The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1897-04-27
SARGE PLUNKETT
THE OLD MAN ONCE MORE GETS BACK
UPON HIS FAyORITE THEME
Stories OF tho Into WHr-From Grave to
Gay AMI From tho Sublime to tho
Ridiculous.
Tho Constitution

ing to make mo and Brown believe
| that Genefal Sherman had such a
distasto for fire that he could not
bear to carry match, we decided
thai we were crazy old fools and
should never open our mouths again
on the subject of tho war.
Brown has been provoked to break
this resolution for the reason that it
has always been his ambition to never
be Quilted. In the war he was a
coward, in peace he is a failure, in
business everybody beat him and
they turn him out Of all the churches
-he has only been success in one
thing--a liar. OF Course he hates
to soc these last laurels snatched
from HIM aud has so persistently ap-
pealed that I have agreed to return
to the subject of the war again and
once i'll while allow my old friend
! to get in word, but 1 shall watch
him close and always make him re-
duce his utterances about 05 per
cent before it is made public.
| wish you could have seen what
he prepared in connection with the
1recent letters of II. r.. r. Cobb, but
[ was fearful that it might taint my
late veracity, so I compromised with
my old friend by suppressing all his
production and stating in a general
way some Of his points, and aftor
mature deliboration | came to agree
on these points. He starts out,
first:
"T. r. r.. Cobb nover wrote those
letters they are forgery, is my
bolicf." After this first proposition
he goes Oil to state that ne was very
familiar with General Cobb, know
his handwrite, took many chew of
tobacco with him and several times
gave the general a drink of
| Virginia apple jack out of his can.
ten, and so on and SO on. My old friend
argued hard with mo to not suppress
him, claiming that it could not pos
sibly bo a bigger lie than that Gen
eral Cobb would disparage General
Lee Or write home in word and tone
to injure tho cause he loved so we'll.
The argument convinced me and we
stand agreed that General Cobb did
not write these letters and that thoy
are forgery, in our opinion, until
better is given than has yot appeared.
More people than Brown disbelovcs
the publication. Some Of his old
soldiers have toll me that it did not
sound like General Cobb--noither in
tho manner of composition nor in
spirit They say that General Cobb
was too great to whine, too godly to
/ be vindictive, and would never stoop
to the venting of his sploon in that
way. Ho fell upon Virginia soil ana,
no doubt, General Loo himself has
I, bathed tho spot in tears.
We arc willing to swallow tho
historical statement that Greedy and
Butler and Sumner and Thad Stov
ens-all such as these-wero great
and good, but we are never to be-
lievo that General Cobb felt against
the authorizes of tho confedoracy as
these letters would imply he folt-I
do not blame Brown for being un-
easy about his reputation as liar.
But history will settle these great
things despite anything that two old
mon can say, and they will settle it
in their own way, but we submit
that history cannot give tho whole
story Of war. Such story would
fit from grave to gay and from the
sublime to tho ridiculous 50 speedily
that ono in reading would bo kept
vibrating between tho depths Of
pathos and the heights of patriotic en-
thusiasm. History can tell you Of
tho great charges, tho allant gon-
erals and tho mastorly manoouvors,
but You must go elsewhere for the
real life in tho army. Wait till the
} battle is over and tho armies arc
gone and you will 500 things novor
pictured in history. Crops trampled
down, cattle driven off, tho birds
have flown. and nothing is there but
death, destruction, silence. Thore
may be few old soldiers left behind