The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-22
A Maine Relic.

3A 4AesA6O ASOAAN'
 Mir. E. H. Hobbs has a relic of the Maine. the battleship. which is of un- usual interest to, Selmains. and as for that, the whole people of the United States. The relic consists of a handsome walking-cane made from a part of the table that was used by Captain Sigsbee, the commander of the Maine. The walk ing-cane is of mahogany and Is highly polished. The table that the piece of mahogany was taken from was used by Captain Sigsbee in his private cabin on the battlesh'p. It was brought to Selma by Lieutenant J. J. Blandin, who was a first lieutenant and was the officer on duty at the time the Maine was sent to the bottom of Havana harbor.
 Lieutenant Blandn was born in Selma and was highly esteemed here. He was struck on the head by a piece of cement thrown up from the bottom of the Maine when the mine was exploded and was knocked insensible. He does not know how long he was in an unconscious con- dition.
 He recovered, however. and came by Selma on his way to his home in Balti- more and was given a banquet by the Dallas Light Dragons at their armory. He made many friends here by his mod est and gentlemanly bearing on that oc- casion. He absolutely refused to say anything about the Maine when he re- sponded to his toast. but remarked that the matter was undergoing investigation by the United States authorities, and as se cond in command on the ill-fated Maine. it would not be proper for him to say anything that might be construed into an official statement about the sinking of that vessel.
 Lieut. nant Blandin went from Selma to T..V III ha Foin sunk on the 18th of February, 1898. Lieu tenant Blandin never recovered from the blow that he received by the piece of cement, and the shock incident to the blowing up of the vessel and he grad ually grew worse after he reached his home in Baltimore, and in the month of May, in a hospital in that city, surround ed by his loving wife and little children. his gallant soul took it's flight to the God who gave it.
 Mir Hobbs preserved the piece of ma hogany that was brought home by Lieu tenant Blandin. and also the piece of bronze that was taken from the rudder of the launch that was on the Maine at the time of the touching off of the tor pedo, and he has had a handsome walk ing cane made from the same and will send it to Mrs. Blandin, the widow of the gallant officer, who died as a result of the shock and injuries that he received on that occasion.
 The walking stick will be presented to Lieutenant Blandin's oldest son, and will hereafter be an heirloom in the family.
 Lieutenant Blandin is remembered in Selma by a host of boyhood acquaint- ances.
 A few days ago MT. J. M. Barker wrote to Mir IT Fl Stewart the Treasurer of the summerfield Orphans Home, and presented him with five sacks of cotton eed meal and two tons of hulls to feed the cows that supply the Summerfield Orphans with milk He wound up his l tier by s7ying that he would make a fine Methodist if he should be elected director of the Summerfield Orphan age. Now, it is a well-known fact that MT. Baker is an Episcopalian, but Mir. Stewart, the Treasurer of the Summer field Orphanage, wrote him thanking him for the gift, and informed him that he had been elected an honorary member of the Board of Directors.
 On MT. Baker receiving this reply, he sat down and wrote MT. Ernest Lamar. the manag-r of one of the her cotton seed oil mills, a letter, telling him that he was in charge of the Summeriield Or- phanage and that eghty little mouths and eighty little pairs of hungry paws were holding out their hands to nm TOT five sacks of meal and two tons ol huils'