is wonderful and awe-inspir-
ing. 1t suggests the thought that the
hand of Divinity shaped such a char
acter for the great work to which he
was so strangely called.
Coming out of the deepest obscurity
and Of the humblest origin, his walk
through life has been tracked and
marked in it's every stage and step. The
whole of his life's record has been laid
bare, and 1t is the simplest truth to say
that no other character of history has
ly unalloyed. He has been shown to
have beSn equal at all times to the occa-
sion and its demands, standing success
fully the severest tests to which mortal
man could be subjected.
Elevation from the lowest and hum.
blest station to the ~rulership over a
mighty nation failed to turn his head or
swerve his principles. Ever true to
duty, honest and just toward all in tri-
umph or adversely and trial, Lincoln
stood mistaken and settled in his tidel-
ity to right and fixity Of purpose. The
strifes and contentious Of personal mo-
tives, the envy and rivalries of his CO.
workers and lieutenants, did not reach
or involve him. With such an adver-
sary, is 1t strange that the South failed?
A Soldiers Fright.
Col. Johnston, of the Union Veteran
Legion, tells Of an incident during the
war that nearly frightened him to
death. 1t was at Ships island. He
was detailed tt LAY out" a man who
had recently died. and together with
two others he carried the body to a
deadhouse. AS they entered the house
they were just placing the body at one
end when they heard a slight noise.
The O was very dark and close.
Col. Johnston, then a mere boy, light
ed his lantern and peered into the fur
Their corner, where two other laid OUT
corpses were resting. He observed one
of the forms move.
Almost frozen with terror he watched
and saw the shroud rise, and from nm
der the white sheet a face appeared.
A grizzled head doomed in the yellow
light of the lantern and ponderous laws
opened In a wide yawn. 1t was too
m11ch for the vounp hov ood ,.,.A,