The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1903-03-25
BILL ARR WRITES HISTORY
For the Benefits OF the Young People
OF the Country.

! people in The countrg towns nave
schools to go to, but they lack books
readin. books. cyclopedias. biogra-
phicS. and if | was as rich as Carnegie
! would plan a library of such books
/ in every community. | would have a
million sets of some standard cyclope-
dia printed for every school, even Ii
they cost fifty million dollars. That
would diMuSe knowledge among the
Young people and do mole good than
all he is doing in the big cities. But
| what We most need in the South are
historical books that will be standard
with us and relate the truth ABOUT
the South and secession and the Con-
federacy and slavery and the war ana
reconstruction. ! had cyclopedla
that gave a whole column of apology
for old John Brown and the pcolsree
of every Northern race horse, ana no
mention of John s. Gordon or Forress
or any of eur Southern poets or
authors or orators l snapped IL OIL
at half price for the lntefhaIloliai os
Dodd, Meade & Co. The tributes IN
that, work to Or. Davis and Lee ana
jackson are all that could be desired
and more than was expected.
| wonder what has become OF that
great Southern publishing house that
was projected in Atlanta some time
AFRO. That is what we want and must
have to perpetuatc Southern history
and defend our fathers and grand
fathers from the SANDERS OF Northern
foes. 1t is Northern histories. North
ern novels and Northern plays that
have already poisoned the minds OF
thousands Of our young people. Only
yesterday I glanced at q serial story
IN al Atlata paper and the first thing
| saw was verse which read:
John Browns body lies mouldering in
the ground,
But his soul keeps marching on"
In a Missouri paper ] saw where a
Yankee troupe were playing Uncle
| Toms Cabin And now a fool fel-
low from Wisconsin wants to get our
Governors TO appoint delegates to a
convention in Atlanta to determine
the race problem, and it is said that
that man Spooner is at the bottom OF
it to get up a Presidential boom for
himself. l suspected there was d
niggor in the woodpile, for these
Northern politicians never 90 any
thing from patriotic, unSelish mo-
tives. Hanna's scheme fell through
and Spooner thought he could patch
it up. But the South never was more
aroused and united on the negro Ques-
ton and will resent all interference,
whether it comes from Washington OF
Wisconsin. Wisconsin. What impu-
dence! A State whose foreign popula-
tion is 81 per cent. Of the whole, anc
of these there are $4,000 who can't
speak English, and only $50 negroes
in the State and three times as many
Indians. What does Wisconsin know
or care about our race problem:
In the last few days | have received
three letters from young people want
ing 70 know something about the Con-
federate flags, what were the designs
and who designed them. l wish that
| could sketch them and paint them
in this letter. but all can do is to de-
scribe them and give their history.
There were four in all, but only two
lived to see the end at Appomattox.
No. |, or the STARS and Bars, "
was adopted by the Confederate Con-
gress at Montgomery. Its stars were
on a blue field and its red and white
bars made it look somewhat like the
Stars and Stripes, and sometimes was
mistaken tor the United States flag
and so General Beauregard designed.
No. 2, The Battle Flag" and
General Joe E. Johnson adopted it,
and it was never changed. 1t was a
blue cross, or rather an y studded
with stars and set on a red field.
No. 3. In May, 1863, the Confedef,
ate Congress adopted national flag.
1t was a miniature battle flag set on
a white field that had a white border
at the side and at the bottom. But
it proved to be mistake, for it had
too much white and afar off was mis-
taken for flag Of truce.
And SO on March, 1865, Congress.
adopted No. / as the national flag
This had the same battle flag on a
blue field, but the white border was
smaller and red one put on the out
side Of that. This flag did not wave
very long, only about month, but
nevertheless it remains as the nation
al flag of the Confederate States.
But the dear old battle flag No. >
was the lighting banner Of every com
paw. Our wives and our daughters
made them for the boys in gray, and
many of then were smuggled back
home again after the surrender and
still kept as household treasures. Our
boys, the Rome Light Guards. had
one, and one night the young people
gave tableaux performance in the
city hall to raise a little money to put
some benches in the deSecfaLeu
churches, for all the pewS had been
taken out and converted into horse
troughs for the staff horses. One
scene in the tableauX represented a
battle field where women were minis
tering to the wounded and the dying,
and one dying soldier, the ensign, had
this old tattered and war-stained flag
grasped in his hand just as he held 1t
when he fell.
The Spanish comnandant of the
post was there with his wife, and
when he discovered the flag, got furl-
ously mad He jumped up on his
seat and yelled: Take dat ting away.
dat is treaSon-dat is an insult to me
and de United States. send for my
soldiers ard | arrest the whole party
He ran wildly down the stairs and
! orrDcc tho CT root ~ his UI13rtprS and