Evening star., 1914-05-24

seven of the southern states had Sc
ceded. Soon after his inauguration Nir-
ginia had seeded. and before this 30th
of May Arkansas and North Carolina
had followed the example of Virginia.
Immediately after the fall of Fort Sum
ter Lincoln had issued his call for sew
enty-tive thousand troops TO suppress the
rebellion. Most of the northern states.
in loyal obedience to this call, had sent
troops to Washington; but many of the
states near the border line between the
north and the south had defied the call.
Some of the questions asked by the peo-
pie of the north on this day must have
been: ''Win these states, too, secede ?"
Can President Lincoln hold them in the
Cnion?' But a question. more nlomen-
tous than these, which must have been
asked by these people. was: Can our
troops at Washington defend the city,
For it must be remembered that 1t was
only eleven days before this 30th of
May when northern troops had been
fired upon by a mob while they were
passing through Baltimore on their way
to Washington.
Many people, at the time, interpreted
this act to mean that Maryland, too,
was about to secede. True, the Union
soldiers at Washington seemed at this
time to be successfully defending the
city; a band of troops six days before
this Both of May had crossed the Poto-
mac and had taken possession of Alex
andria. This had made the Union people
hopeful. but they were by no means con-
fident, for, at this time, they had just
received news from abroad about the
expressions of joy which had just re-
Gently been made by certain Europeans
who were predicting the immediate down
fall of the American republic. Then.
too, many of the news items about
events of the war which were appear
ing in the daily newspapers indicated
that there might be some foundation for
the prediction of the people in Europe
Of hot
the people of the north We're reading in
their home papers. The Boston Journal
for this Both of May contained the fol-
lowing telegraphic dispatches:
The report of the surrender Of the United
States troops In Texas under command Of Lieut.
Col. Reeve. to the Confederate force, under com
mand Of Col. Van Dorm, is fully confirmed
dfs. dss with z'''0 Fe's's Is ADVANCING Oh A'e'""
The New York Tribune for the same
date was to its northern readers some
what more hopeful. Here are some of
it's headlines:
Frank Blair Ordered to Fortress
Monroe"
Rebels Likely to Be Surrounded"
10000 Troops to Rendezvous at
Cairo"
Here Is a part of one Of it's editorials:
Barely six weeks have elapsed since. at the
news Of the fall of Sumter the loyal states We're
summoned to arms In these six weeks $50 600
volunteers have rallied around the flag of the
Union. In view of these facts, the call
for 100000 additional volunteers. with the ap-
pointment OF John Fremont and Y. 7. Banks to
responsible posts IN the armies Of the Union are
everywhere hailed with ine1pressible enthusiasm.
The New York Tribune for the 31st
of May contains an interesting account
of a serenade to Secretary of State
Seward by the New York 7th Regi-
nent the evening of the both of
May. In response to call for a
speech. Seward said, in part: We live
in stirring times. Congress will meet
the 4th of July. with the country in
the midst of civil war. Let us hope
when it meets again on the next 4th
of July We may have peace, harmony
and a restored Union"
These news items. taken from north
ern newspapers. reflect the general
mood and spirit of the people in the
north who were at the time reading
the papers. Among them there was a
spirit of uncertainty and doubt They
were uncertain as to the strength and