The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1901-06-27
A FLAG OF THE LOST CAUSE.
A Dying Confederate Gave it to a
Chief III the Samoan Islands,

Soon after Judge Chambers, vino i,
now member of the Spanish wa
claims commission, was sent to SamO;
by President Cleveland he attended
one Of the great gala festivities anc
icaSts So famous among the natives ol
these Pacific islands. says the WASH
ngton Star. These fcasts are never
to be forgotten by those who once at
tend. The natives come from MANY
miles around the islands. Most of
thcm reach Apia, where the fcasts
take place, in boats. Sometimes there
arc over 800 boats with from two to
cl%hty-iour oars each, and containing
persons enough To ill them The scene
Is one ct the most picturesque to be
iouhd IN any part of the world. Be.
tore the tcaSts boat races and aquatic
sports take place IL the harhor of Apa
and up I" The time The islands wclc
partlii"ncd, the representatives of the
iorclgn governments were Interested
, Spccla'olS, and the natives considered
the presence Of the foreigners Il urcat
and important honor.
The IraStS might be called pic-nics.
Tor they are held IN the open ar, but
instead oi pies, pickles, cakes, sand
WIchcS and irmunadr, The customary
refreshments at pic.nicS, the natives
XIII and roast hunurcds OF pi.s, reese
chickens and other fowls, hrsldcs hav.
ing many varieties of fish. Some hrau-
! ilIul grove is the uulv table, and thr
! &rruud where the food is Sprr,I j.
! covered with the rich yrcrn leaves
ol the hanana tree. The nrralcS, hos
! plahlN always evidenced, the natives
| paNlug especial attention to ihrir
! quests. At the conclusion OF the feast
1t Is the custom to divide ..r rrmaiu-
ing food among the people, il benz
! prop"rlloncd according to position -- ,hr
| higher Il man stands The larger the
amount OF leftover food he has sent to
his house. In this, as during the
course OF the feast. there is the rrrnt-
est precision IN the management. AT
no time Is there Il scramble. The o,:-
caslon l. delightful one to people uE-
accustomed to it.
"All the native chiefs brin. naus of
some kind when coming 10 The frn>,s
and take the greatest care of Them"
sad Judge Chambers IN describing Il
Samoan feast to Il group Of friends The
other day. ''i'iIry are fond OF amy
kind of dag. Uhosr chiefs who canno,
obtain the nag of nations use fancy
pieces of cloth and lattcrcd garments.
lie ~ poor man and unlmpOrtant
chicl who does not own Il flag. Look
| ing out on the beautiful scene i'm the
harhor OF Samoa on Tins gala dav that
| | have spoken of, noticed Il boat nv-
ing llag that could not make out.
| | took a glass and saw what | thought
was Confederate ilaW. could not
believe il possible, however, and wait
cd until the boat came near. Then |
saw plainly that it was Il genuine nau
ol the UonIcdcracY. / naturally was
greatly interested, and sent one of my
servants to ask the chief 10 como to see
! me.
" When he came began question.
ING INN about the nag, but he would
rive me no information. lie was Il
man Of good features and was appar,
emily Il chief Of consequence i'm his
ncighDorhood. |, of course, wanted
70 get possession of the Nny, and did
not suppose that | would have the
least trouble in DONG SO, particularly
as the natives were fond Of cXchan".
ing flags, and that the United SlM c>
was Il iaVolllc with them, the ilag OF
EnGIand beng next and of Germany
next.
offered the chief Il nay Of tn,
United States for his Confederate nay,
lie said quietly that he could not make
new flag of England or Of Germany.
He refused these also, and | suspected
that he was trying to drive Il shrcwd
bargain with me. lncXL offered him Il
bolt OF cloth worth considerable money.
and when he refused that | offered
INN barrel of meat, the most tempt
ing and costly thing in the mind Of q
native. AS nothing could induce him
to make the exchange, | asked him his
reasons for refusing.
" In reply he said that one day long
ago a white man came to his hut. lie
supposed the man had come from Apiu.
lie had several bundles IN his posses I.
sion and preserved them with the ut
most care. The stranger, the chief
/ lld me, was man Of great dignity
and OF an amiablc disposition. The
natives soon came to love him much
and took pleasure in providing him
with every dclicacy they could obtain.
The chief himself became deeply at
iachch 10 hlln ANA when the white
mans health began to fail there was
universal regret among the natives
When the stranger saw that his end
was near he called the chief TO him
and directed that one Of the bundlcs i'm
his possession be opened. Then there
was displayed a beautiful silkcn flag,
but worn by handling.
"'Scc that flag p said the stranger
well, it was The lIag Of my nation -
great people. 1t vent down in defeat
but | decided that it should never b,
surrcndc:cd. SO l. left home, kins
men and friends and came here will
1t. am gong TO give it to you
Never let a white man have il IN hi
hands,
"That was the dying injunction o
= the stranger and the chief had sworl