The Washington herald., 1920-05-02

WhhN me Rose o. DINE
stock eompany In Teombs City.
Georgia. there was never but
one candidate for It's chief edi-
torial position IN tho minds OF
la owners Col. AquIla Telfair
was the man for the place. BY
elt the rights of learning. faml-
". reputation. and Southern ira
dit!ons. he was its foreordained.
a. and logical editor. So. a COM
lnit.ce OF the patriotic Georgia
eiti1efs who had subscribed the
foundinS suad OF 100000 called
uvcn Col. Teifair at his resi-
eencc, Cedar Heights, fearful
list the enterprise and the South
-A"ui4 suffer hy his possible re-
tts.'
colonel received them In
-.-ca; library. where he spent
N,z; nf his days. The library
ha.l descended to him from his
father. IL contained ten thou
sand volumes. some OF which had
been published as late as the
yeEr 1851. When the deputation
arrived. Col Telfair was seated
At his n,asSiYe vEite-pine CEN
ter table, reading Burton's
Anatomy OF Melancholy" He
arose and shook hands punct;l-
iousiy with each member of the
committee. II you were famil-
lar with The Rose of Dixie you
will remember the colonePs por-
trait. which appeared in IL from
time TO time. You could not
forget the long. carefully brush
ed white hair: the hooked. high
hridged nose. slightly. twisted to
the left; the keen eyes under the
stii black eyebrows; the classic
mouth beneath the dropping
white mustache. slightly fraz-
zled at the ends.
The committee solicitously Of
fered him the position OF man
aging editor. humbIy presenting
an outline of the field that the
publication was designed to COW
er and mentioning a comfortable
salary. The coloners lands were
growing poorer each year and
were much cut up by red gullies-
Besides the honor was not one
to be refused.
, In a forty-minute speech Of
acceptance. Col Telfair gave an
outline of English literature
from Chaucer to Macauley, re-
fought the battle Of Chancellors-
vile, and said that. God helping
him, he would SO conduct The
Rose of Dixie that its fragrance
and beauty would permeate the
entire world. hurling back into
the teeth of the Northern min
ions their belief that no genius
or good could exist in the brains
and hearts of the people whose
property rights they had cur
tailed.
Offices for the magazine were
partitioned Off and furnished in
the second floor of the First wa
tional Bank buiIding; and IL was
for the colonel to cause The
Rose of Dixie to blossom and
flourish or to wilt in the balmy
air of the land of flowers.
The stan of assistants and
contributors that Editor Colonel
Telfair drew about him was a
peach II was a whole crate OF
Georgia peaches. The first as
sistant editor. ToIliver Lee Fair
fax. had had a father killed dur
ing PiCkett's charge. The sec
ond assistant. Keats ~Uuthank,
was the nephew of one of Mor-
gan's Raiders. The book review
er. Jackson Rockingham. had
been the youngest soldier in the
Confederate army, having ap-
peared on the field of battle with
n sword in one hand and a milk
bottle in the other. The art ed
itor. Roncesvalles Sykes. was a
third cousin to nephew of.
jefferson Davis Miss Lavinia
Terhune. the colonels stenogra-
pher and typewriter. had an
aunt who had once been kissed
by Stonewall Jackson Tommy
Webster. the head office boy, got
his job by having recited Father
Ryan's poems, complete, at the
commencement exercises of the
Toombs City High School. The
girls who wrapped and address,
ed the magazines were members
of old Southern families in Re
duced Circumstances. The cash
ier was a scrub named Hawkins.
from Ann Arbor. MfchlSan, who
had recommendations and q
bond from Il guarantee company
fled with the owners. Even
Georgia stock companies some
times realize that IL takes live
ones to bury the dead.
Well. sir. IL you believe me.
The Rose Of Dixie blossorned
five times before anybody heard
of II except the people who buy
their hooks and eyes in Toombs
City. Then Hawkins climbed of
his stool and told on 'cm to the
stock company. Even in Ann
Arbor he had been used TO hav-
Ing his business propositions
heard Of at least as far away as
Detroit. So an advertising man
aEer was cngaged-Beaurega
Fitzhugh Banks-a young man
in . lavender necktie, whose