The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1901-04-13
THE MEMPHIS REUNION HALL
Will Seat $1,000 Spectators-An About
the Magnificent street Decorations
The Reunion Button.

MEMPHIS, Tenn, April SIT is all up
to the weather man now, and if his pre-
diction for cloudless skies during the
Reunion holds good, visitors to Mem
phis will see the grandest display of
fireworks ever witnessed in the South.
The spectacle will include the firing of
thousands of rockets along the entire
river front, and will close with real
istic represe entation of the famous bat
tie which was fought in the harbor at
Newport News between the Confeder
ate ram Merrimac and the U. S. s.
Congress, when the latter boat was
blown up and sunk by the Merrimac.
The battle will be fought by actual |
boats which will pour broadsides into !
each other TO the heroic ACCOMPANYING
of background of brilliant and eye |
dazzling FIRE display, reaching from the
horizon to the zenith. There will also
be fire pictures of several of the most
noted generals of the Confederacy,
which will blaze into bold relief, hang
ing apparently in midair, to the full
view of all
1t was on Saturday, the 9th of March,
1862, that this famous naval battle was
fought. Steaming into the bay, where
was gathered the Federal fleet, the
Merrimac was greeted by hail of can
nonade from the Congress and other
gunboats. This fury of solid shot and
ball would have sunk another boat in
stantly, but from the iron-coated, slop-
ing sides of the Merrimac the fusillade
rolled harmlessly into the water. The
answering fire from the Confederate
ram was deadly. No ship could with
stand the terrific death-dealing volleys,
much less the wooden gunboats that
were already battle-scarred by the con-
hicts of the few days previous Slowly
the Merrimac steamed toward the en-
emy, centering her fire on the Congress
D With almost every shell that burst from
: the throats of the Merrimac's cannon an
rather than heard as the solid balls of
, steel and iron plowed through the Fed
: eral ship. The duel was short, for in q
very few minutes the mast of the Con-
: gress tottered and fell. The vessel
. was on fire, and the lurid beauty of the
. background threw its hull into bold re-
lief. The smoke then sank on to its
:, decks for an instant, as one would press
: down the lid of a jack-in-the box, and
:, then followed the explosion of the pow
;. der magazine. With the fury of mad
dened tiger the Merrimac darted at the
enemy and buried its steel ram into its
wooden bosom. AS the Merrimac backed
Q away the water rushed INTO the hole,
l. and a second afterward the Congress
= lurched to the bottom, defeated and de-
S stroyed.
l. The pictorial represe entatiou of this
IS fight on the river at the Reunion will
i be faithful and true to life There will
e be the background OF flashing shells
II exploding in the air, and the colors OF
:, war will all be there. At first the Con
n gress will be seen, rocking sullenly at
her anchor. Then the Merrimac will
appear in the distance, rapidly ap
u preaching. Then both boats will com
= mence to exchange ear-splitting volleys
! of shot and shell. The powder maga
70 zine of the Congress will be exploded
"a and then the final act of the drama, the
70 ramming of the sinking vessel by the
y Merrimac, will take place,
. The spectacle of war is always one O
:, strange fascination. Though we know
its tragic outcome, it is nevertheless
tremendous display. And this will b'
r. no ordinary Fourth of July exhibition
s. for in the one evening of this part o
E. the entertainment sixteen hundred fee
a, Of barges will be loaded with red, blut
l. and white fire, thousands of rocket
to and bombs. Another feature of tn
e. display will be the illumination of tn
1t entire river at this point. Acres an
81 acres of water will suddenly be aliv
with kissing, writhing serpents o
ia flame; the heavens will be lighted a
!. high as the eye can see, and fountain
" of fire will spout into the air to tn
sr height of thousand feet, falling bac
I'd into Niagara of stars and comets.
The Great Reunion Hall.
As you read this, there are hundre
10 workmen on the bluffs of Memphi
g. erecting mammoth Reunion hall.
~ 1t will be the largest one ever erecte
&c for a similar purpose. At recen
'r' meeting of the general executive con
mittee it was decided to build one fc
be this special occasion, and graders, brici
to layers and carpenters are now activel
On engaged in laying the foundation
to and raising the superstructure. tt
4. hall will be finished in ample time fl
the Reunion. 1t will have a seatiu
capacity of $4,000 people, and will co
er tain State headquarters for Arkansa
of Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, Nj
et souri,. North Carolina, South Carolin
ok Virginia, West Virginia, Florida, Al
he bama, Texas and Mississippi.
I'D In addition to this there will be lar
headquarters for the Sons of Confed,