The Savannah morning news., 1904-05-15

sword, and this is true. The mission
of the sword is to STAY; that Of the
pen to save" Now. after making the
misquotation. the preacher says: 1t is
true" that the pen is mightier than the
sword. And yet no pen was suincl-
emily mighty in 1861 to avert the
sword of the Civil War; nor could any
pen avert the sword of the present
Japan Russian war. The sword is
Gods chosen instrument to be used
when their pen fails, as fail II does
times without number. AS 10 the mu-
tilated quotation so often used, what
Bulwer did say was this: Beneath
the rule of men entirely great, the
pen is mightier than the sword. I'm
fortunately, however, men entirely
great" are very very scarce, as was
the case in 1851, and so the sword
holds, and ever will hold, in my hum
BILE opinion, the supremacy. For ages
past it has done Gods service the
world over and opened up new fields
of Christian endeavor; and therefore,
Sword of the free,
Wen cherish thee,
And keep thee bright forever.
The Jacksonville Metropolis says
that was a noble act of Gen. j. c.
Black, ommander-in-chief of the
Grand Army of the Republic, to dec
crate the grave of Gen. John B. Cor
don in Atlanta" 1t should be borne
in mind that Gen. Gordon and Gen.
Black were old and devoted friends,
and among the first kilograms of con-
graduation received by Gen. Black
when elected to his present high office,
was one from Cen Gordon. The Blue
and the Gray have as dear and tender
ff-iandChiaC he n
class. 1 never had dearer or more
esteemed friends than Gen. Gordon
and Gen. Joe Wheeler, and life would
indeed be a burden to me if l were to
lose a score or two of the Confederate
friends among whom I have lived so
pleasantly since 1869. Gen. Gordon and
Cen Wheeler were always given the
most cordial welcome by the Grand
Army Posts wherever they went up
North or out West, and one post in
New Jersey tried to make Gen. Joseph
E. Johnston an honorary member,
but there was found to be no provision
for any such membership. The gall
liant old Third Georgia Regiment Sur
vivors Association made me an hon
orary member, and 1 am proud of the
honor.
Here is another case of casting
bread upon the waters" and finding it
after many days" We educated a lot
of Japanese cadets at our Naval Acad-
emy and some of them have been dis
tinguished officers in the navy of ia
pan, navy that is just now winning
the applause of the world for it's sue
cessful contests with the navy of Rus
STA. So excellent was our naval edu-
cation of these officers, who were
young men of fine qualities, that they
have displayed remarkable skill in their
movements. President Roosevelt,
therefore, is anxious for our naval Off
GERS to catch on" to all the best
points in the Japan naval service, in
which he shows good sense. 1 have
often stated that no country on earth
has better military and naval acad-
emies than the United States. When
d cadet leaves West Point, If he is a
manly man." he is the superior of a
similar cadet from any foreign mill
tary academy. And the same is true
of a like midshipman from our Naval
Academy. Under Gen. Mills at West
Point and Capt. Brownson at Annap-
oils, our academies have reached the
high water mark of excellence.
Leslie's Weekly asks if Intelligence
in a soldier counts?" Well, taking the
American soldier as a guide, we should
not hesitate to declare that it counts
very high. No armies in the world S
history compared with the Union and
Confederate armies of 1861, nor with
the present United States Army. But
intelligence" does not mean educa-
ton. Some of the greatest generals
Qike Forrest and Logan), on both sides
in the Civil War, were not educated in
military science, but they had an in
fnl of bof nd a
commanding officer should be, and
they were that" The soldiers in our
armies have always been intelligent,
if not educated. 1t was lie ;ntelli-
gence and not education of the famous
Minute Men" of Concord and Lex
ington that "f1red the shot heard round
the world" and gave notice that new
born republic was struggling for lib
erty and independence. Are brains
worth anything in an army?" asks Les
lies Weekly. The multiplication of
schools for officers and men in our
army indicates a desire to make brains
an important feature in the soldier s
fitness for duty in camp or field. All
kinds of military publications are now
at his service.
The recent death in Halifax, N. s.,
of Richard Fielder Armstrong, of Ma
con, Ga. leaves only one or two,
think, survivors of the gallant officers
and men of the Inflated Confederate
steamer Alabama. Raphael Semmes
was captain; John Mcintosh Kell, first
lieutenant, and executive officer; and
Richard Fielder Armstrong, second
lieutenant. Surgeon Francis L. Gait,
who was paroled with other naval Off
GERS by the provost marshal of Gen.
Lees army. was living in the mountain
region of Virginia, a few years ago,
and Caot. A. F. Marmelstein resides
in Savannah. There may be others liv-
ing, but L can not locate or name them
Lieut.. Armstrong was not, as stated,
a graduate of the Naval Academy, nor
did he ever serve in the United States
Navy. He entered the academy at
Annapolis, Md. in 1857, but resigned
to enter the Confederate Navy, which
he did as a midshipman on April 10,
1861. He was promoted to be a mas
ter on Sept. "a. same year. and lieu
tenant on Feb. 8. 1862, the same day
that Second Lieutenant George A. Bor-
ebert of Savannah was made a first
ia,1f xkae ',