The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-14
J, MundeII Has Had an Inter-
 eSting Career
POWER OF PATTERSON
How He Handled the Situation During the Recent Fire Which Almost De- stroyed the courier-Journal
 Building in Louisville.
BY FREDERIC j. HAsKIN

when the cornerstone or the Washing
 ton monument was laid in 1s4s two little boys with fife and drum headed the de- l tachment of marines which took part in l the dedication ceremonies One of these l little boys J. Mundell, now curator 1 of the museum in the Washington navy l yard, and one of the very few survivors l or those who were present that day. 1 Mir. MuHdell is also proud of the fact l that he was one of those who went to
 the orient with Commodore Perry in 1s5S l to open the doors of Japan to commerce When Commodore Perry set out with l fleet of nine ships, MundelI was druu- ! mer boy on board the Macedonia, a man.
 of-war taken from the British in 1S1a,
 This vessel was propelled by sails alone and once was ashore for many anxious hours on a reef off the cape of Good
 Hope, being finally rescued by others of
 the fleet. When the American marines
 finally went ashore in the harbor of Uraga in July, 1858, the drummer boy, with a great horse pistol on one side and
 sword on the other, was with them. carry ing his drum and alert for orders to beat
 any signal. Despite the fact that the
 nine vessels were lying broadside to the
 town and had all their guns trained that
 way, the landing party did not feel alto
 gether at ease.
 You see" said MT. Mundell in telling
 Of this, "all along the hills above the
 harbor was stretched a wall of white
 cloth with imitation loop holes painted
 on 1t. Nobody knew why 1t was there
 and for all we knew half the inhabitants
 u1iQb
 hind it." After the treaty was concluded
 the Commodore wished to give to the Japanese government some specimens of American specie, and the Macedonia was called upon to furnish ir When the pack age was made up the little 14-year-old drummer boy was sent with it to the flag ship and as a reward was served with fruit. pie and cake in the Comn,o dore's own cabin. My but 1t did taste good said the drummer boy zest un- diminished by fifty years. After a four years cruise in eastern waters Mundeu came home to be transferred to the old | Merrimac. He served aboard her until | she was sunk in Hampton Roads in an | icipation of Confederate occupation. Later he learned with interest that the boat l had been raised from the water and l coated with railroad iron, becoming the l first iron-clad in the history of the navies | of the world
 Like Ex-Congressman John Allen of | Mississippi, MT Mundeu rather glories in the title of private" fo& besides being a drummer boy on various ships In the United States navy, and many times a circumnavlgator of the globe he was also a. private in New York regiment during the civil war. When Lincoln called for volunteers the drummer boy went into the army and served for three years, returning to the navy yard again when peace had come. There among the historic field pieces and naval guns of | his country, he is spending his last years reviewing the kaleidoscopic pictures that memory has hung for him on the walls of time
 Edgefeld county South Carolina, Is quiet and orderly nowadays, but there was time when 1t had a wild and | woolly reputation. During the war with Mexico, some sixty years ago. some sol diers who had followed Old Glory and | Rough and Ready" into the enemy's | country were lying out one night under the stars. They knew that a battle would be fought next day, and they knew that i the MeXcans shot to kill. Facing death in foreign land where the cactus was the softest pillow they could find 1t was natural that they should turn reminiscent. One man asked: Why did you join the army?" A sad fellow told a tale of un- requited love, and said he had resolved to seek the end of human existence un- der the old flag. Another said he had been unlucSy at cards and had wasted for tune, and as life no longer attractive he hoped to find deaths call in the thick of the battle. So their tales ran on until they had all told their reasons why death had no terrors for them and explained why his summons would be welcome. All but one. He was silent. Why did you come?" they asked him. Well, to tell the truth" he replied. "I live In Edge field county, South Carolina, and I came away because I was afraid I would be Killed" Legend has it that more than a hundred men have died violent deaths in the feuds that once distracted this county Now 1t Is a. prohibition section and there is no more fighting.
 Edgefeld county has given two men to the south who are now eminent in diff ferent walks of life. They are Benjamin R. Tillman senator from South Carolina, and D A TOmp<inS lyeui11s of ha ,oa,