The Savannah morning news., 1903-12-20

should as far as possible, keep in
his office a record of every Confederate
soldier, and his widow, if he be dead,
as no other person is better situated
to do this important work. Maj. Mark
Newman of Sandersville, the model or
binary of Washington county, who
was as brave a soldier as he is faith
full public official, has kept such a
book in his Office for the past ten years,
and it has proven a great blessing to
old widows whose husbands war rec
ordS were unknown to them. AS q
+, labor of love Maj. Newman has done
! this laborious work, and he can give
| the record of every Confederate SOL
| der from Washington county at a
! moments notice. And his rolls cover
| the famous Joe Brown militia" to
/ whose efficient services l have fire.
quently referred in these letters. Mai.
) Newman has won the love and respect
| of the people of his county by his long
and unselfish labors for the old Con-
federates and their families. His no
| BILE example should be followed by 9TH
er ordinaries.
Three distinguished men have had
| their dead bodies cremated recently.
| They were ex-PostmaSter General Will
son s. Bissell of Buffalo. N. Y, and
, Rear Admiral l.. A. Beardslee, U. s..
] N, and Herbert Spencer, the famous
| English author. In these modern times
| there are crematories of the most aD-
| proved pattern in which this cremation
| ceremony is duly performed. But in
| the early history of this country there
| were no such facilities, and the manner
| of cremation was varied. Hon. Henry
Laurens of South Carolina. father of
| the famous Col. John Laurens, was a
| very distinguished man in his day, but
| when he died. in 1892, he left in his
will the following order for the unos-
tentatious cremation of his body: 81
solemnly enjoin it on my son, as an
Indispensable duty, that as soon as he
conveniently can after my decease, he
cause my body to be wrapped in twelve
yards of tow-cloth, and burnt until ii
| be entirely consumed, and deposit the
bones wherever he may think proper.
| In most cases the word "ashes" is used
instead of "bones." as in the modern
crematory there is nothing but ashes.
The assertion that 'I was there can
not always be taken as a guarantee
that a contentious man Is correct in
his statements. A person can be thar
and yet not know of all that trans
pires. Sometimes major general is
liable to know as much about what
| transpires as a self-conceited major.
AS TO where eand how Brig. Gen. Rob-
| ert S. Garnett. C. S. A., was killed
and in regard to the ten soldiers let
Mai, Gen. William b. Taliaferro. c..
s. A., of Virginia, who was colonel OF
the Twenty third Virginia Regiment,
hear testimony. He was next in COM
mand under Gen. Garnett, and 1t is
presumed that he must have known
| what the troops of the brigade were
1 doing around Carrick's Ford and in
| that vicinity. ] quote from his official
report, made as colonel commanding,
| the Twenty-third Virginia, which shows
| that Gen. Garnett had a detail of ten
soldiers and that he was not killed at
| Carricks Ford:
80 "This system of retiring
upon eligible positions for defense adj
1 mirably selected by Capt. Corley, adj
| iutant general to Gen. Garrett, was
| pursued without loss on either side, a
| few random shots only reaching us,
until we reached Carricks Ford, three
| and a half miles from Kaler's. This Is
| a deep ford, rendered deeper than us
| ual by the rains, and here some OF
1 the wagons became stalled In the
river and had to be abandoned.
After continuing the fight until
( nearly every cartridge had been ex-
/ pended and until the artillery had
/ been withdrawn by Gen. Garnetts or
/ ders, and as no part OF his command
was within sight or supporting disc
+ lance. as FAR as ! could discover, nor,
~ 1 Afterwards aseertaiped, within
/ four miles Of me. ! ordered the regi-
1 nlent to retire. was Induced, moF