The Mystic owls. (Atlanta, Ga) 1880-????, October 20, 1880, Image 1

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G&flgT k’ ! A«gWlf ei®C dw i! i-S f lifii JL h<«RfiMf*V "Bk' jP v 11 «$?»•> <wzr S It. ~.l * < B I VOL. 1. CAUSES OF THE OEUSADES. Croisade is a French word, used to designate the expeditions undertaken by the Christian, or Western nations of Europe during the eleventh and twelfth centuries to recover Palestine from the Musselmen. The Holy Land was among the early conquests of the Saracens; the Calif Omar having taken Jerusalem A. D. 637. Thus all the places most sacred in the eyes of Christians passed under the votaries of a new religion. One cause of the crusades was to wrest Judea from the hands of its possessors ; to recover Jeru salem, the place where the son of God was born; where he had lived, and performed the most as tonishing miracles. There, too, was Mount Calvary, where he had suffered death for the sins of the world. There, too, His holy sepulchre was preserved, and a visit to it was regarded as the most meri’orious service which could be paid to heaven, and it was eagerly frequented by crowds of pilgrims from every part of Europe. The first crusade was undertaken simply to vin dicate the right of Christian pilgrims to visit the Holy Sepulchre. On the conquest of Palestine however, the object of the Crusades changed, or at least enlarged, and the efforts of the subsequent Crusaders were directed to the rescue of the whole land from the Saracens. Perhaps the impulsive influence of religion upon the barbaric mind, and the institution of chivalry, the union of martial and superstitious feelings, and the influence of fanatical enthusiasm, had some thing to do with these enterprises. Yet no doubt the true causes were the insulting and savage cruelty of the Turks, as well as the destruction of the Church of the Resurrection by the third Fatimite Calif,and a desire to undertake a pilgrim age for the purpose of the expulsion of the infidels from the Holy Land. Pope Urban heard the project of Peter (th e Hermit) for expeling the infidels from Palestine; also complaints of the Greek Emperor, Alexis, then espoused the projected enterprise, and recom mended to all Christian princes at the Carnival of Clermont the duty of zealously engaging in this holy war. In the spring of 1096 the first army departed. ’ History informs us that there were seven of theseexpeditions, or crusades, andthat they exten aed over nealy two hundred years. To-day is the anniversary of the Mystic Owls, and their procession through the streets of Atlanta this evening will consist of representatives from the first crusade. FIRST FLOAT. Society Emblems. A representation of the Mystic Owl Clown and Owl Knights This organization was established in 1878, and made its first display on the 24th of October, 1879. The subject of that display was Apollo and the Muses, and consisted of eleven floats. SECOND FLOAT. Represents the Abbasides Present ing the Keys of Jerusalem to Charlemagne, thus Assuring the Safety of Christian Visitors to the City. The Calif Haroun Al Rashied, is presenting the keys, while his Saracen followers Mesrour, and Giafar are kneeling back of him. The Abbas sides were Cailiffs who had dominion over Judea. They were descended from Abbao. the brother of Mohammed, and among their number were many rulers of renown. The float is red, green, scarlet and gold. Head medallions in gold in relief. Floor of three col ors. The columns and platform are of variegated marble, ornamented with gold and green relief. Charlemagne occupies a chair upholstered in crimson, finished with bronze. THIRD FLOAT. Michael VII, First Advocate of the Crusaders, who was Emperor of Byzantia, addressing Pope Gregory—The Empress of By zantia is Seated—Page and Ser vants standing in the rear. In the year 1095, Michael VII, as a faint hope of succour, addressed himself to the Pope, de clared his reverence for the papal authority, and mplored its exercise for his aid among the princes of the West The float represents a room of beautiful flat work, done in strong contrast colors in flat relief. Border, silver and gold ornamentations; colors, red, yellow and blue. The floor, ornamental tile work ; the room illuminated in silver and gold. FOURTH FLOAT. Peter the Hermit, preaching the Crusades at the Foot of the Cross. Peter the Hermit, was a native of Aimens, in Picardy, France. He was a monk, and deeply imbued with religious enthusiasm. He made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, witnessed the cru elties perpetrated by the Turks. Armed withau thority from Pope Urban 11, he traversed the countries of Europe, and with rude but pathetic eloquence described the injuries he had received in his pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre. He quickly .kindled the ..rdourof persons of all ranks; business was neglected, and the minds of men of all degrees were most powerfully affected. His fanatical austerity, his squalid attire, and his ab stenious habits, all had an effect. His rude elo quence of speech and gesture, which flowed from impassioned sincerity, were all in deep unison with the religious .sentiments of his hearers; the appeal to arms rousrd, with irresistible strengeh, that double excitement of devotion and valour which animated, as with a blended and insepera ble principle, the Christian chivalry of Europe. When he first came from oliscurity, and burst upon the world as the preacher of a religious war, Peter was described as emaciated by self inflicted austerities; small in stature; contemptible in ap pearance, and clad in miserable garments, from whence he derived his surname as Hermit. The float is a stack of shelving rocks, sur mounted by a rustic cross. A richillumination of gold and silver. FIFTH FLOAT. Council of Clermont, in which a Crusade was definitely resolved on, and in which the Pope sug gested that those who went into the crusade should assume the Cross on the shoulder. The general council of Clermont, in France, met in November, 1095, and French, Germans, Italians, and others were present. The Pope sug gested that those who entered on the enterprise should assume the cross on the shoulder or breast? This was agreed to, and the clergyman who took it from the hands of Urban 11, was the Bishop of Puy. The Count of Toulose was the first tempo ral prince who assumed the cross. The cross was originally red, but different colors were subse quently adopted ’ y different nations. Every per son, who assumed the cross was knownas a zroir*, or cross wearer, whence the name of the enterprise. The float is carved oak, on it a heavy carved oak chair. Pope Urban stands in front; back of him are two Bishops-of P.iy, while around are representations of England, Scotland, Spain, Ger many, Italy and France. SIXTH FLOAT. Assuming the Cross. The Crusaders wore a cross most commonly on their shoulders in gold or silk, or cloth, sewed on their garments. In the first crusade all were red; in the third, the French alone preserved that color, while green crosses were adopted by the Flemings, white by the English. The cross was inscribed by some zealots on their skin; a hot iron, or in delible liquor was applied to perpetuate the mark. The float is a beautiful tent, exterior view in | crimson and green, with heavy gold fringe, orna- j mented borders. Canopy blue, with gold tassels : and trimmings. The interior of the tent of pink I tapestry, all richly illuminated. Count of Tou lose, in the center of the float, on one knee, rest- 1 ing on his drawn sword. In front of him is a Crusader with the banner of the cross; also a Templar with his drawn sword. In the rear of the Count of Toulose are three Princes waiting to assume the cross. Crusader Knights. Following the Sixth Float are twelve mounted Crusader Knights—Godfrey of Bouillon, and his ’ brothers Eustaee and Baldwin; and his cousin, ■ Baldwin ; Hugh of Vermandoie ; Robert of Nor mandy ; Robert of Flanders ; Slephen of Chatres; Raymond of Toulosse ; Baemond, and Tancred. SEVENTH FLOAT. Farewell to the Crusaders. A Castle with the inmates bidd.ng farewell to the Crusaders. On the battlements are gathered the servants who are left in charge of the Castle. The Castle is of Italian marble and freestone, its battlements bordered and richly illuminated with silver. On one side of the Castle is a carved shield, sword and a red cross. EIGHTH FLOAT. The First Opposition to the Cm saders, and Manual, Emperor of Greece. He was accused by his own subjects of giving intelligence of their plans to the Turkish Sultan, and of providing them with treacherous guides. The Castle is heavy dental relief work, illumi nated with gold and silver, all in gray stone. Fluted columns, lily work, dental scarlet illumi nation. NINTH FLOAT. Followers of the Koran. In the centre of the float is a Mussulman on horse-back, with Mussulman on foot. The float represents a desert country. TENTH FLOAT. Altar at St. Peter at Antioch, with Monks. In 1098, when the Crusaders were apparently on the eve of destruction, they were saved by a revival of the enthusiastic spirit in which the un - dertaking originated. Peter Baithelemy, a priest of Marseilles, presented himself before the Council of Princes, declared how St. Andrew had shown ATLANTA, GA., OCTOBER 2O 4 1880. him in a vision, that the steel head of the ve<y 1 lance which had pierced the side of the crucified j Redeemer might be found buried beneath the high ahar in the Church of St. Peter at Antioch; that thesCount of Toulouse was appointed to bear tlje i sacred weapon against the infidel enemy, r-xltbatj M mystic presence in the battle wouje "Xi the hearts of the unbelievers, and insure a com plete victory to the people of God. Raymond, and ten select companions, were appointed to search for the sacred relic. Two days of solemn preparation were spent by the army in religious exercises ; and on the third the princes, attended by the clergy, went in procession to the church. Until nightfall, workmen dug under the altar without discovering the promised instrument of victory. After dark, Barthelemy himself de scended into the pit, and after a plausible delay, exclaimed that he had found it. The steel head of a lance was brought up, and previous incred ulity was drowned in superstitious enthusiasm. The altar is of carved Italian marble in relief— heavy border, blue drapery hung in festoons; heavy gold fringe; gold candlesticks; ten wax candles. The altar is surmounted by a cross, around which a beautiful halo ingeniously re volves. ELEVENTH FLOAT. Godfrey de Bouillon, First Chris tian King of Jerusalem on Horseback. Among all the princely champions of the Cross, by his prowess and piety, Godfrey was proclaimed the most deserving to receive the crown of Jeru salem. In 1099, he was unanimously elected King of Jerusalem. His kingdom at first comprised little more than the mere city of Jerusalem, but was afterwards extended until it included the whole of Palestine. He declined the title of King, accepting only that of ‘‘Defender of the Tomb of Christ.” His elec tion dated the foundation of the Latin Kingdonj I of Jerusalem, and the city, wrested as it had beeq from the hands of Mohammed, was converted ini <3 the capital of a Christian State. ; 1 Early in fiis XtW’L/ w, Jeri^ertr' 1 founded the two famous orders of the Knfgnts ■ Hospitallers of St. John, and the Knights Ttmp- I lar. The float represents a lawn with the plants and shrubbery that are natural to Jerusalem, and in the center of it Godfrey de Bouillon on horse- I back, all richly illuminated. TWELFTH FLOAT. The Fate of the Mussulman. The executioner stands by the heading block with an ax in his hand, while near the block is the Mussulman’s headless body, and near it the severed head, with the blood dripping from it. The float is a heavy block, drapery, hung in fes’oons, with heavy fringe, while on the border are the cross bones and skull. IRANSPARENCES Society Emblems. In the procession, and in the rear of each float, making eleven in all, arc transparences, each one with an illuminated owl. MEMORY. Rdph TPpZdo Emerson’s Last Lecture. Memory is the prime faculty of the mind, without which the others cannot work. It gives solidity to knowledge. All facts in the chart of the mind are property at interest. The past will not sleep. Memory is acutely and crea tively alive. It does not lie, cannot be cor rupted. Memory is the sense of conscience, is the police of the universe. It is not a pocket diary, but a living instructor. It is a scrip ture written day by day from the birth of man. It is provided with perfect apparatus for its work. No book is like it, or could be more perfect. It is called by the schoolmen of the middle a'<es the evening, as distinguished from the morning knowledge. People are often re proached for living in the memory. It plays a great-part in settling the intellectual rank of men. Sometimes it has a personality of its own. It has the bull-dog bite; you have to cut off the head to loosen the teeth. Defective memory is not always due to want of genius. Some men can think one moment as well as another. If they don’t remember the word, they can invent one. Sir Isaac Newton could not remember about his own discoveries, but if questioned, could give the reasons for them on the spot. We live later in life by memory. The minds of most men are nothing but a pocket diary, but some minds hold science, others thought, others the history of the world. ■When I talk with a genealogist, I seem to sit with a corpse. The memory of what has turn ed out badly is always strong; as Johnson says, I never forget the man that kicked me last. In the higher life each man’s memory is in the line of his action. We like longevity, and we like a great memory, but what we wish to keep we must once thoroughly possess. We forget rapidly what should be forgotten. The best security of memory is to understand the subject of thought. Memory is made up of older memories, and there was nothing exist ing older than the oldest memories. The wine crop of California is rapidly in creasing, and will amount to over 12,000,000 gallons. The raisin crop will be five per cent, larger than last year. mo -i <- <?Xsj£!> THE MYSTIC OWL BALL. [official. ] The following named gentlemen have been I selected, and will serve as the Committea at lour ball Wednesday evening next: RECEPTION COMMITTEE. k /* z julius L. Brown, Chairman. Gov. A. H. Colquitt, Henry Hillyer, Senator Jos. E. Brown, Louis Gholstin, ■-Senator Benj. H. Hill, W. 11. Patterson, Gen. J no. B. Gordon, J. W. English, Hbn. Wm. B. Woods, Robt. J. Lowry, Hon. John Erskine, P. H. Snook, Hon. George Hillyer. FLOOR COMMITTEE. Grant Wilkins, Chairman, Gen. Wm. Macßae, I Charles E. Harmon, Hon. W. L. Calhoun, J. P. Stevens, Hon.O.P.Fitzsimmons | J. W. Johnson, Hon. Dan’l S. Printup, B. H. Hill, Jr., Benj. F. Wylie, J. F. Burke, Amos Fox, C. T. Watson, H. I. Kimball. By order of the Great White Owl himself. Screech Owl, Adj’t. We call attention to the law card of Julius L. Brown in this issue. We have known Mr. Brown for years. He is prompt and reliable lin the discharge of every duty. All business entrusted to him will be ably attended to, and will receive prompt attention. ! THE MYBHQ OWL BALL. I. > ! Ladies who have received invitations to at tend the Owl ball, on Wednesday evening, October 20th, are expected and earnestly re quested to comply with the rules, ami to ap pear in full evening dress. No lady who wears a bonnet will be permitted under any circum stances to enter the hall, no matter who her es cort is, or whether she has an invitation or not. The Owl ball is not a minstrel performance or a theatrical entertainment. No tickets are sold to it. They are given as courtesies to those who receive them. Gentlemen, too, are expected to appear in full dress. Unless gentlemen and ladies com ply with this rule, we are requested to say, that they are neither expected nor wanted at the ball. “ BABY MINE.” The baby carriage made its appearance yes terday for the season of 1879. It was occupied by the usual baby, and it was propelled by the woman who looks into all the store win dows as she goes along. A reporter who fol lowed the carriage for an hour found that it collided with five women, ten men, six curb blocks, four boxes and a street car, and every collision only made the woman more determined than ever to occupy two-thirds of the sidewalk if it took all summer. She suc ceeded. They all succeed. A woman push ing a baby carriage in front of her on the sidewalk is as dangerous as seven roller-skaters and four velocipede riders combined. She can’t kill a full-grown man quite as promptly as a runaway team, but she can knock his shins to pieces, tumble him over, upset all his good resolutions and leave him flint-hearted and evil-minded. You can’t dodge a baby cab. Your only safe way is to make a jump from the curbstone or climb a ladder. They go on wheels. They are supposed to be a conven ience which no respectable baby can do with out. No matter who first got the idqa that jolting a baby around town, bobbing him over curbstones and bouncing him over crosswalks would sweeten his disposition—the idea is cor rect. Put a man in a vehicle of the same sort and his back would be broken in an hour, but babies have no backs. They are simply great big hunks of sweetness. The only reason why all the Confederate soldiers in the late war were not arified with baby carriages was be cause the factories could not supply them. They would have ended the war in one year. The woman with the baby carriage needs no advise. She knows enough to head the vehi cle toward every crowd she can see. The thicker the crowd the more business she has there. It is her duty to run to all the fires with it, to select the busiest crosswalks, and to get in front of all runaway teams, and she per fectly understands it. If there is any country on earth where these vehicles are not in use, it is no country to live in. —•-« The introduction of white grapes, says a writer in C< dintin'Jltwal World, has proven a great blow to grape-loving birds, for I Lave never yet observe 4 oue that was smart enough to discover that • white fifiape was uood lor eating. SUPPORTING THE GUNS. HOW A FIELD BATTERY COMES INTO ACTION. Did you ever see a battery take position ? It hasn’t the thrill of a cavalry charge, nor the grimness of a line of bayonets moving slowly and determinedly on, but there is a peculiar excitement about it that makes old veterans rise in their saddle, and cheer. We have been fighting at the edge ot the woods. Every cartridge box has been emptied once and more, and a fourth of the brigade has melted away in dead, and wounded, and missing. Not a cheer is heard in the whole brigade. We know that we are being driven foot by foot, and that when we break back once more the line will go to pieces and the enemy will pour through the gap. Here comes help! Down the crowded hallway gallop l a battery, withdrawn from some other position tu save ours. The field fence is scattered while you could count thirty, and the guns rush for the hills behind us. Six horses to a piece—three riders to a gun. Over dry ditches where a farmer would not drive a wagon, through clumps of bushes, over logs a foot thick, every horse on the gallop, every rider lash ing his team and yelling—the sight behind us makes us forget the foe in front. The guns jump two ieet high as the heavy wheels strike rock ot log, but not a horse slackens his pace, not a can noneer loses his seat Six guns, six caissons, sixty horses, eighty men race for the brow of the hill as if he who reached it first would be knighted. A moment ago the battery was a confused mob. We look again, and the six guns are in position, the detached horses hurrying away, the amunition chests ope;>, and along our line runs the command, “Give them one more volley and fall back to sup port the guns !” We have scarcely obeyed when boom ! boom ! boom ! opens the battery, and jets of fire jump down and scorch the green trees un der which we fought and despaired. The shattered old brigade has a chance to breathe for the first time in three hours as we form a line of battle behind the guns and lie down. What grim, cool fellows these cannoneers are! Every man is a perfect machine. Bullets plash dust in their faces, but they do not wince. Bullets sing over and around them, but they do not dodge. There g.oes one to the earth, shot through the head as he spongeo^iSmachinery Jqsesjust one beat—misses just one cog in the’ then works away again tw. before. Ewry gun is using short fuse shelf. The ground shakes and trembles—the roar shuts out all sounds from a battle line three miles long, and the shells go shrieking into the sw mp to cut trees short off—to mow great gaps in the bushes—to hunt out and shatter and mangle men until their corpses cannot be recognized as human. You would think a tornado was howling through the forest, followed by billows of fire, and yet men lived through it—aye ! press forward to capture the battery! We can hear their shouts as they form for a rush. Now the shells are changed for grape and can ister. and the guns are served so fast that all re ports blend into one mighty roar. The shriek of a shell is the wickedest sound of war, but nothing makes the flesh crawl like the demoniac singing, purring, whistling grapeshot and the serpentlike hiss of canister. Men’s leg;? and arm* are not shot through, but torn off. Heads are torn Corn bodies, and bodies cut in two A round shot or shell takes two men out of the ranks as it crashes through. Grape and canister mow a swath and ! pile the dead on top each other. Through the smoke we see a swarm of men It is not a battle-line, but a mob of men desperate enough to bathe their bayonets in the flame of the gun-. The guns leap from the ground almost as they are depressed on the f e, and shrieks and screams and shouts blend into one awful and steady cry. Twenty men out on the battery are down, and the firing is interrupted. The foe ac cept i it as a sign of wavei ing and come i ushing on. They are not ten feet away when the guns give them a last shot. That discharge picks living men off their feet and throws them into the swamp, a blackened, bloody mass. Up now, as the enemy are among the guns’ There is a silence of ten seconds, and then the : Hash and roar of more than three thousand muskets, I and a rush forward with bayonets. For what? I Neither on the right nor left nor in front ot us is a | living'foe! There are corpses around us which have been struck by three, four and even six bul lets, and nowhere on this acre of ground is a wounded man! The wheeb of the guns cannot move until the blockade of dead is removed. Men cannot pass from caisson to gun without climbing over winrows of dead. Every gun and wheel is smeired with blood—every foot of grass has its horiible stain. Historians write of the glory of war. Burial parlies saw murder where historians saw glory.— | Detroit Free Press PERSONAL. Mr. W. 11. Selden, for many years the popular proprietor of the II I. Kimball House, in this city, has sold his interest and will open the Metropolitan Hotel,” in Washington, D. C., where he will be glad to welcome bis many friends and do all in his power to make their stay at iRe capital pleasant and comfortable Hereafter the Metropolitan will be known as i “Southern Headquarters.” It being directly across Pennsylvania avenue from the Southern ! Dejxjt, parties will save omnibus fees, as the walk is less than an ordinary square. —ls you visit Florida this winter, see that your tickets read via Atlanta, Ga. NO. 1.