The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-12-06
Elk Congressman Calderhead
GIOrifies Civil War Veterans.
RecOunts Their Achievements
Since Close of Conflict.
STANDS BY ALDRICH
No One Who Helped Save Ma
ton Would Injure 1t.
w. E. COnneIley New President
State Historical Society.


addressed the State Historical society
in Representative hail last night on
the occasion of the thirty-sixth annual
meeting of the society having for his
subject the service of the army in civil
life after the war Many times he used
the pronoun we" for he is one of the
; "old boys
The problem Of reconstruction was u
great one" said he, Military COVER
nOrs were set up in the south to bring
about a establishment of civil gov
eminent. The confederate soldiers were
returning sullen and Incorporate, to
their ruined plantations; they were Won
dering how fer punishment might fol-
low them and many were hiding out of
the country. The freed negroes were
upon their hands and they did not know
how TO so about handling them under
the new order
Then it was the volunteer soldiers
took charge to show the way to govern
ment. The grand review was held at
Washington and 900 600 victorious men
who had given the best years of their
youth fighting for their government re-
turned TO their homes expecting TO take
up affairs cnd duties as they had left
them.
But when we came home we were
thinking not of this country but OF
that cOuntry-that great country we
had marched over from the Mississippi
to the Atlantic. Our homes seemed i.
too close and we began to spread out |
About 10000 OF US came TO KANSAS
Here as in other western states, it was
the old soldiers who built the churches, |
the school houses, established towns |
and county seats and began to build |
the state
For 40 years. declared the speaker, the |
old soldiers led the civil life as mem |
bers of the school boards. the boards |
of township trustees, the county board |
of commissioners and almost all the |
county offices.
The state and United States legisla- !
ture were full of old soldiers, declared
Mr. Calderhead. Every governor OF
Kansas uown to the election Of Stanley |
was an old soldier except Click. An old /
soldier directed the affairs of congress
for "a years except for four years. EV-
erv president from the close of the civil /
war down 10 the election of Roosevelt
except Cleveland. was an old soldier
Mr. Calderhead laid great stress
upon the fact that many OF the great
est inventions were by men VINO hau
served in the war and in many cases
had formed their ideas in the service.
such was Captain Braun, whose
methods for casting steel enabled the
Carnegie Iron works to raise their
previous largest cast of 10, 900 pounds
to the hundreds of thousands OF tons
now cast with ease Another was
C.oo51-sar founder of the great rub
her industry, and David Reed, inven-
tor of the buckle which sent the
arctic overshoe around the world
Civil war engineers. said the speak
er laid out the great Union PACING
railwav. The engineer of Chicka-
manga built the road across the
mountains and the men who carried
muslkets did the work on this road,
tearing open mountain ranges as tney
had the Confederacy- Through busl-
ness and every department OF clNll IRE
Mr.. Calderhead took his old soldiers
and came to their public inhigh Of
fees.
Defends Senator AIdrich.
He asked if such men as Aldrich,
1,gad 4
their government and nation in the
Civil war only later to destroy 1t by
corrupt politics and answered his
question strongly in the negative. he
defended Senator Aldrich in particu-
HE was a private in a Rhode Island
For thirty-four years he
was a member OF congress. HIS
neighbors and friends believed in him
until he closed his service last year
Never did he use word unit Tor the
ears of women and children He never
drank or used tobacco in any FORM He
never gambled- As member or the
on the cotton schedule,
came to know him personally, and
Knew him only as a Christian gentle
man. No senator ever questioned his
word in statement of fact
AS a summary to the services of the
old soldiers the speaker compared the
United states of 1860 to that of today
From a population of 100000 then
Il has grown to SO. 100000 Railroads
then $1,000 miles in length have ex-
tended TO 100000 miles. Four hun
bred and eighty million dollars in bank
has grown to fifteen thousand million
The United States has half the rail- ,
roads. half the public schools. half the ]
and telegraph lines and more
than half the banking power of the y
world.
A little sentiment was injected into ,
the meeting when J. S Langston.
OF the Lincoln Post drum 5
rorDs. presented Mr.. Calderhead with
4 small photograph. The picture was
az Tim othy Lemansy, 14-year-old drum
her of Company H, One Hundred and S
Ohio infantry, of which f
MT CaIderhead also was a member. | i
IRE two were bunk mates Langston /
was a drummer in the same regiment {
and so was often into company with s
Lemansy, who gave him the photo