The age-herald., 1901-05-29
MEMPHIS THROWS HER DOORS
 WIDE OPEN TO THE OLDSOLDIERS
 AND BIDS THEM HAVE GOOD TIME


 late you on such a record. What country can show a better one? But your record is established and need not dwell longer upon that.
 And now, comrades, again greet you, and once more bid you welcome to our city that sits upon the bank of the grand ly flowing Mississippi, as sat her ancient namesake upon the banks of the classical Nile.
 And, comrades. If while you are here you feel like taking something for the temporary exhilaration of the inner man, why just call for it at the usual places and 1t will be administered to you for a little cash. But if you want cup of cof- fee or something to eat, go down there (pointing to iD to that tent almost IS large as the gallant little State of Mary land, and tell the commissary general. John Myers. that you want to test the merits of his cooking, and he will invite you to a seat at his spacious table.
 And lastly comrades 1t is my pleas ure on behalf of the local executive com mittee of the reunion to turn over this hall to you and your chief, Gen. John B. Gordon, whom I now pre- sent as your permanent chairman"
 The mention of the name of Gen. John B. Gordon was greeted with cheer after cheer as the tall form of the commander in-chief was seen advancing from the rear of the platform.
 Bang, bang went the gavel in the hands of General Gordon, but the cheers went on, the veterans standing upright, swinging their hats and giving the gen eral again the ringing welcome.
 Bang went the gavel, but to no avail.
 "Pleace let us have quiet,' rang the clear, penetrating voice of General Cor don. piercing through the house. Dele gates will please resume their seats, and after few more sounds of vocifer ous welcome the delegates sat down.
 General Gordon, in accepting the hall in behalf of the United Confederate Vet erans, spoke as follows:
 General Gordon's Address.
 Governor, MT. Mayor, Bishop Gaylor and Representatives of Memphis-For the third time 1t is my duty and high priv ilege to respond to Tennessees welcome to the United Confederate Veterans. For the third time since our organization this great State embraces with her maternal arms these immortal remnants of the south's matchless armies. First she well comed us at Chattanooga, then at Nash vile, now at Memphis. And what place could be more fitted for such gathering than this city by the great river which was once the highway for ironclade;
 
 into seething cauldron and whose bluffs were ramparts of defense for a struggling people?
 "Four thousand years ago the ancient Memphis built upon the banks of the Nile was the home of the gods, the seat Of eastern learning and worship, the proud est metropolis of the great Egyptian del- ta. Within her limits were the temples of Vulcan, Serapis, of. Iris and of the Sun. l There Alexander the Great was wont to | worship and there stood the marvellous | pyra mids to whose majesty the great Na- 1 poleon appealed by reminding his soldiers | that from those hoary heights forty cen- turies were looking down upon them. But grandly impressive as is that an- cient city, as it is revaled to us through the long vista of ages, 1t is more than rivaled by the modern Memphis in all | the clements of true greatness and hu- man progress. Here it Is true, there is no fertilizing Nile. spreading its vivify- | ing floods over arid plains and convert | ing them into gardens rich and product i've; but we offer in its stead the more majestic, the far nobler Father of Wa | ters, gathering from the slops of mount | aims and thousand fertile hills the rich alluvions and spreading them over far wider areas. In lieu of the great Egypt | ian delta, which rivals 1t In fertility and l vastly excels it in expanse, in the grand
  and charm of its climate. In this mod ern Memphis are no temples dedicated to | sacred bulls and chimerical gods; but | here are erected the glorious temples of | the Great Jehovah Himself, wherein His spirit dwells and His ransomed hosts | bow to the only King of Kings and Lord | of Lords.
 Tn this Memphis is no ancient seat | of sceptered monarch; but 1t was for a | long time the home of Jefferson Davis, l who even in his deepest humiliation and | woeful experience lowered in moral | grandeur to far nobler stature than the l Egyptian Medes or Persian monarchs or | Greek or Roman invader ever attained | in all their glitter of royal equipage and | ephemeral glory. Here in this Memphis | no Alexander the Great ever worshipped | in life or laid In state when dead; but | here lived, here fought, here died and l here rests the honored ashes of Nathan l Bedford Forrest, the wiliest horseman l of modern times and the equal in native
 untutored genius of the greatest cavalry | man. of any age.
 we are glad, therefore, to meet in l Memphis. In the fulness of our hearts we | thank this generous people for their in 1 yitation and for this princely reception. | T conclude as I began with the declara- 1 ton that no more appropriate place TOT | such gathering could have been selected.
  l ical position, and by the steadfast ad- | herence of its people to the immortal | memories of the past; 1t Is in the very midst of the lost but forever loved Con | federacy. It Is appropriate because 1t Is I built upon the banks of the great river which binds together with its liquid links the distant sections of our great common | country, for this city of Memphis Is one | of the fountain heads of that stream of American brotherhood and unity which | flows with ever increasing volume | through all liberty-loving American | hearts.
 An Oaken GaveI. At the conclusion of General 1ordon's 1 address, General s. D. Lee presen. an ] oaken gavel whose head was made frc@l the steamer Star of the West which l fired the last shot of the WAT SIS 1t at- tempted to carry relief to Fort Sumpter the handle being made from a tree grow 1 ing on an estate at Beauvoir
 General George w. Gordon then de- livered a gavel made from wood taken from a tree growing on the battlefield of Appomattox.
 In a neat address General John B. Cor don accepted both gavels. He then pre- sented in few happy words Colonel Ben nett H. Young of Louisville. the orator of the day. Colonel Young delivered an elo- quent address
 While Colonel Young was in the midst of his address the form of General Fitz- hugh Lee was seen as the General plowed his way through the crowd on his way to the platform. General Gordon stepped | forward, grasped his hand warmly, and, turning around to the delegates. said:
 comrades. I have only to mention the 1 name of Lee.
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