Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1905-05-03

resources ia men and means apparent
" exhausted and Southern ports
~blockaded, but devotion and patriot.
ism triumphed over all these obstacles
and their valor was again illustrated
on numerous battleields and inflicted
crushing defeats on successive armies
each Of which arrogant foe fondly
imagined to be invincible. It was not
until the closing scenes Of 1854 that
the unwavering confidence of the Con-
federates was shaken. "Sherman's
march to the sea" had completed the
success of devastation. The whole
country was laid waste. Mills were
burned, factories demolished, barns
filed with grain were given to flames,
private residences and beautiful pub.
rio buildings were burned to the
ground, growing crops and every
prospect of comfort and living were
destroyed, and the once prosperous
and abundant South was now reduced
to astate of desolation, sorrow and be-
reavedment,
Leaving the cenes of battle and car
mage for a while we 90 to the homes of
these loyal soldiers, who had left
wives, children, mothers and sisters,
unprotected only by those faithful
slaves, who would have fought and
died to protect their helpless charges,
and for four years with ~uqceasing
fidelity they worked, cared for and
watched over them with the tenderness
born of the closest ties and the highest
sense Of chivalry. Words fail to as
cribe the honor and praise due these
noble, patriotic Southern women who
had been reared in the lap of luxury
and ahuence, unaccustomed to the
slightest toll or hardship. Now with
accomplishing oheerfulness we find
them turning the spindle wheel until
those slender, delicate hands are bis
tered, or standing before cumbersome
looms, learning the intricate process
of cloth making. The great armies
for the most part depended upon these
delicate hands for clothing. Neither
were the little girls or young ladies at
school idle. When seer upon the play
grounds OF in recreation rooms they
were d~exterously plying the knitting
needles, each priding herself upon the
number of pairs Of socks TO be sent to
that much beloved and honored army
of the Confederacy. With marvellous
skill becoming attire, a variety Of hats,
shoes, and all those little articles of
personal adornment so dear to femin-
inc hearts were contrived out of
"nothing" with the utmost ingenuity.
The kindly presence of Southern
ladies IN hospitals will ever De held in
sacred memory byremaining veterans.
Her benign nature ever ready 70
soothe and alleviate the su1erings of
friend or foe, her own needs stinted
to provide delicacies for the sick and
wounded, reading and writing letters,
giving cheerful and comforting words
to the Responding or sending dying
messages to dear distant mothers and
wives. Such was the daily occupation
Of these noble Southern women. Dur
ing these troublesome times love and
cOurtship was not forgot, aBda tails
man given ct parting, 3 ring, q lock Of
hair, o. the picture Of some sweet girl
ish face did more to strengthen and
revive the weary soldier and languish-
ing prisoner than anything else could
have done, and many little love tokens,
such IS gutta percha rings, neatly en-
belished with silver hearts, found their
way out Of gloomy prisons to fair
hands, plighting the troths Of many a
lovely Southern girl to her ardent and
patriotic lover.
The larders Of Southern households
we're now well nigh exhausted, and Il
was pathetic to see how the faithful
old mammies contrived to reDlenish
these necessities, Substituting parch-
ed rye and dried sweet potatoes for
coffee, and digging up dirt Of the old
smoke house, which had received the
drippings Of that abundant store Of
hams and middlings for years, and BY
3 mysterious process converting It
into 8 "primeu quality Of salt, and
many times her white folk'sy table
vas spread with unusal ~delicacies, the
result Of "mammies" foraging visits
to the camps Of her Nothern friends.
The Southern armies were now re-
duced 10 abject starvation aud want,
and cut of from ell aid and ~sustenance
the C~onfederacy, like 8 wearied gladia-
tor, whose spirit was invincible, Teel-
ed under the exhaustion and finally
succummed to an enemy inexhausli-
bic IN strength and reinforced by the
world, was no testimony against the
valor or the skin with which her strug-
gle was directed.
The sons and daughters Of the South
have exhibited heroIsm SO sublime as
10 render her illustrious ii al time to
come. and the achievements OF South
ern genius and valor is &c radiant as
ever ahone upon the blazing crest Of
"MAM