Newspaper Page Text
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1907.
HOW GEORGIA'S LIBRARY WAS SAVED
FROM FLAMES OF SHERMANS INVADERS
Dr. R. J. Massey Ren
ders Great Service
to His State.
"Great emergencies make great
men." Is an adage as old as time
Itself, and no great emergency has
produced greater heroes than those who
came to the forefront In the days of tho
Civil'war.
History has recorded many valorous
deeds which were performed on fields
of battle during tho crash of shot and
shell and tho frcnxlcd charges of op
posing forces, but tho honor of per
forming one of the ifiost courageous
acts of the Civil war and of rendering
to Georgia, as a part of the Confed
eracy. a most Invaluable servlco, with
out the Inspiration of martial music or
the "battle Are,” has been left to Dr.
It. J. Massey, who was In chargo of tho
surgical department of the Confederacy
at Mllledgeville when Sherman invaded
Georgia.
The specific service which Dr. Mas
sey rendered Georgia was that of sav
ing the state library at Mllledgeville
from destruction' by Sherman's fire
eating and Are-llghting army, and as
a result, a bill will be Introduced at the
next legislature asking that the stato
of Georgia appropriate a specified sum
to Dr. Massey In recognition of his
heroic service.
In War Time.
When Sherman's army reached the
Georgia eapltol, which was then lo
cated at Mllledgeville, Brown's Hospi
tal had not been removed, for lack of
time. Upon the announcement that
tho Northern general and his army
wrt» approaching, the state legislature,
anil every one else who could get
away, beat an Inglorious retreat. Many
of the patients who were in the hos-
pltdl. and who were in Dr. Massey's
charge, also found that they had gained
unusual strength and departed for oth
er parts.
There were, however, about sixty pa
tients In the hospital who found their
physical strength weaker than their de
sire, and who were compelled to re-
mnln behind.
Dr. Massey, who was under orders
from Surgeon General Sgut, In charge
of Hood's medical department, remain
ed at his post in chargo of his pa
tients, and was on the ground when
Sherman’s advance guard arrived at
Mllledgeville.
Colonel Hawley, of the Federal
army, was In charge of the advance
DR. R. J. MASSEY
It was Dr. Massey who prevented the destruction of the old state li
brary at Milledgeville, and saved Georgia a loss which could not have been
replaced. " —
guard. Soonjtfter his arrival he recog
nised In Dr. Massey an unusuully
bravo and determined man and a
strong friendship grew up between
them. As a result of this friendship,
Dr. Massey was furnished with a guard
for his hospital and was given the
freedom of tho Federal lines.
How Library Was Saved.
It was during Colonel Hawley's oc
cupation of Mlllcdgevlllo that Dr. Mas
sey saved tho stato library from de
struction. Tho story of how this was
done Is best told In tho doctor’s own
words:
"Upon one of my visits to Colonel
Hawley's ofllce, I saw quite a number
of soldiers In the library committing
most wanton destruction of the books.
In-order that they should with double
certainty be rendered of no value, they
would take tho finest and most costly
volumes, and after tearing out many
leaves from tho middlo of the books
with their knives or swords, would take
books and papers by the armful and
make bonfires of them on tho eapltol
grounds.
"Colonel Hawley was standing look
ing on when I came up. He saw that
I was pained at witnessing such wan
ton destruction of so many valuable
books and papers. He asked me If
there w'as any book In tho lot that I
wanted; If so, to pick It out and he
would give It to me.
'I asked him If ho would give me the
privilege of taking away whatever
books I wanted. To this ho readily
assented saying: ‘I will give you the
whole library If you want It* -
"I then took out sevcrhl armfuls,
when Colonel Hawley told me to get
the man and wng<m belonging to the .
hospital and haul away the books by
tho load. I at once called tho man with
the wagon and had hauled away threo
loads of books and papers, when Colo
nel Hawley said:
Saved All the Rest.
■Doctor. I will not put you to tho
trouble; I'll put you in possession. Take
It and do as you please with It* I
thanked him and said:
"'Colonel, I nm powerless and can't
stop these men. I can't keep them out
unless you give mo men to guard tho
place, as I am doing at the hospital.
Can't I take two men from the hospital
guard and place them here!' To which
he replied:
"'No: I will glvo you two.extra
men, day and night. If you will only
come twice a day and once at night to
Mi toil these men do their duty, and
when wo are gono tho books arc yours,
to do ns you please with them.'
"He did so, and as long as Sherman's
army remained I had two guards at tho
state library day and night, and my
Impression Is that not another book
was destroyed after that.”
Dr. Massoy Is growing old In years,
and the bill which will bo Introduced
at the next session of the legislature
will be a belated but laudable effort to
reward a loyal Georgian for a loyal act
at a time of need.
JOESEPH CHAMBERLAIN DOWN AND DU
llis
Political Career
Now Over For
Good.
Is
By RAOUL DE SAINT RENE.
Paris, May 25.—Joseph Chamber
lain's political career Is over for good.
It Is only the wreck of the once vig
orous and dominating figure that Is
trying to win back health at valescure,
his retreat In the south of France. He
has aged dreadfully, and the famous
monocle Is replaced by u pair of spec
tacles. The ex-minister crawls pain
fully about, hanging on the arm of his
devoted wife (nee Endlcott, of Bos
ton).
It Is feared his mental powers are
also failing. He sits listless for hours
nt a time, and can only bear to have
the newspaper read to him tor half an
hour each day. Sometimes he falls
Into a dose In tho middle of the read
ing.
The biggest balloon dver seen took
part In a race from l*arls, and was
beaten by a balloon one-tenth Its sixe.
The monster balloon was of 14(,000
cubic feet capacity and the little one
14,000 feet.
Ten persons. Including Santos Du
mont, were carried In the car of the big
balloon, which was called D*Aigle. Only
one aeronaut traveled In Its tiny com
petitor, the Mlcromegos.
The Micromegas traveled 200 miles,
but the giant balloon covered only half
that distance.
The cooks and help In the Paris res
taurant kitchens havo Joined their
brothers, the waiters, In striking. They
ask for their weekly day of rest, which.
In spite of the law. has not yet been
accorded to them, lime to sit dawn to
two meals a day Instead of standing
while they snatch a mouthful now and
then, and a periodical disinfecting of
the kitchens. *
As this point of disinfecting was In
sisted upon by several of them. It was
asked wluit n*«v meant. At this the
men laughed, and said, "You think that
is a strange request, don't you? But
if you had to work in some of the
kitchens you would know what.lt’Is.
Some of the kitchens. Indeed many of
them, are underground, and have to be
Illuminated all day by gas, and the air
Is bad for the health, but besides this
we are sometimes overrun by cock
roaches, which ate a great nuisance.
“We have great difficulty In keeping
them down so that they shall not get
Into the food and disgust the custom
ers."
This'new addition to the ranks of the
strikers has caused a great deal of
inconvenience to tha restaurant keep,
era, and as some of them have in their
youth been either cooks or head wait
ers they know how to put on the aprons
again and get to work themselves.
Still the strike la a nuisance, both
to customers and restaurant keepers,
and tho menus at some of the restau-,
rants have become more than simple.
Of course at the best cafes and restau
rants this Is not the case, for there
things are better arranged, und new
men are willing to. work in place of
those who left, and places vacant are
filled up as they occur.
In consequence of the nomber of
thefts which have been committed re
cently at the Paris postofflees. It has
been decided by the postal authorities
to adopt a dllferent box for those now
In use.
A number of models were submitted,
and one of them was accepted. This
box offers every guarantee for safety.
Two of these boxes are In use As an ex
periment and should they prove suc
cessful they will bo placed at all the
Parisian postofflees. Tho flap of this
box can be opened only by pressing a
spring, which works automatically,
and which Is connected with a trap
door nt the bottom of the box. When
the letter has fallen Into the box and
tho spring released, the letter fails Into
a receptacle below and tho trap door
closes again.
Beards are to be fssblonstdc npnln, after
a qiurter of a century of tsboo. The clean,
shaven era among London's glided youth
Is giving place to the cult of the heard.
AMERICAN VISITORS ARE SPENDING MONEY
and fashionable young men are withholding
tho rasor from their chin*.
The correct form of board la not the
“Crimean cheat-protector" which reigned
forty or- fifty years ago, hut a small close-
trimmed cflthotlc-looklng.adornment parted
In thtf center.
The beard cult la making headway In
ipltc of the campaign of ridicule which
Frank Richardson, the humorous writer,
who 4s himself a man of fashion, Is carry*
Inc on igalnnt whiskers In every form.
It Is said to havo originated with a
young man who let his board grow during
nu Illness, and on recovering found that it
was rather an adornment than otherwise. •
The beard la much affected by tho young
aristocrats who, play at business on the
stock exchange,' but army officers are de-
barred by the king’s regulations from so
disguising themselves.
The healthfulncss of mad flats Is tho
latest medical discovery. The district,
nround Boston, a low-lying region on tl
const of Lincolnshire, is remarkable foi
sen deposits of mud and for the longevity
of Its inhabitants. j
none village, Marcham-le-Fcn, IsJk vcrltn-
nd nono-
village!
icaltU re-
London Jewelers Reaping
Rich Harvest From
Tourists.
!■!■» ■•mnniiinity of t• 11url: 111*>
cennrinus. whllo a neighboring
Frctstonsblre, Is developing Intafa 1
An amusing case has been beard In the
Iiondon courts, coding In an award of $1,250
damages against Lady Itoso Drummond
Clarke, for slander. The plaintiff was a
young man who calls himself “Due Do-
Plenenf," but until jcfio-ntly was a railroad
clerk, earning $<00 a year.
The. ‘•duke,*' whoso name Is Otway Cnffo,
says he was Introduced to Lady Clarke at
a fashionable skating rink In the West End.
The lady, who was 60 years old and a
widow, proposed marriage to him. and after
he had refused began persecuting him with
outrageous postal cards and slandering him
In conversation with various people. This
annoyance and the damage to his repnta-
to an ancient aristocratic French family.
Some months ago ho was In court again,
charged with firing a revolver at Robert
Pltaroy Boltin, an electrical engineer. This
affair, which arooo over a girl, took place
on tho parade at Brighton, and Coffe e*-
raped with being “bound over to keep the
peace.” x
(By RICHARD ABERCORN.
London, May 25.—This, tho record ‘‘Amer
ican” season for London, Is already pro
viding a rich harvest for West Knd shop
keepers. NniitfaM toil are noticeable
among the shopping crowds In Bond street.
Regent street and Oxford street; moro than
$5,000 was spent In. two hours by four
small parties of Americans who visited the
UooA street shops.
''jewelers and tailors are the tradesmen
most patronised by Americans In London.
They buy pearl necklace*. Jeweled watches
and brooches, and especially diamonds.
•‘Americans,” says n Bond street Jeweler,
**aro very fond or diamonds from Loudon:
they think they get a better assortment
here.”
London tailors make special efforts to at*
tract American custom, knowing that the
visitor from the Htates will probably pay
the beat prices and give large orders. Eng
lish leather trunks aro also sold In large
quantities to Americans.
American plays and players havo cap
tured the London stage this season. There
were never so many New York actors and
actresses in London before, and British
playgoers have welcomed them as some
thing new and attractive.
Miss Julia Marlowe, W. EL 8othern and
their company from the Lyric theater. New
York, havo made their season at the Wal
dorf a triumph. Although It was an Initial
mistake to open with "The Sunken Bell,”
which no one could undcrtstiimi, they havo
made ample compensation with their charm
ing performance In Shakespearean plays.
At the Waldorf’s twin theater, tho Aid-
wycllt another American company, with
Robert Edcson and Mary Boland as stars, is
showing London a picture of American col
lege life In “Strongheart,” and people aro
already Interested In tho question of
"fthoufd the Indian marry tho girl?”
“Mrs. Wlgrs of the Cabbage Patch” Is
drawing great audiences to Terry’s theater.
Although the rustic types presented aro
entirety new and strango to London, play- .
goers here can not help being Impressed by
the careful character studies of the actors
and aufr4‘.ss«*s. Ixtodonera aro Interested to
l«-arn that Mrs. Madge Carr Cook Is an