The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-21
CADETS OF LA GRANGE
REUNION or STUDENTS or FAMOUS
 COLLEGE.
pr. John A. wyeth the Central Figure. Meet at Site of Famous School Destroyed by Federal
 Soldiers.

Destroyed by Fe0ernh Soldiers.
 
 Tuscumbia. May 2o.-tspecihl.) .)--It was interesting and pathetic to wit ness the meeting of the surviving ca- dets of old La Grange College in this city. Forty years had elapsed since many of them had looked upon the faces of their school mates and war comrades. and the whitened hair and furrowed brow could not be associated with the rosy-cheeked, sunny-haired lads who, from 1857 to 1881, made the old college grounds verberate and re- verberate with their college yeIls. It was no wonder then, that the meeting of these old veterans, on the occasion of their first reunion, in Tuscumbia. Wednesday. and Thursday at La- Grange, was fraught with so much pleasure and interest, and brought
 back a flood of memories precious and
 undying. Their warm hand-ciasps and tender embraces were in the nature of things, and the tears which flowed un- bidden and bedewed the grizzied cheek. caused no surprise.
 | When the war broke out in 1861, La Grange College. known as LaGrange Military Academy, was one of the most prosperous and popular institutions of learning in the State. Its roster em- | DraceQ SLuuentS rom III portions or Alabama and adjoining States, the flower of Dixie Land. and It's useful ness and prestige had been we'll and | thoroughly established. Hundreds of boys fondly looked forward to the l time when they could call it their ai- mer mater. as many before them had done. but the tocsin of war sounded. and with the warm blood of the Southerner coursing their veins, they | lAt kLAf~ l in defense of home and fireside. and soon were scattered. some to die on the battlefield the victorious death of a. Confederate soldier. others to sur vive the bullets and pestilence of war, | and to build for the future. We'll and nob1y have many of them done. They | represent all that Is best and good in
 their respective homes and communi- l ties, some having outstripped others | in the business and professional world yet all prosperous and seemingly hap py and contented.
 Every incoming train to Tuscumbia yesterday brought contingent of sur vivors. from all parts of the country. | They were met at the station by a committee and escorted to the Parshall | House. where the day was spent in charming intercourse and happy rem | iniscence of school days, and the four years of service in the Confederate
 army. Yesterday morning carriages l conveyed them to LaGrange ten miles
 east of Tuscumbia, where the hours of | their stay were one continuous round
 of pleasure and revelation. and where | more than four decades ago they learn ed their first and last lesson within the | four walls of a school-room, and scam- pered and rollicked on the campus and l over the mountains of this beautiful | and picturesque spot. Hundreds of the | friends and relatives of the cadets of
 the old college were also present, with
 well-filled baskets representing a feast
 of good things, and altogether 1t was | a memorable occasion. Congressman
 Richardson of this congressional dis
 trict, delivered a most eloquent and appropriate address, his remarks fre- | quently touching the tender chords and | digging up the fountains in the bos- onps of the old battle-scarred veterans, | from which rushed the binding tears, | and revived memories sweet and joy l ous, and sorrowful and sad.
 Others made feeling remarks, and | the day so repfete and complete soon waned, the party returning to Tuscum- bia, many leaving during the night for I their homes, carrying with them re- membranes of the long ago freshened
 and ennobled by a visit to the old scenes and a contact with their boy | hood friends and associates.
 Dr. John A. Wyeth of New York city one of the most notable and suc- cessful surgeons of the present time,
 was the central figure in the movement | bringing about a reunion, and 1t was | largely and principally through his eff | forts and continued interest that the | occasion was such a pronounced suc- cess. He wrote many letters to his old comrades, and received replies in near 1 ly every instance. These were read in
 the hearing of those present. Of a hun
 dred or more of the surviving cadets there were twenty-six present, 1t being | impossible for many to reach here. Dr. Wyeth took record of every living ca det of the school, and it is understood, purposes compiling a history of the college. with biographical sketches. It
 is also learned that an effort will be
 made to have reunions regularly at stated times in the future.
 There Is now pending bill before
 Congress for an appropriation for the
 rebuilding of the college. which was
 destroyed by fire during General
 Dodges raid through this section dur
 ing the war. Dr. Wyeth stated that
 he had received a letter from the Fed
 eral general in which he said he would |
 do anything in his power to assist in |
 the passage of the bill. It has been |
 generally accepted as true that the |
 college was burned at the behest of |
 Dodge, but Dr, Wyeth states that such |
 was not the case. The general had giv- |
 en orders that all contraband of war
 should be destroyed, but that he con-
 demned the use of the torch, and ls-
 sued an order. after the burning of the |
 college buildings, that the soldier or
 soldiers henceforth guilty of incendia-
 rism would be summarily shot. The |
 destruction of the college entailed a |
 loss of several thousand dollars, and I
 though situated in one of the most |