The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-01-20
MANY ARE TURNED AWAY
 FROM CROWDED THEATRE
Throngs Unable to Gain Admittdnce
 to Auditorium.
pr. c. J. Owen Pays tribute to Famous ChieYtain i'm words of Eloquence --oId and Young JeiA
 in sens. of
 Praise. s

H 5 aa5 5a a. -.
 The memory of Robert Edward Lee. whose greatness was of the south hut whose fame is now of America, was yesterday honored in Montgom- cry, the heart of the South, as the memory of no other man has, been non ored by Montgomery in recent years.
 No exercises so impressive. no crowds so large. have marked the celebration of any mans birthday in Montgomery in recent years--not even that or Washington--as made memorable the ceiebration of the one hundredth ar- niyersary Of the birthday Of Robert Edward Lee.
 The audience was an inspirations ft was more eloduent than the speesh of the orator of the day, and his address was able and eloquent--and It was as stirring to the Southern oniooker who looked and knew what 1t meant as the dancing Hit of Dixie" sung by more than thousand persons
 The day and the occasion had but one fault, and one that human un- derstanding could not avoid. So many people wanted to witness the exercises that the big Montgomery Theatre could not contain the throng that sought admission. Between thou sand and two thousand people. 1t IS said, were unable to get in the doors Perhaps the Theatre never held larger audience, for yesterday, as If to pay some special tribute to the occasion, the enforcement of the anti standing room ordinance was suspend- ed into tho Theatre until there was neither space to stand or sit.
 Dr. Owen Delivers Address.
 The program was worthy of the day. The oration was delivered by pr. Clarence J. Owen of Abbeville, Commander of the Alabama Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. and all who heard It praised 1t for It's high thought. it's eioQuence and it's sentiment It was a speech that was meet and proper for an audience like that of yesterday, the major portion of which was made up of school boys and school girls of Montgomery.
 It was meet, too, that the presiding officer should be Judge Thomas G. Jones, sometime Governor of Ala barna, and who. on that April morning at Appomattox, carried flag of truce through the apple orchard. and who saw the majestic figure of Lee when the final curtain on the greatest trag- edy of the Nineteenth Century was rung down.
 The note of the day, not only in Montgomery hut in the United States, was srtuck by the presiding officer when he described a dinner at which General John B. Gordon was the guest of honor, and which was at- tended by several Massachusetts off, eers of the Federal army some years after the war. At this dinner, young officer flushed with wine, pro- posed toast, Tn elation of the victory of the Army of the Potomac over the Army of the Northern Virginia. He was instantly rebuked by an older officer whd said:
 ''No, you will drink this toast. Here's to Robert E. Lee, the grandest figure of the war. Yesterday he be- Ionged to the South Today he be- longs to America"
 Sentiment of the Meeting.
 Through speech, song and sentiment there ran yesterday that thought. that as the calm light of history is thrown back in search of truth, the fguie of Lee appears greater and more ma jestic as the years pass Through it all ran the thought as hate and rancor died Into ashes. history gives the great chieftain his place among the great and the good of all ages. The central thought that came out of the beauti- full exercises of yesterday was that the world sentiment was akin to that uttered by Kentucky gentleman when. to a party of friends assembled at his board, generation ago, he broke the news of the Confederate lead CTS death in these words.
 Robert E Lee is no moreN The solitude of Washington in heaven is at last broken'
 It was fitting that Montgomery should be the scene of memorable celebration of the occasion. Montgom- cry was ever the heart of the South. It felt the first thrill of exultation at Ithe birth of the new nation. It was torn by the pain of that nations four years of wound. and it suffered and bowed down with sorrow for the fall of that ill-starred nation which t"feIl so pure of crime"
 The city united to honor the memory of Lee. and there was little to wonder at in the great outpouring of Mont gomery's people Intensely Southern. Montgomery has always honored all things Southern. And no present, how ever great or brilliant, can win its memory from the past, or persuade 1t to forget the things that were
 The excellently arranged program fin which the several memorial and Con federate societies of Montgomery had a part, set aside an important place for. the youth of Montgomery. The white schools of Montgomery. all of them. narticipated Not only were the, school children of the city given a place on the program. but the children of all schools of the city were marched to the Theatre in a body. The various boys schools of the city, the schools attended by the older boys, made splendid show ing as they marched to the Theatre to take their place at the exercises. The place of honor was given the Confed- crate veterans who had followed Jack son, Gordon and Lee.
 Mrs. LOmax Is Present.
 Perhaps the most interesting figure in the great gathering was that of