The age-herald., 1897-08-14
TECHNICS FROM
 CURRENT TOPICS

A Louisville paper calls attention to the
 fact that number of Atlanta women, wno
 are interested in everything concerning
 the war between the states, have organ
 ized a society and published the follow
 ing netice: "AIore than a quarter of century having passed without any organ
 ized effort on the part of the descendants
 of the great leaders of the south to pre- | serve their glorious records, and desiring to
 found southern historical society on
 broad basis. we have this day organized
 society for this purpose to be known as
 the Order of Robert E. Lee. All who are 1 who are eligible are cordially invited to
 unite with us, and are requested to send in l their naTries to the undersigned" The i paragraph which contains many surprises
 for those southern women who have been
 actively interested in the growth and prog
 ress of that noble order known as the l Daughters of the Confectionery" gives a
 very incomplete idea of all that was in- tended, and stated by few daughters of l brave soldiers who sent forth the procla- l Lee.
 The call issued to commissioned officers
 daughters to unite In organizing the Order l of Robert D. Lee contained many unique
 statements. as well as peculiar rules, which
 are to decide womans eligibility to mem-
 bership in this select and limited society. l First of all, the claim that there has been I a lack of organized effort on the part of
 southerners to preserve the historical re-
 cords of the late civil war is absurd in the 1 extreme when it is remembered that in all
 sections of the south the Daughters of the l Confederacy and the camps of Confederate l Veterans are f1ourishing and have four
 ished for years. As is known to all well in-
 formed persons one of the principal -ob-
 jects in establishing these patriotic south-
 ern societies is to preserve as sacredly as 1 possible a true history of the war and an
 honest record of the bravery and fidelity of
 the glorious confederate soldier, whether
 officer or private.
 | After setting forth the objects of the l Order of Robert D. Lee the promoters give l the grades of the officers, whose descend ants shall be worthy of membership. No
 woman, young or old shall apply for ad- I mission unless an ancestor had been I commissioned officer in the southern ar- I my; a private counts for nothing in this I military aristocracy.. Moreover, if one is l fortunate enough to possess the requisite papers certifying to her eligibility she is l to be ranked according to the number of I stars or bars that adorned the collar of I her ancestors coat A woman will be ex- pected to give condensed history of her distinguished relative. and the length of | the history will be regulated by the rank of the officer. This is to be law | changable as that of the Medes and Per- slams. The proclamation, there is no bet | ter word for this notice to the people, states explicitly how many words an admiring daughter may use in describing the glory of brave fathers military caueer If he were a general of any degree he is entitled to have his history given in several thous- and words; if colonel, in a smaller num- Der, down through the list, varying ranks until that of lieutenant is reached, when l the line is drawn with emphasis, and a man who only was entitled to wear one bar on his collar cannot have the story of his valor preserved for the admiration of future
 
 | words.
 Tn issuing the call for the Order of Robert E. Lee the women concerned in it's suc- cessful organization committed the grave error of forgetting that the confederate private soldier stands out before the world as the embodiment of all that was noble and glorious. Reared as so many of them were in the lap of luxury, they entered the army, endured frightful hardships, fought day after day. and marched night after night in the pitiless cold with rarely enough food to eat or clothes to wear, yet without uttering a complaint. The privates, in the main, were the social equals of every offi- cer in the line. and it was the magnificent fighting of the confederate private that made the fame and glory of many an of ficer. The private soldier was obliged to be at the front, and he went there gladly, whether his. superior officer was on duty or not. When southern women attempt to draw an invidious comparison between the records of the officers and privates of the confederate army they evidence woe ful ignorance of southern history and a pitiful form of snobbery that will not be encouraged by the descendants of officers who are worthy of their ancestors fame. The privates and the officers must go hand in hand down the great corridors of time; their deeds their sufferings, and their inn perishable fame are indissoluble.
 BALL. -,. 
 Reflections of a Bachelor From the New York Press. No man ever gets the reputation of be-