The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-03-06
Old Flag, Captured at
Fort Macon Returned.
SCENE IN THE SENATE
FLAG Presented by Chief Justice Doug
lass, Received by Chief Justice
Clark, Lieutenant Sanders and
DR.. Dixon. A Delightful
BANQUET Served.
From News ana Observer. March 3rd)

From News and Observer. March 3rd)
The exercises yesterday morning
marking the return Of a flag captured
at the fall Of Fort Macon from Com
panv H. Tenth North Carolina troops.
by Company Z Of the Fifth Rhode
Island Artillery, then a battalion. We're
impressive. beautiful and significant.
The scene and the actors were well
chosen. N one was the Senat cham
Der. historic of change. travail, en-
~lightenment in itself it is physically
the storage Dom of the hopes, despair.
determination and, again, the hope Of a
brave people. 1t is in a very real sense
the symbol Of the ~permanence of the
state. the assurance Of loyalty and OF
faith. Under its vaulted ceiling thee
IS a pervading sense Of importance ana
Of responsibility. An occasion in such
a place win q dignity beyond itself.
When the occasion and the place are
alike significant. the result is at once
portentous and impressive.
To return u flag. emblem of battle.
proof Of good will, relic of herOism
with Il common pride, is proof of the
determination of destiny. To voice
that feeling. Rhode Island sent the
head Of her judicial system, a man
who had fought in the army OF the
North; who had lived the years of edu-
cation after the war; who, with the
judicial temperament giving equity
whore he had seen wrong. had come 10
learn the other side. He brought a
thoughtful sympathy, q perfect taste.
To receive the flag, the State Dut
forward her Chief Justice. one-time
how cNlnnal 9ftpryy4 rdc St1l6anr 10Ninp
historian Of a cause that put the crown
upon its immortality in the glory OF
its death.
Setting to these men. the survivors
of the company which held Fort Ma
con, who afterwards went out on eX-
change. and so fought that it took Il
private c~apitulatiOn to end their mill
tary career, men grizzled, few and lee
BILE. vet architects of the present, his
torianS of a big past.
Among the women and the childrer
who are coming to learn their heroes
from both sides Of the controversy,
these actors of an era bound with the
purpose of q future formed a group
containing a large thought. Looking
from the one to the other. the differ
ence between the Rhode Islanders ana
the Tar Heels stopped in dress. The
n was q frOck coat: the other a suit
in the cut of the oId-time jeans. Eacn
'A'i 'ttN ~ , III ~ y C'ildI!N
respect the other.
In the senate Chamber draoed with
its United States, Confederate. North
Carolina and Rhode island flags. these
men met and sealed inherited differ
ences in personal friendship. in love
for a common country. EX-State
Senator J. w. Saunders, of the COM
pany that lost the flag, perhaps best
spoke the sentiment of the occasion
when he said that the time had come
when the devotion to their State
which impelled the sacrifice of the
Rhode Islanders was but proof of
their basic kinshiD with the ideals of
which the South is proud.
Ceremonies TT The Senate.
At the opening of the exercises the
Senate Chamber presented a vivid
sight. h old veterans of the Beau
fort Company occupied the fore
ground. behind them, as an offset to
their distinction of red badges sat the
women; banked against the wall were
the men, eX-Confederates, men who
had fought in the armies under the
Union.
In the galleries women held sway
1t was like one of those old occasions
when the beauty of the city came
forth to show itself in mute appeal
for the bill for the erection of the
Confederate monument. There was
Ii same earnestness of attention; at
the same time one knew that the in
tereSt was fixed on Il different ideal.
f'e1ore 1t was q species of pride tri-
umphant over conditions; now it was
that gracious applause which comes
when the recognition for which they
had battled had been realized. The
women had a comfortable look about
them. They appeared-idSt OF all do
they so appear-to have taken the
past for granted, to have come to the
conclusion of the present. with a
purpose to show that they glorIfied in
the day.
The old vets. in this setting vivihed
by women. walked into the hall. tc
the murmur of applause. The sympa-
thy of the audience with the actors
WAS strong enough to be felt. The
Beaufort survivors, With their red
badges tiled the front; the staid New
EnglandcrS. frock-coated. black-tied
caught i'll their step the spirit of the
occasion.
General Cars tnirodurtior.
General Julian s. Carr. the presid-
ing officer Of the meeting. introduced
the late opposing factors one to the
other. taking the opportunity to re-
Ter To the fact that North Carolina anC
Rhode Island had experienced 4 unity
of interest and of caution in the for
nation Of the Union. in tina neither
had participated at q date earl
enough to have a right to elect the
first President. and that North Caro-
lima. adverse to join the Union, mac
been among the last to leave Il. He
-eterred eloquently to the part .laye(
by North Carolina troops during the
war, their unexampled sacrifices il
lives, their u~nequalled pre-eminenc,
in accomplishment. He spoke feeling
~ of the spirit. now matured. Whicl
even in the of conflict ami
mated the C~ontending forces with
sympathy and understanding for thei
foes. lie followed the part taken b,
Carolinians in the war. at Bethel. Il
Gettysburg. at C~hlCanauga. and il
the spirit Of the new century as eX
empIified by the sacrifice of BaSle.
at Cardenas. Concluding, he intro
duced Lieutenant Governor Francis L