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V ■ via* I kvm.no WLLtV/MU' VOLUME XLIII NUMBER FIVE. n ft ti ~ 'fso & S&b 61 ft Montgomery .Unveils Tablet Recalling' Notable Visit of General LaFayette a m 9 9 •—*•*■*•••*■•• *'*"*■*' 1 By PAUL LINCOLN. Written for C%* Sunny South UK southern people are es sentially patriotic and the love of a hero is not less than love of country. Grateful and appreciative, there is no stint to their meed; to them their he roes are never deqd, and with each succeeding sea son they bring fresh lau rels to deck tlio earth where they lie and to wreathe about the monu ments which mark the deeds of their valor and sacrifice. And it makes no difference whence one has come, what land gave his birth, or the marks of what race are upon his brow. But no son of a foreign shore ever re ceived the devotion, the loyalty and un tiring homage, which from the first up to the present time has been so gener ously accorded Lafayette, the friend of Washington, and Greene, an idol of a grateful people. Hardly a southern city but has a park, a square, a street named in his honor, or monument erected to his memory, and still the number grows. Montgomery, the capital of the state, than which there is none more patriotic or chivalric in the union, will, in a few days, unveil a tablet in memorial of La fayette’s visit to that city in 1825. The Alabama state historical department, which is doing so much to preserve the history of our country, and particularly of the south. Is making all possible ef fort in collecting incidents of tho visit, man' of which, fortunately, have been banted down; *m«' or Montgomery’s old est citions, airs. James Fountain, whose age is 93, and who recalls the event, was one of the little girls who strewed flow ers in the path of the great general— a custom which seems to have been fol- lowed in each city where he was enter tained. LIKE A COUNTRY ROAD. Montgomery at this time was little more tlian a village, and there appears to have been no public hostelry. The end of Commerce street, now built up with large wholesale houses and the scene of the biggest part of the traffic and business of the city, was then a sparsely settled street, if so it might be called—it was more like a country road where neighbors lived closer together than common, and here was the home of Colonel John Edmondson, whose guest Lafayette was. The lot on which the house stood ran through to Coosa street below the building, adjoining what is now the First national bank. The famous old house where the ball was given and which was only recently torn down, stood at the corner of Commerce and Talla poosa streets. Tt was a small two-story structure, the first floor being used as a store, and tile second for a public hall. In its latter days it was unpretentious enough, but in the twenties, within its low ceiled wails men who afterwards made their mark, let fly ambition’s first arrow, and its rafters rang with the elo quence of orators and statesmen already made. In 1822. three years prior to Lafayette's visit, a fever for the histrionic appears to have held the little community in its throes so violent that the company of amateurs did not hesitate to undertake the presentation of "Julius Caesar," and despite the fact that the hall was not a theater and other small obstacles of like nature, but no more deterrent, til" v.lav "went down,” reported the newspapers of the day, "to the satisfaction of a nu merous and splendid audience.” Of the members of the little company one be came governor of Alabama, another United States senator, a third state su- , 4-t-m99-~9 — 9~9~9~9~.9 — 9 — 9—9—9~9-~9~ 9:.9:-9:-9 — House in Which La Fayette Ball promo court judge and a fourth governor of Georgia. It was on March 31 Lafayette reached the banks of the Chattahoochee river, and here at Fort Mitchell, in Russell county, he was met by a body of 300 eihrnp, nf Ab-b-m.., ..iLJ largo number of Indians, who had come hither to conduct him into the town. After witnessing a ball game, the part contributed by the latter to the cele bration, the party proceeded on its way to Montgomery, arriving April 3, and Was Given, Montgomery, Ala. finding the entire population turned out in welcome, swelled by hurftlreds from the surrounding country, the largest crowd ever assembled in Montgomery, it is said, up to that time. They had collected on Goat hill (now ' Capitol lilll.'GoV'min rick, ns mui com., from Cahaba, the then capital, and with all possible enthusiasm they impatiently awaited the approach of the cavalcade, which halted in a sand flat about 100 yards from the hill. Lafayette and es cort, alighting from their carriages and • 9 C -• 9 9 — 9 ••••#■•■• ••• 9■•■9 horses, tlm proeession was formed, and as they marehed to the top of the bill the band played "Hail to the Chief.” while the pure ardor of patriotism and grateful affection which lent a strong, glad note to the cries of welcome that, rent the air, touched the. heart of the Frenchman and bound him anew to a loyal and devoted people. LAVISH HOSPITALITY. Alabama's daughters are hospitable to liie very core of their generous hearts, and their ready hands never tire of lov ing ministrations, as they did for Jeffer son Davis so many years later, so they did for La Fayette In tiiose earlier days of the fine little city. From their own homes they brought of their treasures to lend comfort and adornment to the rooms set aside in Colonel Edmondson's home. There is to he seen today in Montgom ery a handsome mirror, which was loaned by Mrs. John Gindrat, and is now the valued possession of her grand daughter at her home in Goldtbwaite street It was to the residence of Mr. and Mrs. John Gindrat that LaFayette re paired on quitting the ball at II o'clock in the evening, resting before proceeding on his journey, and conversing the while with his host, who was a fluent French scholar. Later in the night he was es corted by a company of citizens through the unlighted street,! to the landing, where, with deep feeling, even with tears, they bade hi»n goodby. That tour of La- Fayette's. the long journeying by tire some stages from one point to another, how fraught with mingled feeling it must have been, for if he was met with joyful accla.m he e is i>M gcdspved with a fervent sorrow. On the eightieth anniversary of this memorable visit to our country, the Ala bama Son s of the Revolution will, in the capitol on old Goat Hill, and in the pres ence of Alabama's representative men :9»-9»-9 — 9' ■9 and women unveil a fitting tablet to com memorate the friendship ti> us of France's noblest son and the undying fealty of our nation. In the evening a colonial ball will be given, and doubtless among the .-ilken gowns and high-he**ied slippers will bo some that danced with tho gallant general at that other ball in the upper story of tlm old Lafayette building, as it came to be called. in an old house in Georgia are china teacups used at the ball and banquet given Lafayette in Augusta, and in tiie attic of this house, in an old trunk, a pair of faced satin slippers, narrow, pointed and tortuous-looking, exactly the me shape on either side, and with high stiff iieel s like little slim blocks of wood. What the wearer suffered can never be known—unless an occasion like this pend ing ball tempt some sweet maid to squeeze her little natural feet into this silken inquisition. Gowns worn at tho ball, too. were long preserved. The lot on which the Lafayette house stood is now occupied by the Yirdon building, a handsome brick structure, one of the many big wholesale houses which crowd the river front, and convert into a busy mart tlie quiet village street where rested the great soldier in the en joyment of hospitality as generous and as fine as greeted him anywhere on these shores, and on ‘.his building will be placed the tablet, a handsome memorial, and one more evidence of Alabama’s lively patriotism. BRIDE AT NIAGARA (From Tlie Baltimore Sun.} A blushing Virginia bride of 19 stood beside lmr youthful husband at the brink of Niagara Falls just as the sun peeped from behind a loud, -udd by eonvc:: ing the glorious cataract into a great rearing mass of dazzling white and throwing a brilliant rainbow through the mists rising from the yawning chasm be neath. It was a sight which Dickens declared indescribable. "My, but ain’t it cute,” she exclaimed. q ...9...9-..99 9’*• 9-m-9'*• 999-*-9>m-9••• 9...9...9*'9-a.9...9^'9-*9-.'9-. , 9.*9'.'9+.9... 9'*‘ 9:‘9‘*.9 ••'9:.9:^9 '••9:. 9 :• 9:-9 :• 9-.'9 9 ..9..-999..-9...9-m-9...9-..9...9-..9 * a 9 9 9 9 ■: 9 ..'9 ■.■9:. 9 9-.' 9... 9-.. 9 9...9-.-9••• 9...99 -.'9...9 .. 9.' 9:-9:-9. 9:-9■•■9 9 ■•■9:. 9:. I John Gaythor and Ufae Galleon ^ By Frank R Stockton (i — 9 9 ..9 .'9~-9-.-9.~9.*9-~9-~9.+9.* 9 IN TWO PARTS—PART 1. Copyright, 1903. OHN GAVTIIER was a gar dener. and he presided over a fine old garden be longing to a fine old house. He was an elderly man. and before he settled down, to the gentle exercise de manded by his fruits, his flowers and his vegetables, lie had been a soldier, a sailor, a ranchman, and. for certain periods of his life, a student. Physically he was a little less prone to activity than in days gone by, but as bis body grew a little indolent, the live liness of bis mind' increased. He had a wonderful memory which, like a witen- haze! twig, in the hands of a man who searches for hidden springs of water, would turn and point exactly as John Gayther wished it. to turn and point, it is possible that a digger might not find tlie waters of truth were he to dig where John Gaytner's memory pointed, but then, diggers do not always dig. There was a little house in the middle of the garden, with a v*jde-outreaehing roof, and under the shade of this, John Gayther was sitting trimming pea-sticks, when there came to him the Daughter of the House. She was not tall; her face was very white, but not pale, and her light hair fluffed itself all about her head, under her wide hat. She wore gold spectacles, which greatly enhanced the effect of her large blue eyes. John thought she was the prettiest flower which had ever showed Itself In that garden. "John.” said she, "I want some new plants for my gold-fish. I don’t like those I have; they’re not pretty, and they don't last. Can't you get me something new, something more delicate and fanci ful, with suggestive tendrils like some sea-weeds?” "I'm not much of a water-gardener,” said John, ”^>ut I have a book which tells about all those thinfs. I don't know that T shall find anything in it about ‘suggestive tendrils,’ but I will find somethin’, and you shall have it. "Talkin’ about water-gardens,” he con tinued, "( wish you could have seen some of tho beautiful ones that I have come across; more beautiful and lovely than anything on the top of the earth, you may be sure of that. I was reminded of them the moment you spoke to me about your gold-fish and their plants.” “Where were these gardens,” asked the young lady, seating herself, "and what’ were they like?” "They were all on the bottom of the sea in tho tropics,” said John Gayther. "where llie water Is so clear that with a little help you can sec everything just as If it were out in the open air—bushes and vines all sorts of tendpr, wavin' plants, all made of sea-weed and coral, growln’ in tlie white sand; and instead of birds fly in' about among their branches there were little fishes of every color— canary-colored fishes, fishes like robin- redbreasts, and others you might have thought were bluejays if they had been up in the air instead of down in the water. And now I come to think of it. there was one particular place where 1 saw more beautiful sights, more grand and wonderful sights, under the water, than I believe anybody ever saw before Would you like me to tell you about it?” "Indeed I would."’ said she, taking off her hat. John now began to sharpen the end or a p 'a-stiek. "It was a good many years ago.” said he, “more than twenty, and J was then a sea farin' man. I was on board a brig, cruisin’ in the West Indies, and we were off Porto Rico, about 20 inili>s northward, 1 should say, when we ran into somethin' in the night—we never could find out what it was—and we stove a big hole in that brig which soon began to let in a good deal more water than we could pump out. The captain, he was a man that knew all about that part of the world, and he told us tliat we must work as hard as we could at the pumps, and if we could keep her afloat until he could run her ashore on a little sandy island lie knew of, not far from St. Thomas, we might be saved.” ‘ Didn’t you have any boats?” asked the young lady. "No,” said John, "we had sold all of them about two months before to a Brit ish merchantman, who had lost her boats In a cyclone. One of the things our captain wanted to get to St. Thomas ror was to buy some more boats. He heard lit could get some cheap ones there. “Well, we pumped and sailed as well as we could, but we hadn’t got anywnere near that sandy island the captain was makin’ for. when one inornin' atur breakfast, our brig, which was pretty low in the water by this time, gave a. little hitch, and if we hadn’t been lively in takin* in all sails there would have been trouble. But the weather was line and the sea was smooth, and when we bad time to think about what had hap pened we were restin’ on the bottom or the sea. just as quiet and tranquil as if we had been a toy ship in a shop win dow. “What we had stuck on was a puzzle, indeed. As I isaid before, our captain knew all about that part of the sea. and, although he knew we were In shallow soundin'*, he was certain that there wasn't any shoal or rock thereabout that he c.ould get stuck on. "We sounded all around the brig, and found lots of water at the stern but not so much forward. IVe were stuck fast on somethin', but nobody could imagine what It was. However, we w’ere not sinking any deeper and that was a com fort, and the captain he believed that it we had boats we could row to St. Thomas, but we didn't have any boats, so we had to make the best of it. He puis up a flag of distress, and waited till some era ft should come along and take us off. "The captain and most of the crew didn’t seem to be troubled about what liaq happened, for .so long as the sea dul noT get. up they could make themselves very comfortable as they wore. "But there were two men on board who didn’t take things easy. They wanted to know what had happened, and tlvej wanted to know! what was likely to happen next. I was one of these men, and a stock-broker from New York was the other. He was an awful nervous, fidgety, meddlin' sort of a man, who was on this cruise for the 1 benefit of lu- health, which must have been pretty wen worn out with howlin', and yellin', and tryiir to catch profits like a lively boy catches Hies. He was always pokin’ Ins nose into all sorts of things that dutn t concern him and spent about half or his time trvin' to talk tlie captain into soilin' liis brig and putting the money into ‘Pacific Lard.’ or it might have been '.Mexican Balloon’ stock, as well as l re member. This man was tinglin’ all over with anxiety to find out what we had stuck on. but as lie could not stick Ins nose Into the water and find out, and as there was nobody to tell him, he had to keep on tanglin'. ”1 was just as anxious to know what it axis the brig was restin' on as the stock broker was, but I had the advan tage of him, for I believed that r could find out, and at any rate I determined to try. Did you ever hear of a water- glass. miss?” “No, I never did,” said the Daughter of tho House, who was listening with great interest. "Well, I will try to describe one to you,” said John Gayther. “You make a light box about 20 inches long and a foot square and with both ends open. Then you get a pane of glass and fasten it securely in one end of this box. Then you've got your water glass, a tail box with a glass bottom. “The way that you use It is this: You get in a boat and put the box in the water, glass bottom down. Then you lean over and put your head into tlie open end, and if you will lay something over tlie back of your head, like a man does when he is takin’ photographs, so as to keep out the light from above it will be all the better. Then, miss, you’d be perfectly amazed at what you could see through that glass at rhe bottom «>f the box. Even in northern regions, where the water is heavy and murky, you can see a good way down, but all about the tropics, where the water is of ten so thin and clear that you can see the bottom in some places with nothin’ but your naked eyes, it is perfectly nmu- in’ what you can see with a water ffl&ft*. It doesn’t seem a bit as if you were lookin’ down into the sea. It is just ■.■9...9:.9:.9:-9:-9-—9-»-9-—9 • ••• • ••• • ••• • ••• 1 like gazin' about in the upper air. If it isn't too deep things on the bottom, fishes swimmin’ about and everything else are just as plain and distinct as if there wasn't any water under you and you were just lookin’ down from the top of a house. “Well. I made up my mind that the only way for me to find out what it was that was under the brig was to make a Wat erg] a ss and look down into the sea. Bn I made one, takin’ care not to let the stock broker know anything about it, for I didn't want any of his meddlin’ in my business. I had to tell the captain, but lie said he would keep his mouth shut, for he didn't like the stock broker any more than I did. "Well, miss. I made that water glass, and when the stock broker was takin' a nap—for he was clean tired out pokin' about and askin’ questions and li vin' to lino out what he might get out of the business if he helped to save the brig • the captain and 1 with a few men quietly let down into the water the aft hatch, one of those big doors they cover the hatchways with, and when that was restin' on the water it made a very good raft for one man. and X got down on it with my water glass and an our. “The first tiling I did, of course, was to paddle around the brig to the place where she had been stove in. She wasn’t leakin’ any more, because tlie water in side of her was just as high as the wa ter outside, so if we could do anything this was tlie time to do it. I looked down into the water on our starboard bow, and I soon found the place where the.brig had been stove in, probably by some water logged piece of wreckage. I located tlie hole exactly, and I report ed to the captain, who was leaning over tlie side. Then I paddled around the brig to see if I could find out what we were restjn' oa. “When I had sunk my water glass well into the water and had got my head into the top of it I looked down on a scene which seemed like fairyland. The corals and water plants of different colors and the white, glistenin’ sand and the fishes, big and little, red. yellow, ink and blue, that I told you of just now. were ail there, and the light down under the wa ter seemed to clear and bright that l could see everything under me that was as big as a pea.” “That must have been an entrancing vision,” said tlie Daughter of tiie House. “Indeed it was,” replied John Gayther. "but would you believe me. miss? I didn’t look at it for more titan half a minute, for when I turned my water glass so that I could see under the brig 1 could not give a thought to anything else in tlie world except the astonishin’ objects our brig was restin’ on. “At first I could not believe my eyes. I paddled around and around and I thrust down my water glass, and I stared and I stared until I fell as if my eyes were cornin’ out of my head. At last I t:-9.'9 — 9 — 9-~9+9—9—9—9 — 9 — 9 « ■.■9—9 — 9 — 9. had to believe what I saw. There was no use tryin' to think that my eyes had made a mistake. It was all just os plain to me as you are now. "Down in the water, restin' on the bot tom of this shallow part of the sea. were two great ships of tlie olden time—ships with enormously high poops, which were the stern parts of old-fashiioned vessels, built way up high, like a four-story house. These two antiquated vessels were lyin’ side by side and close together, with their tall poops reachin' far up to ward the surface of the sea, and right on top of them, restin’ partly on one ship and partly on tlie other, was our brig, just as firmly fixed as if she had been on tlie stocks in a shipyard. "Tlie whole tiling was so wonderful that it nearly took away my breath. 1 got around to tlie stern of the brig, and then j stared down at the two vessels under her until i forgot there was any thing else in this whole world than those two great old-fashioned ships. The more f looked the more certain I became that no such vessels had floated on the top of the sea for, at least, two hundred years. From what I had read about old- time ships and from the pictures 1 had seen of them, I made up my mind that one of these vessels was an old Spanish g.iiiein, and the other one looked to me very much as if it were an English-built ship.” And how did they ever happen to be wrecked there, side by side?” almost gasped tiie young lady. "Oh. they had been figlitin’," said John. I here could be no mistake about that. Tiiey had been figlitin ’each other to tlie death, and they had gone down together, side by side. And, there was our brig, two hundred years afterwards, restin' quietly on top of both of them. ! was still wrapped up. body and soul, in tills wonderful discovery, when 1 heard a. hai! from the stern ot the brig, and there was the stock broker, shoutin’ to me to know what 1 was lookin' at. of toms**, -.hat i#,t an end to my observa tions. and I paddled to the side and got on board. " Lend me that box,’ said tiie stock broker, hind let me get down on your raft, tt hut is it you've been lookin’ at, and what did you see in that box?’ "But he had got hold of tlie wrong man. ‘No, sir,' said 1. ‘Find a box tor yourself if you want one.' And 1 held mine so that he could not see that the bottom of it was glass. Then the cap tain came along and told him not to try ;o get down on that hatch, for if he did he would topple into the water and get himself drowned, which would have been certain to happen, for he couldn't swim. But to make things certaiii. we hauled tlie hatch on board, and I wear below with the captain to his cabin to tell him what I had seen. The stock broker tried awfully hard to come with us. but we wouldn't let him. "When tlie captain had heard all I had to le!i him. he wasn't struck sentiment ally the least bit. as T had been. It didii’t make any more difference to him whether those two ships had been down there 200 years or two years, but there was another part of the affair that was very interestin' to him. “ ‘Gayther,’ said he, ‘it's ten to one that them ships has got treasure aboard, and wiiat we've got to do is to form a company and go to work and get it ’ " ‘And how would you do that?’ said I. “The captain, he was from Province- town, Cape Cod. and it didn’t take him two seconds to work out his whole plan. ‘Tt's this way,' said he: ‘the first thing to do is to form a company. I am president; you can be the other off io ta's. and all the crew shall hold stock. When that's all fixed, we can go to work, and we'll mend that hole in our bow. Now. that we know just where it is, we 11 work day and night in tlie hold, water <>r no water, and we’ll stop up tlte leak, an' we'll pump tlie* brig out and I believe she'll float. Then we'll mark this plac* witli a buoy and we'll sail away as fast as we can. with our company all formed, and everything fixed and settled, an.l then wp'll come back with vessels and machines and we'll get out that treas ure. We'll divide it into three parts. One part shall be mine: one part shall lie yours, and the other part shall go to tlie crew.’ "And how about the stockbroker?’ said I. ‘Goin’ to let him in tlie company?’ “ ‘No, sir." said the captain, bringln’ his fist down on the table. ‘Whatever else happens, he is to be kept out.’ "This was a very fine plan, but it didn't altogether suit me. I didn't want to sail away from that spot and perhaps never see those two ships again. There is no knowin’ what more T might find out with my water glass if that stockbroker could be kept from botherin’ me. “I told the captain this, and he looked hard at me and lie said: ‘It will take a couple of days to mend that leak and to pump out tlie brig. If this fine weather keeps on T think we can do it in that time, and if. while we ate workin’ and pumpin', you choose to try to find out more about them two ships, you can do It.’ “ ‘And how can T do lt?‘ said I. “ ‘If you can go down in a diver’s suit you can do it.' said he. ‘I don't know whether you know anything about that business, but if you want to try I have got a whole kit on board, air pumps, ar mor and everything. It belongs to a diver that was out with me about a year ago in the Gulf of Mexico. He had to go north io attend to sonic business and he told me he would let me know when he would come back and get his dicin' kit. But he hasn’t come back yet. and the whole business is stored away here on board. Do you know anything about goin' down in a divin' suit?' "Now, ] had never done anything in the CONTINUED ON LAST PAGE. 3