The National tribune., 1906-08-16

meet the comrades in the Encampments
of Tennessee, Georgia and South Caro-
lima, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississip
| pi, Texas, New Mexico. Utah. Nebraska,
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Wiscon-
sin, Michigan, South Dakota and North
| Dakota. Everywhere / went l was
agreeably surprised to find the zeal. in
! terest and intelligent action exhibited.
| In the South 1 found that our COM
rades are we'll to the front in holding
| up the honor and character of the
| Grand Army and commanding to the
great degree they 90 the respect and
esteem of those among whom they re-
side. outside of my own observation
my authority for this statement comes
| from the lips of the citizens In those
various localities. many of whom served
in the Confederate army.
| / have no doubt that any Command
er-in-Chief of the Grand Army cover
| ing the same territory in his official
! travels would be received with great
| courtesy, but one thing l am sure of.
| and that is that it never has been, and
never will be, the fortune of any of my
predecessors or of my successors in this
| position to be received with more uni
versal kindness and courtesy not only
by our comrades, but also by the vet
erans of the Gray, their wives ana
daughters.
| In the city of New Orleans our En-
campment was held just prior to the
| assembling of the National meeting OF
the Confederate Veterans. on the night
| preceding my departure for the Texas
| Encampment l was the guest of honor
| at a dinner given me by leading MEM
| bers of the Confederate organization.
Among those at that dinner was Lieut.
Gen Stephen ID. Lee. Commander-in-
Chief of the Confederate Veterans, who
| gave me a very cordial invitation, and
| indeed urged me to delay, If only for
| the first day of their Encampment, and
| to address their assemblage. / regret
| fully answered him that my duty to our
| comrades, who were about to assemble
in Texas and that alone, prevented me
| from accepting his most courteous in
| vitation.
Immediately following the Texas En-
campment at Dallas, / was rendered a
reception by Sterling Price Camp Of
| Confederate Veterans with all of my
comrades there present included in the
| invitation, and cordially accepting the
compliment, enjoyed most agreeable
evening. They urged me very strongly
to extend my stay over the following
Sunday and to address their citizens on
that day in their cemetery, when they
were going to hold their Memorial Day
services, but again | had to decline the
proffered compliment because my en-
gagements beckoned me ahead.
1t would be manifestly unjust and
indeed impossible for me to undertake
to- discriminate among the Encamp-
ments l attended, even If / had any dis
position to gauge the degrees of their
hospitality 1t was a soldiers welcome
to a comrade with a generous rivalry
as to which could do the most to testify
the pleasure they felt.
While the limit of my possibilities of
attending Encampments was to be
reached at Bismarck, n. D., on the 9th
of June, there had come to me various
earnest letters from Montana. from
Idaho, Washington and Oregon, saying
that while they recognized, owing to the
conjunction of dates, that it would be
impossible for me to attend their En-
campments, they begged to call my at
tention to their claim, which | think is
a true one, that there are more veterans
of the civil war in the Northwest who
are outside of the membership of our
Order than in any other section of the
country, and that if L would only grant
them some time and come among them
and, as they expressed 1t. "hit the high
places" they would show me some
great gatherings of veterans at which |
they thought the presence of the Com |
mander-in-Chief could but be a benefit
to the Order at large. So dates were
fixed and engagements made to visit
our comrades at Helena, Butte, Coeur
d'Alene, Spokane, Tacoma, Seattle, Van
couver and Portland.
Death Of Mrs. Tanner.
1t was a beautiful morning on that
Goth of June when we landed on the |
platform at Helana. Ny impaired phys-l
ical condition making it absolutely
necessary that I should have some arm
always in touch, my wife had elected
to be that one, and had accompanied
me on all my journeyings. From BoZe- |
man, from Anaconda, from Butte, from
over the mountains and out of the
mountain sides the comrades had gath
cred to welcome US in the full measure
Of their splendid hospitality. They had
made large plans for our entertainment. !
You know what occurred. We toured
the city and its vicinity in most con-
genial company. A bright sky over
head, magnificent scenery greeting the i
eye at every point, accompanied by her
who 40 years before had joined her life |
to mine, and who in all those 40 years
had been such a guide and counselor
as few men have been blessed with, |
she, in the calm serenity of the Indian |
Summer of her life, radiant in health J
and spirits, every bit as fair to my old
eyes in her crown of whitened hair as
she had looked on our wedding morn in |
her raven tresses-what wonder the
world looked fair and radiant to me |
one instant. Then the fatal crash-as |
out of the sky leaped the Angel of
Death, and in a few moments 1 realized |
that my individual world lay in wreck |
and ruin, not equaled by that which |
crushed me at Bull Run. 1t was a great |
soul that passed to God that afternoon.
True to her own heroic self, mortally |
wounded though she was, the first |
thoughts in her heart, the first cry from |
her lips was, not of herself, but found |
expression in the words, "Are you
hurt?'
God was merciful in the end, and |
without SO very much physical pain her
soul was released. Then there came to |
me a knowledge impossible for one to |
obtain under less agonizing circum-
stances of the full measure of comrade- |
ship. God grant that none of you may |
ever come to the realization of it ex-
cept from speculative imagination. No
pressing the debt of obligation 1 feel |
towards the great and sympathetic |
hearts that gathered around me in those |
awful hours, when the world seemed |
rocking under me, for the countless
kindnesses which to some degree |
frightened the gloom of the journey of
that terrible Homecoming; my pulsing |
heart is unable to throb a sufficiency of |
thanks.
Over the casket containing her NOR
tai remains the comrades cf Montana
had tenderly placed the Stars and
Stripes she loved so we'll, and for the |
honor of which she had labored SO