The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-12

| RANGES name is given as Eli" when it
| should be Ell. Stewart also says Wash
| ington's first national encampment was
| in 1870. which should be 1892.
Death has played such havoc with past
chief, that If Gen.
| (Senator) ]. r. Hawley were dead, Gen.
Louis Wagner, of Philadelphia, would
be the ranking past COMMANDMENT
chief and the ranking j. V. command
er-in-chief. His dates are 1890 S71-1S70,
while Hawley served as ]. v. COM
mander-in-chief from 1868 until Gen.
Wagner succeeded him. Gen. Wagner S
record is a very remarkable one. Nor
has death struck at the old past COM
manders-in- chief. We have Shaw, Sex
ton, Weary, Adams, recent deaths be-
fore we reach dozen of the older ones,
who earlier bore the burdens of office
and are now at rest in their graves.
The visit of President Roosevelt to
Augusta, Me-, the former home of
James G. Blaine and Chief Justice Mel
Court, calls to mind the experience of
three ambitious young journalists in
that city over half a century ago, to
witness the expected visit of President
James K. Polk. Jim" Blaine, "Mer
Fuller and the writer of these letters
were the young men, and they made
a night of it, not soon forgotten. There
were no railroads and telegraphs in
that part of the country, news of i'm
portance coming by pony express" and
travellers by water convenience or stage
coach OF course, we had no knowl-
edge of where the President and his
party then WERE but he was scheduled
to arrive in Augusta that night. Hour
after hour we waited impatiently in
the capitol, for him who never came"
| had seated myself on a broad win
dow sill, and falling asleep like the
young man mentioned in the New Tes-
lament, 1 dropped out on to the green
grass some ten feet below, where
"Jim" and "Mel" found me unframed
and wide awake. We didn't "go home
till morning." weary and disappointed,
for no President came, much to the
disgust of the Governor and stan ana
the people generally.
The Brunswick, Ca, News, in advo-
eating the election of Judge John S.
Gambler of Decatur to the Supreme
Court bench, made this startling an
nouncement: "He Is an aged Confed-
crate and lost both of his feet in the
fight for the South" This is about the
way a good deal of war history, so
called, is written. When q very young
man, long after the Civil War, Judge
Gambler did a very foolish act. He
had taken the wrong train one night
for Decatur, and as it was running
through the town he jumped off, struck
a woodpile and fell back under the
cars, thereby losing both feet. Now, to
his great credit be 1t said, this terrible
accident stirred up all the backbone
and will power that his family is
noted for, and he pushed ahead in his
law business as soon as he got some
artificial feet, and not long after be-
came famous as the boy Colonel" on
Gov. Stephens staff. Then he was
elected colonel of the Fifth Regiment,
Geo. S. T., and later of the Third Geor-
gia Volunteers that frally went to
Cuba under Col Bob Berner. Judge
Gamblers career on the bench is well
known; he has held his own up to
this year, and now goes to the Su-
preme Court bench. And the loss of
his feet had had no small part in his
success.
see that some of the Spanish
American "old vets are quite risky.
Notwithstanding their long and ardu-
Gus services. When they met in con-
vention at indianapolis lately such en-
phatic expressions as you're a liar"
followed by evidences of a fight were
heard. Now, the young fellows in the
G. A. r., who are simply veterans" -.
without the "old." don't let their an
cry passion rise. They discuss matters
where there are differences Of opinion.