The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-27
OWEN AT orELIKA.
Address on Occasion of Memorial
 Day Is EIoouent.


 Day is Eloquent. E Opelika, April 26-tSpeciaL) )--Memoriai Day was duly observed In Opeiika today. The banks and schools were all closed. business suspended and our people turned out en masse to pay honor to our gallant dead
 Hon. Thomas M. Owen of Montgomery. State Historian. was the orator of the day and delivered a most .instructive in- reresting and eloquent address, The ora tor was introduced by Hon. J. K. Wat kins of opelika in a few appropriate re- marks: s-oEs sA@
 Mir. Owen stated in his introduction that he would depart from the usual form of memorial address and would de- vote himself to a recital of the history of the State of Alabama. during the trag- ic years from 1861, to 1865.
 With brief account of the precipita- ton of the conflict, he narrated the events, which made the annals of the State glorious. beginning with the seces- sion of the State, January il. 1881. He gave a sketch of the administrations of Governors Moore. Shorter and Watts. vividly portraying. in chronological orr der the many important matters con fronting these trusted leaders He also told of the engagements which took place on Alabama soil. beginning with the invasion of the Tennessee Valley and ending with the operations on the Chat tahoochee in East Alabama. the very last of the war The Mobile Bay cam paigns were vividly depleted.
 Following the estimates made in 1865 by those who were fully informed. Mir. Owen stated. In reference to the Important sub ject of the numbers enlisted from the State in the war that the number of soi- .lx s~~ the war is estimated at 122.oo0 of a total white population of 526,2n in 1860 Of these, at least s5.oOo are believed to have lost their lives, while a large number were permanently disabled by wounds. !
 There was no important battle east of the Mississippi River, in which its troops did not perform an honorable part and some of the most brilliant Confederate general officers were Alabamians. either by birth or adoption. y@- -f
 Mir. Owen then read the following ex- tract from the report dated December A 1865. made by Col William H. Fowler. State Superintendent of Army Records to Provisional Governor Lewis E. Parsons:
 "I assert. with confidence. that Ala bama sent more troops into the service in proportion to population than any other State of the South, and that her loss was heavier than any other, ire spective of population.
 T am certain, too. that when General Lee surrendered his army, the represen- tation from Alabama. on the field that day, was inferior to no other Southern State in members. and surely not in gal- lantry."'o
 In conclusion. Mir. Owen appealed to the various veteran organizations in behalf of the great interest in the preservation, in accurate and truthful form, of the his- tory of the greatest struggle, in all its aspects. ever known to man. Vicious and prejudiced literature. whether talk ing the form of general historical works. or school histories. or. historical fiction. should be prescribed. and the same cour- ageous spirit in the treatment of the history of the war should obtain as per- vaded the hosts who fought the battles. "we do not want prejduced books" he exclaimed ''and we must be careful that, in our own care for this history, we are not the victims of the prejudiees we de- plore.' A .ts
 The speaker then closed with a mes sage of cheer to the survivors of the Grey host. pIedging them. that the gen. eratlons yet to come would be true to their memory and to the memory of that cause for which they toiled and suf- fered.
 The eloquent orator was frequently in- terrupted with applause and his scholor- ly and historical address was listened to with the deepest attention and produced a profound i'm Sression on his audience.
 After the address the people. went cn masse to the cemetery and the graves of the dead heroes were beautifully deco rated. Tn conclusion. the Lee Light In- fantry fired the customary salute over the graves of those sleeping on fame's eternal ca inning ground" =