The Green Forest tribune., 1917-08-10
REUNION 4 GRAND SUCCESS
Estimated Attendance 5000. Probably
 Lest Social Gathering

Probably the last Confederate re- union to be held in Carroll county was brought to q close on last Saturday afternoon when the three days encamp- ment of John c. Fletcher Camp No. 63S U. c. V. reached adjournment.
 There was no action taken looking to future gatherings of this character, other than the maintenance of the or ganization by the annual payment of dues. The sentiment was freely ex- pressed that the ranks are now too thin and the veterans for the most part are too enfeebed by age to withstand the strain incident to reunion occasio ms.
 It seems eminently befitting that the custom should be discontinued at the close of one of the greatest held. In fact the last meeting in point of attendance was the largest, and the gathering was in every other way a decided success. Some of the greatest speeches were made, and the efforts more thoroughly appreciated, appar- ently, than any former occasion.
 The seriousness of conditions that confront our country at this time was the thot uppermost in every mind, and it would be needless to suggest that this was the leading theme of every speaker.
 The speeches of Col. Hugh A. Dins- more and Col. Iverson A. Jones were both masterful. Col. Dinsmore dis cussed the causes that lead to the break ing of relations. with Germany, showing by history and the logic of events that the conflict was unavoidable.
 In the opinion of many of his admir- CTS, Col. Jones made one of the great est speeches of his life Profound and logical. yet it was replete with humor. With reference to the discontinuance of the custom of holding the reunions, Col. Jones expressed himself as favora- ble to the idea for the reasons we have suggested. His tribute to Col. Fanch- CT, to whose untiring work he attributed
  eleven tenths of the success of every reunion, was eloquent. He reviewed the history of the camp and it's many reunions, calling attention to many who had passed on.
 It is estimated that fully 5000 peo- ple were in attendance on Friday.
 The following paper by Mrs. Harvey Lewis of Harrison paying a tribute to the;veterans of the "Lost Cause" was read by Mrs. F. k. Morrow:
 The Last of the Veterans.
 'Tia said that life is what we make it, yet no pathway is so hower-strewn but what we finl briars and the bram- bles; and no road is so smooth but what in passing all too quick Iy, by the milestone one by one, we touch the rough places, and despite all our efforts and all our plans, we drink the bitter with the sweet" All along life's journey we pave the way with good intentions, and when we follow the dictates of our own hearts we do the kindly things that make life worth while; but all too often we let the things less worth while creep in and stifle many Of our good impulses almost before they are born. In other words, nv one passes down life's highway without many vain regrets, and as we see you ou. dear old veterans, nearing the end of the road, and realize that ere long we will see the passing of the last old boy in gray our hearts are filled with many regrets that We, as Daugh- ters of the Confectionery, have left uu- done so many things that might have helped you, cheered you and proven to you that no cause will ever be so dear to us s''The Lost Cause, no flag so ap- pealing as the Stars and Bars, 'no yell so thrilling as the rebel.yell, no song so inspiring as "DiXie's strains, and no title so coveted as "A Daughter of the South" And when the last roll is called in camp and there Il be no one to answer to.his name, and 'taps" sound a last good night, one of our sweetest memories will be of you, our dear old ''vets" in gray, in whose honor we have met today and at whose shrine we lay our tribute of respect and love-
 When the last bright ray of sunshine
 Beams around the hoary head Of our last Confederate Veteran
 Ere his final hymn is read, When we sec the last one shroudel
 In his tattered suit of Gray How our hearts will fil with sadness
 As he's softly borne away.
 Close beside his bier we'll gather
 To proclaim last farewell To our old Confederate Veteran
 Ere they toll his funeral kneil, And we'll ponder at the parting
 And we'll wonder at the way Death has swallowed up in victory
 Every one who wore the Gray.
 Then we'll bear our last old soldier
 To a quiet place to reso
 And we'll guard his place of verdure
 As eagle shields his nest
 And we'll deck his grave with violcts
 And keep it green each day
 And we'll carve upon the head stone
 Here lies the la st old G,Gy.'
 sad, Oh, sad wll be our South aud
 When we have no Veteran Gray!
 Dark, Oh, dark will be the morning
 When the last ones passed away
 And tears will dim each watch tul eye
 AS his gratitude we view
 And at parting all will echo
 Honored Sire; adieu, adeu!
 And throughout the fields of clover
 And among the golden grain
 And along the battle breastworks
 Where her fairost sons slain Will be monuments of memory
 And heath every bank of clay
 Myriads of leaden missiles
 To remind us of our Gray.
 And so long as time speeds, onward
 And there is heaven above,
 God will wat h the sent.hels sleeping
 From the quite world above
 And he'll guard the sacred memory
 or our old Confederate Gray
 Throughout Times eternal pag3s
 When the last Ones passed away
 When this last Gray clad old soldier
 Sbail reach the promised land
 He'll find all the boys Tn waiting
 To take him by the hand
 He'll stand to the right of Davis
 Along the gladsome shore