The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-08
THE GRAY SHELLS TnorH..
An Eloquent and Well Deserved Tri-
 hute to Women of the South.


 bute to Women of the South.
 Peter Pechin, in Southern Farm Magazine.
 of Baltimore. for January.
 Mir. William Garrott Brown discusses in
 ees .Ss he bases his opinions largely upon two recently; published works.-one dealing with the financial war. and the other limited to the history of the Confederate treasury deoartnent Per feeling that the armies m of the South were finer far than anything they defcnded-thal the wonderful o1 sray shell was of greater wortn E,
 midst of his dealing with material things
 with corn, bacon, cotton and hnances-prac of he ns sss sns Of
 the Southern women. He scantily notes, ts
 be sure that when the South came to be ir heads to be sold abroad for arms. That hint of story of unparalleled psthos: of unex, mex: ssep nee tp sa sbons haxs been eagerly taken and the thrilling tale should have been unfoldcd in magnificent, noble sweep Ills induced Mir. Brown to use his fine gift of analysis and his graceful pen in aesSain,ns Sair
 support % I of the % Gonfederacy. in good report and in evil report. and in telling fully what H was that the wonderful gray shell held against
 When the the occasion came the women of the South were most potent In bringing its armies ps Bus MisS h,S nf sref fsa and in
 they sent husbands, sweethearts. brothers and sons into the ranks. pledged to maintain the sources. with the gray shell far away, they turned ther hours of leisure or of pleasure the socks and the caps for soldiers. They tore up their fine linen or their sheeting Of coarser s @ msss ssey sse as in arms, denying themselves for that pleasure Gladly they accepted privations. at first to add to the comfort of the boys at the front and later because necessaries had become lux uries. They stripped themselves that their loved ones might be clad. They starved that the cause might have sustenance. Hands that had known no harder work than embroidery or fancy sewing were occupied with the rough proteeted pu d in 'I rough brosans or were without covering at all. Tender bodies were garbed in and appetites which once were Ted that formerly would hardly have passed mus ter in the servants quarters. With plainer which prevailed in the great house of the plain or on the river bank was duplicated in the humber home in the clearing and in the little moment in victory or in defeat questioned the justice and the righteousness of the cause They knew that it was right They reached soning. Thy wont straigh: to the point. They felt 1t. Once having decided that the south support. nothing could weaken their whole hearted allegiance. Politics. finance, econom- s n 9Se or for sse tne Pse iebatable. It had for them no possible nega- tive side. Their cause was pure white. and burying their dead. Disaster fol- lowing disaster appalled,, but did not shake them Then came the end But even with the passing into the shadows of the eternal night of despair for those who had followed 1t upon many bloody field, had disappeared forever from among the flags of the world powers, the women were as firm as even in their convfc- rlryrnyu lAdu and the cause In the wrong. Before the final blow was struck they had begun to immortal strewing flowers upon the soldiers graves. Afterwards. while survivors of the battles were trying to adjust themselves to changed conditions and to take up the routine of shat tered lives. and when some. indeed, had be- gun to wonder whether It had all not been the cause which no longer had wonderful gray shell it's exponent. They began to raise monuments to men. ~ho coming from obscurity. had won world renown as warriors, and to those who, nameless, have endless fame, and, sweetful illogical, they hien whose errors of Judgment and faults of had added vastly to soldiers tasks and women's burdens.
 the Confederacy than all of it's mater ial re- sources and its statesmanship combined De- feat could not diminish it. It persists in the the purposes of the cause have failed for ever in this world. Women who knew the rauSe militant dnu SuHSrcu loi II, WHo sd" IL fade and sorrowed for 1t, leave it's memories sacred legacy to their daughters and grand daughters Their faith in it goes with them beyond the grave. They carry 1t up to the Throne of God. This devotion was An incal- rulable inspiration to real men. It was wor- thy of the gray shell. that 1t sustained by its love and sublime confidence and courage. and which, in turn, honored, revered and protected It, the gray shell. which the women of the South will never forget.
 Yet the story of the women and their cause of them in marble. purer than alabaster, as spotless as they are, has been raised. But he gray shell kept it's troth with them to the ieath, and they with it-into eterniy.