The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-26
.SEMMES' BIRTHDAY ADDRESS TOMORROW Daughters and Sons of Vet erans Will Both Have
 Special Exercises

Two important services for Confederate veterans, their sons and daughters. have been announced for tomorrow. Pelham chapter, United Daughters of the Con federacy will celebrate the day as the birthday of Admiral Raphael Semmes, and at the same time will bestow crosses of honor upon several veterans. Gen. Fred Ferguson will be the orator of the day. The exercises will be held at the Chamber of Commerce auditorium at, 8 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow night at s o'clock Congress- man J. Thomas IIefln will deliver an address at the city hall armory under the auspices of the Sons of Veterans. The following statement has been issued in connection with the meeting: "1n obedience to patriotic desire on the part of many of the sons of the Confederate veterans of Jefferson county that the organization of the Sons of Vet erans be not neglected. nor the devo- ton to the principles that caused the | south to resist invasion shall not weaken, | and, further. that the memory of the deeds of heroism of those battle-scarred soldiers shall not perish. nor tho sacri- fees of our mothers be forgotten, and finally. in the interest of a true and unbiased history which must be handed down to future generations we appeal to the young men of the south to perpetuate their patriotic societies.
 Though the cherished memory of the old south, with it's grand civilization, is an inspiration; the deeds of valor upon the battlefleds a rich heritage from our fathers; the reelaiming of the devastated fields and the hurling from power of the stranger without the aid of arms an achievement unparalleled in government yet. though the past Is glorious, we, too. owe the present commercially proud position of the south to the men that followed Lee and Johnston, while all the grandeurs of the new south are also due to their unconquerable Anglo Saxon blood.
 Shall we abandon an organization formed to perpetuate this great past, and dwell only in the commercial present? Who are the women of today that with each recurring season scatter garlands on the graves of departed heroes and rear lasting tributes In brass and mar ble? Who, but the daughters of that mo- ble band of women Whose sacrifices dur ing four years of war and ten years of military rule? The grandest mothers who ever weaved the loom or spun the shuttle and cheered on the remnant of southern hopes! Shall we. the sons, prove less loyal than the daughters, who are today writing southern history and groJg- ing in numbers and usefulness as the days go by?
 With the conviction that our cause was just, and with no apologies for the past we are today as true 10 the stars and stripes as were our fathers to the stars and bars.
 And now fin order to infuse renewed zeal into our organization we have in- vlted to be with us one of Alabama's most gifted sons, who will address us on the evening of September 27 at the city hall, third floor. at 8 o'clock.
 Come and listen to the Hon. J. Thomas Henin. All veterans. Sons and Daughters and the public generally arc invited and will be welcomed.
 "DR. R. M. CUNNINGHAM,
 'E. l.. HUEY,
 ''r. F. ROBINSON,
 "J. c. DUBOSE.
 Committee"