The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-09-20
SIDNEY HERBERT'S LETTER.
INSTRUMENTATION IN BOOKS OF
REFERENCE.

His Political AmbitiOn-Maurice
ThompsOn's ''High Tide Mt Gettys-
burg"
Pine Crest Villa, Maitland, Fla,
Sept. ia Savannah reader of these
letters wishes me to call attention to
the fact that the international Cyclic
pedia." by Dodd, Mead & Co, of New
York. in both the old and new edi-
lions. gives the birth OF Gen. Robert
+. Lee as occurring on June 10, 1907"
! think this is simply typographical
error, Jan. was evidently mistaken for,
or carelessly transformed into June
This is a trifling error compared to
some that mar the reliability of nearly
all cyclopedias. Think of one that says
Gen. Lee, after the war, was appoint
ed Governor of Lexington College
and that he was q lieutenant colonel
employed in the office of the COM
mander-in- chief at Washington when
Virginia seeded" There are three
glazing errors in this brief sentence;
Lee was a full colonel of cavalry, was
not in Gen. SCOTS Office or on his stan
and BIT Lieut.. Gen. Scott was not on
and never was commandments. l
very seldom refer to a cyclopedia of any
kind for reliable information.
The Chicago Tribune says Gen.
Young will hand down to posterity a
lieutenant generals uniform, worn only
a week. and practically as good as
new" This statement shows the ig-
norance of a great Chicago newspaper
about army matters. Gen. Young Is
still a lieutenant general and wears
that uniform, and will no doubt do so
as long as he lives. The so-called of
fee" of commanding general" which
was worn only a week. by him, has
already gone down to pOsterity,' and
so has the absurd goat" of the Trib-
une Another point is worthy of men
ton in this connection, and that is
the real position of Gen. Young as
chief of staff. He is now nearer be-
ing a commanding general of the
army than when he really held that
fiction" of an office" There has been
a great deal of nonsense and many
unreliable statements printed about
Gen. Young and his lightning
changes" but the plain facts remain
that he was never. like Gen. Chaffee,
"a private soldier in the United States
army" nor did he wear his new uni
form and authority only one week.
After all l have said in regard to
using Ordinance" for Ordnance the
printer makes me out guilty of this
offense. But I forgive him. - The
awful headline man." still gets in his
work. over a press telegram of
Union Soldier, one of the Michigan
Cavalry that captured Jefferson Davis,
he puts this headline Famous Con-
federate Dead" And yet some printers
call me a kicker. - Walter r.
Benjamin, in the Townsend building.
No. 1925 Broadway, New York. is
dealer in rare and valuable autographs
and autograph-letters. One of the rar-
est and most valuable (S350) of the
latter class is one from Gen. James
Wolfe. of the British army, killed at
Quebec. 1t was written in 1856. and
gives advice TO a young man enter
ing on a military career. He also has
one from Maj Gen. Philip Schuyler.
then a United States senator, written at
Kingston in 1882. in which he says
Il find the Legislature so bent on re-
turning home that l fear that they
will leave the most important busi-
ness unfinished" This will be a COM
forting item TO many Georgia legisla-
tors who have been bent" in the same
direction. A letter written by Gen.
John Twiggs, of G. A., in 1857, is Ct
fered for sale at $500 as it is consid-
cred a rare article. letter from Gen.
Howell Cobb, in 1S4S is priced at $780,
and a Sidney Lanier letter at $500.
The press kilograms announce the
death of an editor named e. p. Lowe,
who was private in a Michigan regi-
ment, and one of the detachment that
nj of fe I
presume. that he was there but he
is enrolled in the Fourth Michigan
Cavalry as John Lowe and Edward
Lowe, of Company L. He was pres
ent at the capture of Jefferson Davis,
and later on received his pro rata
share of the one hundred thousand dol
lars reward. Advocates of whip
ping women in the Georgia Peniten-
tiary are reminded that the Confed-
crate Congress, in April, 1868, made it
unlawful for any court martial or
court to cause any soldier in
the service of the Confederate states to
be punished by whipping. or the in
Fiction of stripes upon his person."
. see from the "Sewanee CTenn),
Calendar" that Florida and Georgia are
liberal patrons of the University of the
South, (Episcopalian) located at that
high and healthy place. Its law, medi-
cal theological and literary departments
are supplemented by a very fine
military organization, at the head of
which is Major Mason Carter, u. S. A
ret. a Medal of Honor soldier and a
native of Georgia, who is assisted by
Maj. Frederick 1. Kaessmann. And this
leads me to refer to the fact that the
Episcopalians generally give the very
best of attention to the military feature
in their schools and universities.
I find in a publica ton by r. II. Rus
sell & Sons, of New York. a version of
the famous army song of Benny Ha-
Vens, OH" with a head note by "A
Graduate of West Point, who says
"The lamentad O'Brien. formerly a ser
geant in the army. was commissioned
a lieutenant in the Eight Infantry"
Now, this Graduate" knows too much
that is not true. DR.. Lucius O'Brian,
of Maryland, was never a sergeant in
the army, nor from that position COM
missioned into the Eight Infantry. He
was appointed an assistant surgeon
in July 1882. He became a second
lieutenant in the Third Infantry in
Sept. 1897, but was transferred to
the Eight Infantry in July. 1898, and
promoted to first lieutenant in Dec.
1899. He started the famous song i'm
1885, while visiting Cadet Arnold at
West Point. Arnold and other cadets
assisted by contributing a verse or
two, but O'Brien. who was a genial.
popular fellow, one who could fully
appreciate the pleasures of a visit to
Benny Heavens forbidden resort, was
the real inspirer of the famous song
OBrien died at Fort Brooke, Tampa,
Fla, in 1S41.