The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-25
ATE OYSTERS ON TYBEE BEACH
VETERANS MADE THE MOST OF
THEIR TIME AT THE sEAsHORE.

Supplied and Oysters and Sand
witches Were Furnished without
stint, With Something Besides.
The Closing Feature of the Re-
union Proved as Successful as the
Others Had Been-AbOut 1880 Vet
Grams and Friends AvaiIed Them
selves of the CentraI's Compliment
tary Excursion.
7 Like every other feature. which has been
| a part of the programme for the veterans
reunion, the oyster roast at Tybee yester-
day afternoon was an entire success. Not
/ wiLhstanding the change in the wea Their
and The fact that its appearance was some
what threatening, a large crowd took in
the excursion. At Tybee the winds were
somewhat chilly, but the warmth of the
hospitality dispense and the warmth of
the appreciation with which it was re-
ceived drove away all thoughts of chilli
ness. physical or mental
So many of The visitors left the city on
the morning trains that it was feared that
there might not be sufficient number left
TO do the oyster roast proper honors, but
any impression which might have prevail
ed 40 this effect was corrected by the
crowds which gathered at the Tybee de-
poi. The first train left at 2 O'Clock with
thirteen coaches. Every coach was crowd
ed, there being three persons to a seat in
many instances, and many who stood the
entire distance
The first train carried in the nelghbor-
hood of 800 persons The second, which
followed at 2:30 O'clock was almost equal
ty crowded. Altogether there must have
been 1900 people at the roast. nearly half
of whom We're visiting veterans. The 9th
er half of the crowd was made up by the
local veterans and members Of their faTni-
PES and local and visiting Sons ard DaUgh-
ters of the Confederacy. 1t was a good
combination of young, old and middle
aged, city, town and country, people from
the coast and those from the interior The
best Of spirits prevailed throughout, and q
livelier, jOliier crowd was never seen on
Tybee The cool winds only seemed 10 in
vigorate the old veterans and fl them with
the spirit 10 enjoy their seaside outing to
the utmost
Among the veterans were some who had
served on the coast in this vicinity under
Gen. Evans, the late Gen. Lawton and 9TH
er commanders during the early part of
the war and these looked with interest for
TIRE ldliliildIhS WHICH hOQ q iGGhlllY Tue
scenes of their former experiences. The
majority of the veterans however, were
those who saw most of their service in
Virginia or with Johnston and other COM
mandeTs in the interior IL is true that
some Of them made a brief stop in this
vicinity in the latter part of 1854, but they
were not on a sightseeing expedition at
that time and the peop.e of Savannah were
moi able to entertain them so Hospitality
then as they have dtne on this occasion.
Ofd Fort Pulaski with its shot marked
walls attracted much attention and many
questions were asked CT the local veterans
concerning It's history The fact was gen.
orally recalled that it was the first gov
ernment fortress TO fall into the hands
Of Southern troops.
AT the Hotel Tybee and the South End
the long train being sufficient to cover both
points at one stop, the crowds made a
break for the beach. Old ocean was in
good form, the high winds brushing the
foam from the waves and lending to the
effeetSome few who had never had the OPP
porunity of gazing upon the ocean before
spent some time upon the beach. The ma
jority, however, were soon attracted to
the South End pavilion, where extensive
preparations had been made for the COM
fort of the inner man. Owing to the early
departure from the city, many had omit
ted the midday meal, and the sharp salt
air so whetted their appettes, that some
of them were ready to charge most any
sort of fortihcations, i'm order to satisfy
the cravings for food. Extensive prepara-
tons had been made for this purpose by
the committee, headed by Capt. D. G..
Purse, and results soon proved that the
work had been entrusted TO the right
hands. Mr.. w. NJ Bohan who had the
contract ~ caterer, had lived up to his
job and the committee had no fault to
find. Ample supplies of sandwiches and
coffee were dished out, the old vets being
given the preference. and the rest of the
crowd being served afterwards. There was
a plenty for all. Inc sandwiches furnished
a good background for the oysters which
followed. These were cooked In the usual
manner, upon large sheets of plate iron,
there being several points at which this
work was in progress. Large banks of
oysters guaranteed against any scarcity on
this score. In fact the commissary depart
ment was undoubtedly in good hands.
Even the canteen was running wide open,
and every body had plenty of checks. There
may have been a few Prohibltionists
among the veterans. but If so they kept
this fact strictly to themselves. The aver
age veteran seemed to have no objection
to a glass of beer or several of them, in
fact.
The attack upon the oyster supply was
a very determined one, and was kept up
almost without intermission during the
afternoon. ms was due IN part to the
fact that the majority of the visitors were
not acquainted with the art of extract
ing the juicy bivalve from a warm shell,
and it took them some time to get their
hands in. With the assistance of their
Savannah friends, a fair degree of prof.
cheney was acquired. Oysters in any style
are rare in the interior, and roast oysters
were an entirely new dish to many of the
visitors. The general verdict. however,
was that oysters in any style were good,
and roast oysters a little better than any
thing they had struck lately.
Capt. Purse was assisted in the COM
missary department by committee of la
dies Among them were Mrs. Purse, Mrs
F'alk. Miss Barnard, Miss Dillon, Mrs
Remshart, Mrs. Wolf Mrs Halle, Mrs.
Thompson and Mrs. Johnson.
The return trip was without special in
cident. The manner in which the excur-
sion was handled by the Central is deserv-
Ing of mention. The heavy trains were
handled on good time both ways and there
was not the slightest hitch anywhere. AS
the excursion was the Cenft.al's treat 10