Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1901-04-11
STIRRING NAVAL BATTLE
Between Confederate Ram Merri-
mac and U. s. 8 Congress 20 DO
Reproduced At May Reunion
THE MEMPHIS REUNION HALL
VIII set $1,000 sp~cfstsr~-Au Absas
the msxainrsat street D~~oratioas
Tn. R.aaloa nutten-

Reunion holds good. visitors 10 Mem
phis will sec the grandest display ot
| fireworks ever witnessed Ia the south
The spectacle will include the firing os
thousands OF rockets along the entire
river front, aud will close with real
istic representation OF the famous bat
tie which was fought in the harbor at
Newport News between the Confeder-
ate ram Nerrimae and the L. y =.
Congress. when the latter boat was
blown mp and sunk bv the Merrimae.
The battle will be fought by actual
boats which will pour hroaisides into
each other To the heroic accompaniment
Of background Of hriilian; aud 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
II was on saturday. the 9TH Of March.
ist3. that this famous naval battle was
fought. >teaming into the bav. where
was gathered the FEDERAL fleet. the
Merrimae was greeted by hail of can
nOnade from the Congress aud other
zunboats- This fury Of sol.d sho, and
ball would have sunk another buat in
stantly. but from the irOn-coat.sl. slop-
ing sides Of the Merrinac the fusillade
rolled harmles,ly into the water The
=
ram was deadly. No ship could with
stand the terrific death-traling vollevS.
much less the wooden gunboats that
were already battle-scarred by the con-
ficts Of the few days previous. Slowly
the Merrimac steamed toward the en-
emy. eentering her fire on the Congress.
With almost every shell that burst from
the throaiS of the Merrimac's cannon an
answering shrek of death could be felt
rather than heard as the solid balls of
steel and iron plowei through the Fed
eral ship. The duel was short. for in n
very few minutes the mast Of the Con-
gre>s tottered ami 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 10 its
decks for an instant. a. one would press
down the lid Of 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 ths.
enemy and buried lis steel ram into its
wooden bosom As the Merrimac backed
away the water rushed INTO the hole.
and 4 second af;erward the Congress
lurched to the bottom. defeated aud de-
stroyed-
The pictorial representation Of this
fight on the river at the Reunion will
be faithful and true to life There will
be the background of flashing shells
exploding in the air. and the colors of
war will all be there. At first the Con-
gress will be seen. rocking sullenly at
her anchor. Then the Merrimae viii
appear in the distance. rapidly ap-
pruaehing. Then both boats will com
mence To exchange ear-splitting voIIeys
of shot and she'll The powder maya
zine of the Congress will be exploded
and then the final act Of the drama. the
ramming of the sinking vessel By the
Merrimae. viii take place.
The spectacle of war is always one Of
strange fascination. Though We know
its tragic outcome, it Is nevertheless n
tremendous display. And this viii be
no ordinary Fourth Of July exhibition.
for in the one evening of this part of
the entertainment sixteen hundred feet
of barges will be loaded with red. blue
and white fire. thousands of rockets
and bombs Another feature of the
display will be the illumination Of the
entire river Al this point. Acres and
acres of water will suddenly be alive
with kissing. writhing serpents of
fame. the heavens viii be lighted as
high a. the eve can see. and fountains
of fire will spout into the air to the
height Of thousand feet. falling back
into Niagara of stars and comets.
The Great R~anioa Halt
As you read this. there are hundred
worSmen on the bluffs of Memphis
erecting a mammoth Reunion hall
for similar purpose A. a recen,
meeting of the general executive com
mittee it was decided to build one for
this special occasion. and graders, brick
layers and carpenters are now actively
engaged in laying the foundations
and raising the superstructure. The
hall will be finished in ample time for
the Reunion. Ii will have a seating
capacity of 1900 people, and will con-
tain state headquarters for Arkansas.
Tennessee, Louisiana. Kentucky, Mis-
souri,. North Carolina, South Carolina.
Virginia. West Virginia. Florida. Ala
bama, Texas and Mississippi
In addition to this there will be large
headquarters for the Sons of Conteder-
ate Veterans These headquarters, to-
gether with the main entrance, will
occupy the entire front of the building.
In the space at each end of il and un-
der the seats, which will have a height
of l2 feet and will be in the nature of \
long hall, cots will be placed and I.500
veterans or visitors may be thus ac-
NC-LA1O~----1- ~ oAA NIAA-NtaAA-
lated. comfortable quarters
The building will be 800 feet by 206
feet in dimensions The height from
the dome TO the dance floor Is 80 feet,
and the music stand Is suspended from
the roof The main entrance is y feet
BY 50 feet The whole structure is sur
rounded by semi-circuIar truss roof.
with a lO0-foot span, which will be COW
cred with q heavy quality of felt, similar
to that which is placed oC the roofs Of
the Binghamton ear works plant here,
and which has lasted for nearly ten
years. The dancing floor, which will
also be used As the convention hall, Is
100 feet by los feet. This can be cleared
of chairs in short space of time, and
will make one Of the largest dancing
floors in the South
When you reach Memphis YOU will
fird the center of the city transformed
- ~-..~kl~ <-s-- lad The main