The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-12-20
THE OLD BOYS IN GRAY GREET
M'KINLEY.
GENERAL WHEELER LION OF THE KoUR
Augusta Place Of his Birth. Here Greatest
Throngs Seen on this Remarkable
Tour Gathered Around Mckinley
and Hung on his Words.
and Hung on his Words.

of President Mckinney was httlng ell
max to one of the most remarkable
Presidential tours ever undertaken.
Had the President travelled through
the States that gave him his greatest
majorities the ovations that would
have greeted him could not have been
more sincere and heartfelt and IT
they would have surpassed the Georgia
article in size and volume the fact
would be due alone to the great density
of population of the Northern States.
The trip from Macon to Augusta was
without special incident, the only stop
being at Milledgeville The boys of the
Georgia Agricultural and Mechanical
College, and the girls of the State Nor
NAL and Industrial Institute We're gath
cred at the depot to gree. the party. A
company of artillery from the college
fired Presidential salute.
The day opened with rain at Macon,
but the train passed out of the driz2le
after a while and though the clGnds
hung low all along the route, the suns
rays struggled through them with de-
termination of giving the Presldent anG
his party a glimpse at least Of that
weather that has won for this section
the title of the Sunny South.
At Wheeler's station, four miles from
Augusta, the party left the ttail and
entered carriages that were awaiting
them. On either side of the road lea:i-
ing to Camp Mackenzie were drawn up
the six troops of the Third Cavalry
that saw service with General Snaftef
in Cuba As the last carriage passed
the cavalry, under command of Major
Swigert fell in line as escort 20 the
President. With each carriage rode Il
special courier selected from the citizens
committee. The drive was up a long
incline to level plateau of wide eS-
panse on which is located the camp Of
the First division of the Second army
corps under command of Major Cen
eral Young. The public road passes
through the camp and on either side the
various regiments We're drawn up. IL
was magnificent spectacle and one OF
the most interesting experiences in the
whole tour. The camp is an ideal one
The ground slopes off in all directions
and the soil is sandy and porous so
that, Notwithstanding the heavy rain
OF the morning, there was no mud to
mar the pleasure of the drive. After
passing through the camp the route lay
through the United States arsenal
grounds, and the village of Summertime,
where corps headquarters are located.
From here the drive was through the
cotton mill district and over the canal,
where the President saw the magnif1-
cent mills to which he and Postmaster
General Smith referred in their adj
dresses.
In passing down Broad street the pro-
cession halted for a few minutes before
the residence of ex- United States Senator
Patrick Walsh, mayor of the city, who
is confined to bed on account of illness.
Mrs. Walsh presented to Mrs. Me-
Kinley. with the Mayors compliment a
magnificent bunch OF La France roses,
and expressed to the President Mr..
Walsh's regrets that he was not able
to participate in the reception. The
President sent a message of sympathy
TO the Mayor whose illness he said MARI
ed the otherwise perfect pleasure OF his
visit.
In the heart of the city a reviewing
stand had been erected, and from this the
President and his party reviewed the
cavalry, the review of the First division
of infantry having taken place at noon
by General Young.
The crowd that gathered was the
largest throng of the whole tour, and
the demonstration exceIled that given The
President lin any other place. General
Wheeler was the hero. Augusta being
his birthplace and here rest the remains
of departed loved ones whose lives and
precepts have given the nation so remark
able man.
General Shafter was also given an oya-
tion
UNIQUE feature of the demonstration
was a company of uniformed veterans
of the Confederacy with their battle
SCARED flags waving with the Stars and
Stripes. They We're under command OF
Major G.. A. Withers, aged and bent,
clothed in the historic gray of the Lost
Cause The spectacle was a most touch
Eng one. They stood Immediately in
front of the President during his adj
dress, and no cheers in the vast throne
were more hearty than theirs.
The President was formally welcomed
by ex-Congressman j. c. G.. Black, who
paid beautiful tribute to the spotless
purity of his private life, his exalted
administration and his broad American
ism, but did not forget her, who, in pr
vate life. gladdened his home, filed his
heart with love, lightened his burdens
and fostered his laudable ambition.
The President said:
MIR. Chairman, My Fellow Citizens:
Il have been received by many PEG.
ME and in many places, West and North
and South and East, but nowhere have
had welcome that has given me create
pleasure than the one you extend to mt
here today. / wish it was in my power
TO make suitable response to the gra
cious and eloquent words of him whom
YOU have chosen to speak in your be
half. my old friend whom | met fol-
tho first time in the Congress of ths
United States 1t is indeed an honor
to me- and one that shall never be for
gotten. to stand in the place associated
with the names of Washington and la
Fayette and Clay and Webster. 1t il