The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-09
VETS ON HAND FOR REUNION Birmingham Filled With
 Visitors. GENERAL cABELL ARRIVES Meeting Will Begin at Hippodrome
 Today. old soldiers May Pass Resolution Ask sns Young People Not to JoiA Them in Future-Every
 Detail Complete.
 

6irmlnBnam, June c-NopSSAaA.t IVY less than l4.O0o strangers are already in BirminRnam. not counting those wno live in the county, having come here for the eighteenth annual reun- ion. United Confederate Veterans, which begins promptly at 10 o'clock Tuesday morning.
 The city is grandly decorated. In fact. many of the Veterans who nave neen to every reunion ever held before. say that at no place save one or two have the decorations been as extensive as In Birmingham. The Veterans have but one fault to find in this regard--the Confederate flag is not as often seen as some would like 1t to be.
 The reunion proper promises to be the most successful ever held. not wtthstanding the fact that there is great sorrow over the recent death of the Chief. General stephen D. lee.
 The great leaders arrived today. Ad- jutant General W E. Mickle. of New orleans, being among the first after General Tyler, of Forests Cavalry Corps. General w. l.. Cabell of Tex as. arrived this afternoon and he was met at the railway station by q band of music and a big delegation of citi- zens and Veterans.
 The arrangements are on an elabor- ate but simple scale. The reunion proper will be at the Hippodrome, which is capable of seating between six and eight thousand people. The Veterans will be given every adyant- age at this place The seats down stars are to be reserved for the grey haired men. The galleries. too. will not be given over entirely to the younger folk. but will be reserved in the main for the Veterans.
 To Read Lee's Address.
 The address that was to have been hy T.aA will ha read i.i the convention after addresses of walcome have been delivered by rep resentatives of !. the city, the State, the Veterans of Birmingham. the Sons of Veterans and the United Daughter of the Confederacy. General Cabell will also deliver, an address when J. W. Wilzin, the chairman of the General Arrangements Committee, turns over the meeting place to the Veterans.
 The scene that will be presented Tuesday morning when the reunion band, twenty-five pieces strong, under the leadership of Professor Fred Mem oli, strikes up Dixie will beggar de- scription. Amid the yards and yards of gay bunting the grizzled Veterans will rise to their feet and cheer and cheer until their voices clog. Then the invocation will be called and the gavel will fall on the table and the big re- union will be started in motion.
 Despite the fact that there is much complaint on the part of the Veterans against the sponsors and maids of hon. or idea. the festivities in behalf of tho Veterans, participated in solely by the younger generation 1t is not believed that the movement to exclude the spon- sors will prevail. There are many Vet erans who are now heard saying that during the reunion they will work hard to bring about the elimination of the sponsors and the younger generation set but a majority of the Vets appear to be pleased with the sight of the young women and their beaux Hitting here and there and participating in events fer the pleasure of the Veter- ans.
 Hotel Gordon, the hosteiry establish ed at the Fair Grounds, near the city. for the Veterans, Is in full blast and 1t is proving a most delightful institu- tion. The menu at this place is excep- tionally good. Trucksters In the im- mediate district are supplying the local committee with considerable of their product and the Veterans who will be at this place during the week are be- ing made to enjoy themselves.
 Two displays of fireworks and four band concetrs will be given at the Fair Grounds and it will practically be for the Veterans as everybody else will have to pay to get into the gates.
 Handling the Crowd.
 The Homes Committee of the local Arrangements IS hard and making every effort to get the many thousand strangers accommo- dations. So far the major portion of the strangers have been directed with promptness to place of abode for the week. Many of the people who have arrived already either had relatives or friends in Birmingham or the imme- diate district or had reservations at the hotels or boarding places. The com mittee anticipates but little trouble to- morrow when the last big crowd comes in.
 yards near the heart of the city pre- pared for something like sixty sleeping and chair cars, not to mention the reg ular day coaches which will be used practically at stopping places during the reunion. The Southern Railway, inc Louisville and Nashville, the Queen and Crescent and the Seaboard Ar Line railroads will also have many sleeping and chair cars on the side tracks around the stations and in the yards close to the city.
 Special trains have been arriving ev- cry hour today. The commander-in- chief of the Sons of Veterans, J., w. Apperson, of Memphis. arrived this af- ternoon. A big committee met him and his stan at the depot and escorted him to his' hotel.
 The Cape Girardean band, from Mis- souri. has gone into camp on Third avenue, between Seventeenth and Eigh- teenth streets. an empty lot having been secured for this organization and the musicians bringing along their tenting outfit together with quarter master sergeants and camp workers Half dozen bands and drum corps are here already.
 The concerts on the street corners will not begin until Thursday but al- ready much music is heard on the streets
 Though there are several other gath erings on in Birmingham at present ev- erythtng is being overshadowed by the Confederate reunion. The side walks are being given over entirely to the veterans.
 Twenty-dve detectives from Bir- mingham and the surrounding towns besides from other points are on duty ar thn h{r rrnvstde ,vhfia one hundrad