The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-04
SOUTH CAROLINA VETERAN
 WANTS TO DISCHARGE HIS
 BIG DEBT TO BIRMINGHAM

To the Editor of The Age-Herald: It is with some hesitation that the writer, a veteran from South Carolina,
 asks for a little space in your paper in
 order that he may give his impressions of
 the truly great reunion and of the splen did hospitality of your delightful city and
 it's hospitable and cultured people. In
 doing this he, the writer, himself an old editor will condense as much as possible, for he well knows that unless this be
 done his article will find an inglorious resting place in the waste basket. Of one thing your readers may rest assured, and that is if the writer does not keep a 1 close hein on himself he would find him self wanting a whole page of your val l uable space, and even if the editors s
 heart could be moved into granting this | concession, his head would have to de- eide otherwise
 And just here the writer would like to give his impressions, having never visited the city before,s of what Birmingham really was-the vision of a city with coal
 mines, blast furnaces and all other things that go to make a place sooty, dust
 laden and with no such things as pure air d streets in a white dress for fear of get ting 1t ruined. But what, to his great surprise he did find, was one of the cleanest cities he has ever visited, and the pure, fresh air from the mountains to breathe. If this was not a pleasant surprise, the writer will have to confess that he does not know the meaning of a common English word. Now just one h. CT who rambled around for about an hour and then said that he would enter into the body of his discourse, the writer will write about the reunion. That one word is that he found a great number of people who were descended from the many people who emigrated from South Carolina to Alabama when it was just admitted to the union.
 The attempt to write down all that the writer saw and heard during the reunion, where pathos, inspiration and beauty were | so intimately blended, is far beyond the pen of the writer who deeply feels, though he may lack the power to paint, and would even put the pen of that mas ter of literature, Dickens, to the test to portray it all as it should be done. AS | far as the writer was able to observe everything in connection with the re- | union passed off very smoothly, and 1t is very sure that everyone, unless they be-
 
 who never enjoy or appreciate anything, who have outlived, if they ever had any | feelings of this kind, and whose proper place is the cemetery, present would | leave with impressions that would remain with them to the end of life. It all seemed more like great family gather ing than an assemblage of people many
 of whom had never met before and would in all probability never meet again. And as is often the case In these chance meet ings one finds congenial spirits and finds friends that he grapples to his soul with hooks of steel.
 Nowhere else, in perhaps any land, would such deference and attention be paid to the old soldiers, and this was not reserved for those of wealth and social position, but just as gladly given to those
 who bore evidences of poverty and toll.
 If these beautiful and charming girls,
 worthy to be descended from the women
 of the Confederacy, could but know how
 these old soldiers were cheered by their
 attentions, the writer is sure that they
 would feel more than repaid for the time
 they gave to these old men who, while
 evidently poor in worldly possessions.
 were inestimably rich in that which makes them truly great and that is their patriotism and devotion in the time of their country's need
 The writer was fortunate in meeting again the friends made at the Richmond reunion. and this alone was worth the trip, but other friends were made, and these also will be placed on the tablets of his memory and his heart. His one
 and only disappointment was the absence of the Confederate choir, and he is sure that many others missed them, too, whose leader and organizer, Mrs Os- borne, the lady with the beautiful Cameo face and splendid voice, was absent ow ing to illness, and this probably was the reason why they were all absent. And just here the writer would like to say that the south owes debt of gratitude | to Mrs. Osborne for her efforts to intro- duce the new and appropriate words for | the tune of Dixie, written by Dr. Whar- l ton, which she rendered at one of the reunions held some years ago. The tune l of Dixie is of course, immortal, but the original words are the vilest doggerel and should never be used. but those of Dr. Wharton, instead, which are dignifed. appropriate and are redolent with the tune spirit of poetry.
 l Space forbids the writer saying all he