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VOLUME fOUt
HUJltm ELEVEN
Beauty and Pathos in the Story of an Old Confederate Flag- Unknolvn Son of the South Hugs "Stars and Bars” to His
Bosom and Leabes to Samoan Chief Who Would Not Part With It Tor Any Price.
BROUGH the watchful kindness of that
sterling citizen, Judge Frank P. Long
ley, of La Grange, Ga., we have come
into possession of a story of patriotism
and sentiment which deserves a place in
every scrap-book in the South, if not
in the nation.
For such touching, honest loyalty to
any cause, whether just or unjust, must
T
give a high place among the unknown and uncrowned
heroes of the world to that nameless Confederate
soldier who carried to the gates of death the flag
which he so loyally defended in war and which in
the aftermath of defeat he hoarded with
such “miser care” and treasured with such
clinging love.
Refused to Furl Defeated Flag.
Soon after Judge Chambers, who is now a
member of the Spanish War claims commis
sion, was sent to Samoa by President Cleve
land he attended one of the great gala fes
tivities and feasts so famous among the
natives of these Pacific Islands. The feasts
are never to be forgotten by those who once
attend. The natives come from many miles
around the islands. Most of them reach
Apia, where the feasts take place, in boats.
Sometives there are over 500 boats, with
from two to eighty-four oars each, and con
taining people enough to fill them. The
scene is one of the most picturesque to be
found in any part of the world. Before the
feasts boat races and aquatic sports take
place in the harbor of Apia, and up to
the time the islands were partitioned the
representatives of the foreign govern
ments were interested spectators and the
natives considered the presence of the
foreigners a very great and important honor.
The feasts might he called picnics, for they are
held in the open air, but instead of pies, pickles,
cakes, sandwiches and lemonade, the customary re
freshments at picnics, the natives kill land roast
hundreds of pigs, geese, chickens and other fowls,
besides having many varieties of fish. Some beauti
ful grove is the only table, and the ground where
the food is spread is covered with the rich green
leavesof the banana tree. The greatest hospitality is al
ways evidenced, the natives paying especial attention
to their guests. At the conclusion of the feast it is
the custom to divide the remaining food among the
people, it being proportioned according to position —
the higher a man stands the larger the amount of
left-over food he has sent to his house. In this,
as during the course of the feast, there is the great
est precision in the management. At no time is
there a scramble. The occasion is a delightful one
to people accustomed to it.
HE LOVED IT TO THE LAST!
ATLANTA, GA., APRIL 29, 1909.
“All the native chiefs bring flags of some kind
when coming to the feasts, and take the greatest
care of them,” said Judge Chambers in describing
a Samoan feast to a group of friends. “They are
fond of any kind of flag. Those chiefs who can not
secure the flags of nations use fancy pieces of cloth
and tattered garments. He is a poor and unim
portant chief who does not own a flag. Looking
out on the beautiful scene in the harbor of Samoa
on this gala day that I have spoken of, I noticed a
boat flying a flag that I could not make out. I took
a glass and saw what I thought was a Confederate
flag. I could not believe it possible, however, and
9& fifl iSsS : K
waited until the boat came nearer. Then I saw
plainly that it was a genuine flag of the Confed
eracy. I naturally was greatly interested, and sent
one of my servants to ask the chief to come to
see me.
“When he came I began questioning him about
the flag, but he would give me no information. He
was a man of good features and was apparently
a chief, of consequence in his neighborhood. I, of
course, wanted to get possession of the flag, and did
not suppose that I would 'have the least trouble in
doing so, particularly as the natives were fond
of exchanging flags and that of the United States
was a favorite with them, the flag of England being
next and of Germany next.
“I offered the chief a flag of the United States
for his Confederate flag. He said quietly that he
could not make the exchange. I then offered him
a new flag of England or of Germany. He refused
these also, and I suspected that he was trying to
THE DEAR OLD “STARS AND BARS.”
JfiBEBI
drive a shrewd bargain with me. I next offered
him a bolt of cloth worth considerable money, and
when he refused that I offered him a barrel of meat,
the most tempting and costly thing in the mind
of a native. As nothing could induce him to make
the exchange I asked him his reasons for refusing.
“In reply he said that one day long ago a white
man came to his hut. He supposed the man had
come from Apia. He had several bundles in Iris
possession and preserved them with the utmost
care. The stranger, the chief told me, was a man
of great dignity and of an amiable disposition.
The natives soon came to love him much and took
pleasure in providing him with every deli
cacy they could obtain. The chief himself
became deeply attached to him, and when
the white man’s health began to fail there
was universal regret among the natives.
When the stranger saw that his end was
near he called the chief to him and directed
that one of the bundles in his possession
be opened. Then there was displayed a
beautiful silken flag, but worn by handling.
“ ‘ See that flag?’ said the stranger;
‘ well, it was the flag of my nation—a great
people. It went down in defeat, but I de
cided that it should never be surrendered.
So I left home, kinsmen and friends, and
came here with it. 1 am going to give it to
you. Never let a white man have it in his
hands. ’
“That was the dying injunction of the
stranger, and the chief had sworn that the
Hag should always remain with him. He had
made his tribe swear to keep it and never
paid with it; that when he died the suc
seeding chief should take it and bury it
where no human being would ever know
of its hiding place.
“The chief’s story was told in simple but affect
ing words. I made many other offers to secure the
flag, but he was firm to the end, and went away
that afternoon with the flag in his boat. I instituted
some inquiries later and sent several trusted natives
to the chief’s home to make offers, but they were un
successful.
“When I came back to this country and told the
story to some Confederate friends they agreed to
takp steps to recover the flag if possible. Some
years later they began a systematic effort, but the
old chief had passed away, the flag had disappeared
and the members of the tribe would give no infor
mation as to its whereabouts.”
It
Under Indiana’s local option law the counties
are voting dry so rapidly that an effort is being
made to repeal the law. Twenty-four out of the
twenty-five counties that voted first went dry.
TWO DOLLARS A YEAH.
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