The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-04-17

show the current of public sentiment
is the movement on foot in the organ
ization of the associations OF those
who fought in the opposing armies OF
the Civil War In February a meeting
at Southern Pines eliminated in the.
Blue and the Cray A few days. ago
old soldiers from several of the South
ern States met az Atlanta and form,
ed a National Association of the Blue
and the Cray Corporal Tanner was
there. and that rare old fighter joined
with those he ha6 fought before the
war and since. ard aided In unfurhnS
the olive branch of peace Corporal
Tanner, as Major Mckinley did On .
previous visit South. while in Georgia
suffered an old badge of the Confed-
eracy to be pinned on his coat.
A National Association of the Blue
and the Gray was formed at Atlanta
J. S. Carr. North Carolina cavalry
man. who fought as private With
Lee. was made Commander-in-chief Of
the Association A Pennsylvania cap
tain was made Adjutant General a
Georgia Yankee. a soldier who came
from somewhere in the North, and
settled at the Federal soldiers town
OF Fitzgerald, was given another high
Office. A Texas preacher was made
chaplain. The preacher went back
tc his home at Port Arthur, and in
three or four days he wrote to the
adjutant general that the veterans OF
two armies had come forward to the
number of over sixty to organize a
post of the Blue and the Gray down
there on the Gulf coast of Texas.
AL Fitzgerald, Georgia, a post OF
some two hundred members has been
Nr,Nfc- Mo-.
Citations are taking up the work. and
the indications are that the Blue and
the Gray has taken on 4 form of life
that viii endure. Inquiries come from
many places asking for instructions
concerning the organization of the so
ciety. and the enthusiasm that char
acteriZeS the movement is surprising
Down at Atlanta young fellow
one of the later generation than the
one that fought in the war encounter
ed Pennsylvania who had come to
the city with the rest who organized
the association The young man was
a bright fellow and he took a warm
interest in the Pennsylvania soldier
4 am glad to see you. Yank, he said
And ! am glad TO see this day. am
pretty near reconstructed We all are
of my family. but my Aunt Sally. I
wished YOU knew my Aunt Sally. She's
4 fine woman She will stand for
Sheridan and Grant and Lincoln. bur
when it comes to Sherman she's an
unreconstructed rebel
Sherman great as his fame is. Is
remembered along the line of that
march as the man who declared that
war is hell. and carried that particu-
lar form of it from Atlanta to SavaD-
nah. and from Savannah north
through the CarolinaS. The jeSola-
ton that marked the trail of his de-
stroyinG army cannot be forgotten.
while those who suffered from its Wis
itation remain as a part Of the popu-
lation of the affected territory. Aunt
Sally was one of that number.
My Aunt Sally is a fine woman"
said the young chap. land she can
stand for all of the bunch but Sher-
man I said to her one day that Sher-
man only did down here what our
troops did in the North, but Aunt Sal
ly says Sherman killed her hogs
Say, Aunt Sally, didn't Early and
and Lee and the rest of our
leaders overrun Maryland and Ohio
and Pennsylvania, and burn property
and carry away stock Just Ike Sher-
man did down here% But Aunt Sal
" says she don't care What II Lee
y
Stonewall killed somebody's hogs in
1t wasn't my hogs he
killed up there. And that's my Aunt
Sally. She is mighty fine woman
but she isn't reconstructed on Sher-
man.
And l have an idea that Aunt Sally
is one. OF Gods real people. even il
she does cherish some resentment yet
Aunt Sally is a pretty fair illustration
The young man is another. And il
Aunt Sally refuses TO be recoaciled to
Sherman. why. Old Tecumseh has
been SlumberinS peacefully with the
other heroes SO Iocg that he is IN
disturbed. Probably to those she falls
IN with she is as cordial and kindly
at heart as the older generation Of
these Southern people know how to
be, and that is enough. The young
fellow-he knows Of war only from
hearsay. He has no animoSities. He
buys the best cigar in the house for
the Yankee Soldier,and sits down with
the veterans to hear of victories lost
and won from the fellow who was in
arms with the other crowd
The Blue and the Gray organization
is power for good just as far as it
can reach Wherever Blue and
Gray society is organized the veterans
OF two armies give assurance that the
man from any section may look for
a hospitable welcome. Where Union
aud Confederate soldiers fraternize
the war is only memories R B. Glenn,
the present Governor of North Caro-
lima. is a member Of the Southern
Pines post OF the Blue and the Gray
Cen J. S. Carr, comnanderIn-chief