The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-08-16
School Days and School and
 School Boys Before the Wa,
Montgomery Boys Went War and Some of Then Never Rsturnsd-old Memories Pleasant
 and Bad.

dueed could not compare with the sem sations experienced during the first
 moments of that storm.
 | Dick Goldthwaite was the only boy
 in school that would tackle for
 game of marbles. had noticed that he manipulated his taw in | very pe-
 culiar way--he would hold 1t between the tips of his thumb and index fin- | ger. give it twist and let it fly. I
 had noticed that peculiarity. had al- | plumbed the mark. So. thought my
 self match for him. Frequently. two I little boys, on to themselves, could be seen on the sidewalk to the Colciough l lot, laboring at game of marbles. l Dick was my senior by one or two years, but he always toted fair. He | wouldn't fudge much. I heard that Dick commanded an artillery company during the war and after It's close re- moved westward.
 | Just as we rode up in front of the school house one morning, the boys came rushing out. exclaiming "Holi- | dayl Holiday!" When they saw us. they called out: 'So school. today. go home" We didn't wait for partlcu-
 lars. My brother wheeled his pony. put switch, and we went sailing home. ward. Our sailing was smooth enough. until we reached sand bed in Bogue-
 homme. There the girth broke. and over we went-I upon the ground, the
 saddle upon me. and my brother on the saddle.
 An old man hurried to our assis- tance. He disentangled my brothers feet. lifted him from the saddle, lifted the saddle of me, and lifted me from my bed" I appreciated the consider
 ation of the girth in having selected. for the gymnastic feat. the softest spot
 along the entire route. I was very E..t Akz trAn nf thA Al man in having resurrected me. 1 nev-
 CT, afterward. would believe one half the stories the servants told about the | denizens of Montgomery's suburban town.
 Halls Taylor was the champion pug tltst of the younger set 1 always gave
 him a wide berth. Several years since. after a lapse of more than fifty years. met him at a veterans reunion In Montgomery. I recognized him and made myself known. He refused to believe that I represented all that was left of his little schoolmate. Tom Taylor and George Halls joined us, We
 forgot all about wars and rumors of wars. We were no longer veterans-- were boys again. We had a juvenile reunion all to ourselves. Halls insists
 that gave him a whipping. some fifty years ago. He must be mistaken That
 doesn't tally with my record at that
 time of life. He must have mixed me
 mp with the "other fellow"
 Capt. George Halls had a large prai-
 rie plantation some miles out from
 Montgomery. He grew magnificent
 crops of corn and cotton. and raised
 the largest hogs 1 have ever seen. He
 also owned monkey. About the
 Fourth" of July, each year. after the
 crops had been laid by. he would give
 q barbecue and invite his neighbors. A... ..nl. ut, Cll lNN
 accompanied our father. Captain Halls
 monkey was much in evidence that
 day. but it was chained to a stake which prevented its being able to
 reach the little boys who had leased it
 in such a manner as to make 1t very
 angry. That occurred before my broth-
 CT reached the grounds, and not being
 posted as to the status of the little
 boys In their relations with the mon-
 key. he was passing near it. when it sprang upon him and raking a claw
 along enchkcheek. literally covered his face with blood and wounds. It took years to eradicate all the scars that resulted from those wounds.
 Prank and Joe Vickers were our
 near neighbors. Their mothers land
 adjoined that of my father. They did
 not attend school, but we were with them on Saturdays. Frank was near ly grown. but we loved "Fant vitters." dearly--he was always so kind.
 Years later Frank and were com
 rades in arms. The 9th Alabama
 Regiment lost its color -bearer at Seven
 Pines. Col Gordon requested Frank to.
 serve In that capacity. He replied:
 Colonel, I am not afraid to carry the
 colors. but I have a wife and children
 at home and for that reason I would never volunteer for such a position.
 however, since you request 1t, I will take the colors.
 old comrades can attest how fear
 lessly he bore those colois at Mechan- icsville at Cold Harbor at Malvern
 upon a stone fence at Sharpsburg, and
 waving his colors defiantly in the face
 of the advancing enemy he fell pierc-
 ed by many balls. No braver soldier
 ever gave his life for country.
 My brother had two yearlings, Tom
 and Henry. Joe Vickers would come
 over on Saturdays to assist in yoking them up and driving them around for
 amusement, One noon when they were preparing to unycke the yearlings. preparatory to turning them loose in
 brother: "Joe, if you want oxen to be
 fond of each other and to accustom them to stay together, you ought to tie l their tails together before you unloose
 them My brother thought the sugges-
 tion a bright idea. So the two Joes tied the tails of two oxen together and unloosed them. Near sunset my broth
 CT and I went to the pasture to drive
 the yearlingS into the ccwpen. To our
 dismay Henry had pulled Toms tail
 of. do not recall that the operation
 but I do remember that he was dis figured for life