The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-27

 airy unequaled. marched away never to return. Such was the patriotism and grandeur of our glorious soldiery. tna' if having discharged their duties falth- fully they were called lied upon % to s,upSn d,s npSn at all 1t was to the effect that they were satisfied with having had the priv iege of lighting and dying for homes and .sg An Alabama Hero.
 At the terrific battle of Cold Harbor. June 27. 1882, William Robinson of com pany E. a color guard, of the 18th Ala bama Regiment. was shot with an ounce ball through the Iungs. After having returninR sn ,9e across ee tse Sasietsid which we had won late at night. and l came upon my friend. The blood and last breath ing were bubbling through the horrible solS rhe eh ssa of death was wss eU upon h and wrapped him in an = cloth. the only covering had and then he said. How did the battle go?" I replied, I've sass MSrs, @sr. sSroIs de coad Roman or Spartan courage or sacrifice of any man excel this7 He was a hero in battIe. A patriot in death.
 Such cr,na s ssoaiery as the ousn orlS hsd hc !, has feit the impulses of true patriot. and true soldier. Shall we ever forget them? Nay! verify. True. their happy and buoyant voices, as we heard them seem to grow fainter and fainter in the distance. as the years roll away, but their memories shall be perpetuated while men. are brave and women are faithful. 1T this shall be said of the men what shall be said of the women who. 10 the wonder of the world, discharged the du- ties to country which 1t was thought they. never could discharge, and sat by the fireside and stood by the door watch- ing for loved ones who should ne'er re- turn.
 Pardon me. my. countrymen. If I fall to answer the question. The thought, the language of which I am master, fs not equal to the task. leave 1t to the tongues of those more eloquent than myself, but this I say in conclusion, that while I live. the memory of these men sweet song in the heart of one who knew them.
 The Southern heart was fired. It was Grande. Eyerywhere Southern hearts were swelling with patriotic emotions. anticipating bloody struggle which should follow secession. South Carolina had seeded, A South Carolina boy, then behalf of Dixie. That boy is today a dis tinguished though humble minister of the gospel of peace. I have the pleasure invoke the blessings of the Good FstS. O. F. Gregory.
 Dr. Gregory's Prayer. Dr. Gregory was greeted with a burst of applause as he stepped for ward to offer up his prayer. He offered an eloquent prayer to God "who had been, the support and the sustenance of the Confederate soldier in his per- ills and his danger and upon whom the Confederate soldier had leaned in the time of his greatest need" He of fered thanks for the goodly heritage which had come down from the Con- federate soldier to his descendants. He prayed for the noble, generous women who had ministered to the soldiers oi the South in the field and in the hos pital, and who to this day bore testi- mony of their love for the men who for the right dared to do or die. He prayed that ''our hearts may be their cenotaphs on which shall be engraved the memories of their virtues and their charity and that 1t might be told tc the generations to come who might bt worthy of the heritage" ka
 Led by the Confederate veterans. all on the stand sang an adapted version of "Auld Lang Syne." The many earn. est voices merged into a swelling cho. rus which stirred the hearts of the most indifferent
 The words of the song were as fol- lows: ., we've passed through many varied
 scenes.
 Since that day long ago,
 We bade adieu to home, sweet home,
 And wives and sweethearts, too. With hearts for any fate we went
 To battle for the right,
 Where dear old friends passed swift
 away,
 In many a bloody 6ght.
 There we have met. here we may
 part,
 To meet on earth no more, And we may never see again
 Faces so dear in yore.
 We may not meet to join again,
 Tn song and rebel yell.
 And when we come to say goodbye, T may be a last farewell"
 In a few well chosen words Judge Carmichael introduced the recitationist of the occasion. Miss Kettle May Ora. ham. He spoke of her as decended from an old Scotch family which settled many years ago in North Carolina. tho mem bers of which have distinguished them. selves in war and in peace, as soldiers and jurists.
 There will stand before you" said Judge Carmichael. 'in a moment a beau- tiful flower from the Garden Graham who will entertain you with a recital of the poem composed by the late Judge Alexander B. Clitherall distinguished man of his day and generation The latter portion of the poem has been so amended by Mrs. I. M. P. Ockenden, herself a poetess and a writer of we'll known and recognized ability, so as to give 1t application to the living as well as the dead.''
 Miss Graham proved herself an attrac- tive and graceful recitationist. She showed dramatic understanding of the possibilities of her poem She secured at the outset the attention Of her auditors and kept it throughout.
 The poem recited by Miss Graham was:
 The Dead of Alabama. From the balmy Gulf of Mexico, to the
 rolling Tennessee. t3~
 And from red chattahoochee to the
 placid Tombeckbee.
 From mountain top and prairie, from
 city, town and vale,
 And from each bereaved household, is
 heard a solemn wall.
 For the dead of Alabama, who their
 sacred blood have poured.
 Who have fallen by the cannon, the
 rife and the sword;
 Who have given up their hearts blood
 like water in the strife,
 Who counted Independence a greater
 boon than life.