The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-03-01
- ~ rd,tor Of The Times-Dispatch

~ tbe Editor Of The Times-Dispatcii'
lS}4 S New Orleans Feb. 1S, 1875
Sisst ,rha a accompanying letter, written by
Mr.. page NJ. Baker, editor OF Inc NJ"
orleans Times Democrat. and one Oh ~
most conspicuous and forceful Figures ~
southern journalism, in the interest Oh
Ihe coming reunion of the old Conle ' ~
sEt 7yeterans. which is to take place IN nc"
n orleans. May 49,, 90 q and %, Is respect
n 1,,,l submitted with the expressed nope
that you may> be able TO give s'i sam !"
v, prominent position in your columns. : ne
ID ca,ise Of the rapidly thinning gray, my NY, .
IA IS one that appeals to the people OF Ia
country Irrespective OF party OF o. . es,
and 1T is because Of this and the 1a &C,
tl,at tho reunions Of tho veterans VIII,
Z In 4 few years become thing OF me
81 thnt we ask tho courtesy at your
Il hands New Orleans wants to accord
" the old Confederates a warm anu heii -
(, 1racentlon and to assure them oil that the
III doors of this city and the hearts or us
people will be wide open on the hae memo
N able occasion referred to herein.
Very respectfully,
a COL, j. A. ILARIaAIA U. Q. ".
VII j Aide dc Camp;
Mt 54 CHM JNO. 3. GORDON'S Staff
Xxi sj5 Chairman Press Committee.
s.5 ,rT4E CONFEDERATE REUNION.
$gi Indications are plentiful that the re-
EF union to be held in New Orleans, May
10, 20, q and %, by the United Conted-
Y crate Veterans will be the most Worthily
memorable event in the history OF the
p organization.
ora milking to
ceiyc the hosts OF eN-Confederates that
will soon converge upon New Orleans
4 from every section Of the Union The
neopIe of this city hope and expect that
{ the grim men in gray who forty years
ago imperiled all for their country-nnd
h regretted not that they impcriled twill
al come, in large number, to this hospitable
Il old city Of ours and receive here the VOL
come and bencdiction of their grateful
countrylncn. Tho date set for the re-
union draws near. We want the veneer
B able and veneratcd heroes-itho thin gray
lSlne that is growing thine" every year-a
to move with martial tread once more
Fl through the streets of the metropolis OF
the South From Louisiana and her
neighborng States of Mississippi Ala
bama Texts and ..Arkansas; from far
away TENNESSEE and Florida: from far
sther away Virginia, the Carolinas Georgia
& kentucky and Maryland, and from the
more distant Northern and Eastern States
Z In which Southerners have, since the war
Il found congenial homes and won enduring
4 reputntion-from every point in the I'M
Ion, we desire that cx-Confederates and
the sons and daughters of ex-Confed-
crates shall come to New Orleans.
THE THINNING LINE.
In the Impressive procession will be
men who represent tho splendid soldlery
of tho South that was ready at the call
of duty-and Is ready still--to fight vail
antly and to die without a murmur. Men
who fought not for fame, not for empire,
not (thank God for money, but for
friends and klnsmen, for home and coun-
try! In rejecting upon what the Con-
federate soldier was, as well as upon
what he did the people Of New Orleans
# have highly resolved that the reunion OF
this year shall be the most interesting,
the most impressive and the most suc-
cessful of all that have been held by
the heroes in gray.
The organization of United Confederate
Il Veterans. has. it is true. reached, if It
has not passed. its zenith. It's meridian
IA splcndor--the force and the fire that once
inhered to it--has waned with the quick
going years. Against it the fierce gales
OF necessity, and the fiercer gales of
time itself, have blown pi,ilessly, Nu-
,nerically, It's power Is necessarily fast
n
us strengthening every hour. The memo
ries awakened by it and tho pride STIR
red by sight OF the Confederate Neter-
ans as they pass in annual review on the
occasion of these reunons-aro forever
consecrated and hallowed in The hearts
of the Southern people
{i5 TIIE PICTURE,
We need not recount all the names on
the sacred list, nor tell the sad, brave
story over IN all Ats desolate grandeur
OF ideal and starving suffering; but the
picture, sketched or finished, Is now. and
VIII always he, mirrored In the eyes OF
every behoIdcr. II 1t Is only for mo-
ment the people Of the South viii, on
these occasions Of Confederate reunion
lift the nobly pathetic picture and reyer-
:, ,ently uncover before IL; for spite the
effac!ng Influence of time, II may never
be forgotten that what William of Or
anges followers were TO Holland, VIA,
the men who fought with Bruce and
Wallace were to Scotland, what Mara
thon's item thousand were to Greece
what, indeed, .Thcrmoplae's three hun
dred" vera 40 Sparta, tho Confederate
Soldiers were, are and Will ber-always-
10 Americans ~ the Southern States.
w 55 OLIR iItEasPONsIBILITY.
iit IT IS to the Confederate sOldier--to hi
h example In courage, In for;itlde, in pa
tience and In the capacity to suffer ant
10 be stil-that the younger generation
al the South owes whatever Is worthy 4
IT'S civilization, This debt may neye
he paid, certainly not, within the life
& time OF the Confederate soldier; but III
heroic sacrifice and the inspiriting ex
H..