The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-08-13

the State since the records were, last seen, and the present whereabouts of them is unknown. There is a vast
 amount of rubbish, trash, old books, old
 stoves, old shoes, and all other kinds of cast-off stuff from the Governors office
 piled away under the stairs leading to the office at the State House. Until a few years ago this stuff was piled beside
 the steps, but one Governor thought
 he could improve the looks of the hall,
 at least, and had it stacked away under the steps. There it lies to-day, slowly rotting away. ls=z. .s Somewhere in this trash pile are the
 records which are of such value to the
 history of the State from Confederate
 standpoint. In some of the books deep
 in this pile are the name and companies,
 with o.her insorination of the boys in gray who; went forth from their
 Arkansas homes to fight for the South. Cast aside as of no account are these valuable record. and there is not a penny on hand with which to hire a negro to begin the work of cleaning out the trash in the hope that the records are still in a state of preservation suffi- cien. to allow copies to be made when they are taken to Washington.
 It will be remembered that the last Legislature passed a bill appropriating $1, ,250 to pay for the work of compiling roster of the Arkansas Confederate soldiers for this state, but it was one of the bills which died for failure of pre- sentation to the Governor in the legal twenty days. It was this bill on which
 the test was taken to the Supreme
 Court several weeks ago, and on which
 the Supreme Court decided that none of
 the bills were laws.
 Major Nowiin learned of the exist ence of these records through a letter which he received yesterday from Brig Gen. F. c. Ainsworth, U. s. A., chief
 of the Record and Pension Office This letter stated that as late as 1892 con 1 siderable number of Confederate records were in the possession O. the State of
 Arkansas, because copies of them were furnished the War Department at that time. with endorsements to the effect
 that the original copies were on file in the executive office of the State. It was stated that the copies were incom- plete, and could not be relied upon.
 Immediately upon receipt of the letter
 yesterday Major Nowlin visited the State House in the hope that he could locate the records. mentioned therein, which would form a most valuable
 nucleus on which to work. He made close incuiry and finally some one re-
 meInbered that there were d lot Of old records from the Governor office piled away under the stairs leading to the second floor. He went there and found la big pile of books and rubbish which lit would take one man week to move, even if he made5.no attempt to hunt,for any special books This stumped Major Nowlin, for there is not cent available to pay for laborers. He will set to work himself and try to find the records. He said yesterday.
 No one knows os the. records men tioned, but they mat yet be there. The military records and possibly others are piled with other stuff indiscriinirately under the staircase leading to the Governments office. 1t will take vast amount of work to drag out the trash and sort it. So fara can see there is no provision made for the expense. The records were last seen during the administration of Governor ,Eaglen-- Arkansas Gazette. sSa