Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-03-03

draws
And asks no omen but his country's cause"
Asst Sunday I witnessed fine battalion
I parade at Fort Screven, near Savannah,
- by troops of the Eighth Infantry regi-
ment, United States army, recently returned
from Germany. The entertainment was CIV
en- in honor of the members of the Georgia
Press association who had been holding their
midwinter meeting in the City by the Sea.
| was surprised to flashing in the soft
sunlight that flooded the scene with beauty
and brightness swords that were carried by
the officers 1t will be remembered that
when this country entered the World war the
carrying and use of the sword by our officers
in the European conflict were prohibited, by
our government. Hence, my surprise on Sun
day when | observed that the cleaning blades
were once again in service.
Whereupon, l promptly asked Colonel
Walter Bates, the popular and brilliant COM
mander of the Eighth regiment, if the use of
the sword had been restored in the army, and
he replied in the affirmative, and said that
general order to this effect had been issued
about one month ago.
Shining Symbol of VaIOr
l received the information with much
pleasure, because of the glory and romance,
the gallantry and chivalry, the charm and
fascination, the heroism and renown that
have always been associated with the sword.
The pages of history glow with the Splen-
dor of the deeds of brave men performed in
battle under the guiding inspiration of this
shining symbol of valor and patriotism-t1is
FURNISHED emblem of knightly skill and dar-
ing proWess. Poetry has wreathed exquisite
garlands of verse around the glittering blade.
Art has pictured the dashing soldier, like
Jackson, or Stuart or Forrest, or Morgan, or
Longstreet, or Gordon, or Barlow, or Cobb,
and hundreds of others, ilIustrious dead, rid
ing like god of war in the thickest of the
fight" with drawn sword in hand, waving
on high, and charging the on-rushing foe.
The Idealization of Swords
All down through the ages, from creations
dawn, the sword has been the inspiring theme
OF song and the enthusing subject of story.
1t has figured conspicuously in both sacred
and profane history. Long ago legends have
related tales of its magical powers and it has
been described as possessing "the might and
majesty of the gods themselves."4
Tradition has localized the swords of Alex
ander, Charlemagne, Hannibal, Caesar, Bona
parte, Wellington, Washington and other of
the worlds famous commanders. There were
swords when "knighthood was in flower"
and when the Order of Knighthood grappled
with the Mohammedan for the sepulcher of
the Saviour, the victorious sword of the
Knights Templar glittered in the sunbeam.
When ''the Saracen crescent was waved by
Saladln on the walls of the holy city, then
the Iberian, the Gaul, the German, the AL
bantam and the Arab unsheathed their fam
ing blades for the glorious combat and the
sword became the aegis of all Europe.
Inc hnI9htlIeSt OF All Swords
But neither history nor poetry nor romance
nor legend nor tradition contains so knight
lier a sword was sheathed at Appomattox.
Forth from its scabbard pure and bright,
FLASHED the sword of Lee!
Far in the front of the deadly fight
High DER the brave in the cause of Right
Its stainless sheen like a beacon light
Led us to Victory.
Forth from its scabbard all in vain
Bright flashed the sword of Lee;-
'Tis shrOuded now in its sheath again,
1t sleeps the sleep of our noble slain;
Defeated yet without stain,
Proudly and peacefully"
No sword in the worlds history has won
such glorious fame as Lees, and never hand
waved sword from stain as free, nor purer
sword led Drawer band, nor drawer bled for
brighter land, nor brighter land had Cause
so grand, nor cause chief like Lee"
CORVALLIS surrendered his sword at York
town, and the American Revolution was &C
complished, but there never was a greater
myth in history than the story that Lee ten
dered his sword at Appomattox to Grant and
the Federal commander magnanimously de-
clined to accept it. There was no tender of
the spotless blade by the peerless Southern
leader, and, consequently, the victorious
Northern general had no opportunity to per-
form the alleged chivalrous act of declination
Flaming Blades Had Names
A number of celebrated leaders had the
habit and pride of giving names to their
trusty swords. For instance: the famous
Caesar called his friend of shining steel
whose fidelity never wavered-"Crocca
Mors." Charlemagne, the emperor of the
West, who established the empire of the
Franks and governed it for forty-seven years,
bestowed the name "Joyeuse'' on his sword
Ell Tizona' was the rather rhythmical name
of the sword of Cid, the perfect cavalier of
Spain, and the hero of popular songs. Eek
calibur, ''the sword that rose from out of
the bosom of the lake." was the name by
which the blade of King Arthur of the Round
Table became known to fame
No doubt you have heard of this express
sion: '.The sword in myrtles drest becomes
the emblem Of the assertion of liberty" The
story upon which the quotation rests is in
substance as follows: Aristogeiton and Har-
modius, two young Athenian patriots in 514
B. c., slew Hipparchus, brother of the tyrant
Hippias, to avenge an insult offered to Har-
modius' sister and destroy the line of the
Pisistiatidae. Failing to reach Hippias, they
rushed back and killed the brother with
swords hidden in the myrtle bough they were
carrying in the days Panathenaie festival.
Both suffered for the deed, and were after
wards raised to divine honors by CRATE
full country
Two Historical Swords
The "Delphic sword" and the Sword of
Damocles," are two of the best known his
torical swords of the long ago. The former
blade two-edged sword, in reference
to the antiquities of the Delphic oracles
Briefly the tradition regarding the latter is
that Damocles, who was a courtier and syco-
phant of the elder Dionysius, the tyrant of
Syracuse, was accustomed to speak in eXtraV-
agant terms of the happiness Of royalty Di-
onysius, to correct what he regarded as Dam
ocles wrong impression, invited him to
sumptuous banquet. On looking upward
Damocles saw a keen-edged sword suspended