Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-10-03
VETERANS OF
THE LOST CAUSE"
Visit of General Afford Brings
Out the Fact That Salt Lake
Has Several of Them
TELL SOME GOOD STORIES.
General Afford Was Here in the Fiji.
ties When He Met Prcst. Young
Had the God Fever.

General George +, Afford of Dallas,
Texas, who is in Salt Lake for the
| purpose Of organizing a camp of Unit
| ed Confederate Veterans, was met In
| the Office OF Gen. #. =. Steffey in the
Keith building this morning by rep
| resentative Of the News" This Is not
Gen. Affords first visit TO this city, in
asmuch as he came here first on July
10, 1850, on his way to the California
| gold excitement, whore he spent six
| years.
During his first visit here he re-
| manned two weeks and met and talked
| with Brigham Young, with whose
| strong personality he was at that early
! day much impressed.
He has just come from Seattle.
| where he attended the Trans Mississippi
! pi congress, to which he was a delegate
ana where he made speech which was
received with general favor. While
there he met Senator Reed Smoot and
Apostle John Henry Smith. 1t was at
Senator Shoots request that his time
was extended when he delivered his
speech before the congrss. While here
he Is the guest of Gen. Steffey at his
residence, 54S north Second West
street where he viii he pleased to re-
ceive any callers
Gen. Afford served all through the
war and was with Gems, Magruder,
Kirby Smith and other noted confcder-
ate generals west Of the Mississippi. He
escaped the Yankee bullets though
and told good story about himself in
this connection. After the war he
was visiting Jef, Davis at Beauvoir,
Miss, where he met Senator Proctor Of
Vermont and other gentlemen who
were visiting Mr. Davis, During the
conversation Mr.. Davis slapped Gen,
Afford on tho leg and said; General
do you know the reason why I promot-
ed you so frequently beginning with
captain and ending with general?'
mo said Gen. Afford, Il do not"
We'll" said Nh Davis u noticed
that YOU had a peculiar faculty,
amounting almost TO genius for sonte-
how avoiding those Yankee bullets and
thought an officer who could do that,
might save his command from them
and that's the reason
j. Van Meter also a veteran and
who has resided so long In Salt Lake
that his friends say he resembles n
Mormon" Bishop and Is frequently
taken for one, was present and told
good story about the late Henry Ward
Beecher to whom and to whose inllu-
ence while I'm England they all agreed
was largely due the fact that the
British government did not recognize
the confederacy. While addressing q
large audience In Manchester which
was very unsympathetic, some one
called out
"Why didn't you lick the rebels In
GO days as you said you wouldY
Mr.. Beecher quickly replied: well.
we would have done so II they had been
British soldiers"
It Is estimated that there are possl-
bly, 100 -confederates living in and
around Salt Lake, Prominent among
them is Gen. George Wilkes, whom
everybody here recognizes ms Mai
wilkes, a well known mining and civil
engineer, and son of Commodore
Wilkes, who captured Mason & Slidell
He served with Gen. Longstreet and
was also with Lee and Joe Johnston
Gen, r. p Steifey Is another, He was
a student in the Virginia Military In
sttute at Lexington, Va, at the out
break of the war and witnessed the
hanging OF John Brown,
Jonathan G. Royle Is another, who
was advocate general under Cen
Price. Judge w. c. Hall also served
with distinction. Capt, Thomas W.
Kerrigan is another and Judge Henry
Rives, Milo -. Clark, J. ID. Lewis, SAM
uel II. Lewis, Col. A. c. Ellis and N.
b. Rigins, whose father was mayor OF
Waco. Tex, are among the others who
have been met.
There IS no doubt that Cen Afford
will succeed in organizing his assocla-
tion, nor that IL will prove successful
and beneficial to the grizzled old vet
Grams Of the lost cause" all of whom
are now just as enthusiastic Americans
as We're those who fought under the
Stars and Stripes