Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1921-11-23
chattanooga's Mayor Extends
City Welcome to the Old
Veterans.
Editor of The Advertiser:


or's speech of welcome. Senator Fra
zier's and Gov. Taylor's speeches all
were fine. The mayor said in part:
Among the inspiring memories and
traditions that have come down from
The past, none appeal to US more
than the recollections of your
ach;evmezsss, your loyalty to your sa-5
cred cause, your sacrifices and deeds
Of heroism that mark you the great
est soldiers the world ever knew. A
son of a Confederate soldier, bern of
a, rebel mother, 1 am most happy to
congratulate you that in the evening
of your life, when history has passed
her stern sentence upon your deeds
and your motives, our entire people
honor you and hold. your achieve
ments in affectionate memory. We
honor you for the cause for which
you fought, a cause inspired by the
great principle of constitutional lib
cray. God never planted in the breast
of man a higher principle than that
which prompted the soldiers of the
Co.federacy. And let me say, pal
sled be the tongue that would speak
slightly of Confederate past and
withered be the arm that refuses to
lift itself in, praise of the virtue and
valor of the Confederate soldier
At this point the mayor became
eloquent, and said, "We honor you in
memory of that great Mississippi
soldier and statesman, the immortal
Jefferson Davis, of whom Benjamin
Hill said: He was the truest,
greatest, bravest, tenderest, manifest
man 1 ever knew We honor in men,
ory of that Christian soldier, Stone
wall Jackson, the greatest military
genius the world has ever known. We
honor you in the memory of that
thoughtful, dignifed warrior, Jo-
seph E. johnson. We honor you in
the memory of the great Robert E.
Lee, who left us a legacy that time
cannot touch; the fragrant memory
of a brave, tender heart; the spotless
stainless honor of a great soldier;
Christian life and a duty done. We
honor you in the memory of that
splendid body if leaders whose Won
derful generalship has never been
equalled and who won for the Con-
federate army a place that stands to-
day unsurpassed in the war history
of the world. We honor you in the
memory of your dead comrades. In
Gods own day no greater souls will
rise than those sons of the South
who fell in the service of their coun-
try under the "Stars and Bars" of
the Confederacy. We honor you liv-
ing soldiers of the Confederacy in the
capacity of your noble brotherhood,
which adversity has bonded together
so closely. We offer you the hospitali-
ty of gracious people. For your en-
tertainment our majestic mountains,
banked with hemlock and laurel, and
teeming with historic interest, our
miles of automobile highway drives
and through the great battlefelds
made famous by you heroic deeds
and bathed with the blood of your
fallen comrades, we proffer you our
friendship and our love-"
The mayor spoke in conclusion as
follows:
"In' truth, you who fought on the
historic fields need no invitation.
You have won forever the open door,
the magic of yoar matchless valor
lifts high our gates. Let the Kings of
Glory come in. What memories of
those scenes of helf-century ago
must crowd upon you when you see
again the gray line of battle; h-ar
the tramp, tramp of armed soldiers,
the neighing of the battle steed, the
clear call of the bugle, and midst it
all you see in the pale moonlight the
still upturned face. You live again
those days of glory and honor, of
sacrifice, of superb courage and fl
deity unto death. It was here that
one of your young color bearers fell
mortally wounded and one >of you
rushed and seized the fallen flag.
The poor fellow turned his dying eyes
and pleaded with you: "Oh, let me
hold it till I die and these things
were not in vain. We who. dwell here
we'll know we dwell on hallowed
ground, and what you did here in