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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY, JUKE 1, 1907.
GEORGIA IN HALL OF FAME;
BUSTS OF TWO GREAT MEN
Stephens and Long
Chosen for State’s
Honors.
An effort will be made during the
coming session of the general assembly
to take the necessary steps toward
placing In Statuary hall. In the capitol
Id Washington. < choice tor
these places of honor—Alexander Ham
ilton Stephens and Dr. Crawford W.
Long.
Georgia's choice was made some time
ago, but since then no definite steps
have been taken toward providing tai
the statues. It Is probable that definite
direction will be given It during the
coming session of the general assem
bly.
The selections represent two distinct
types. One peerless In the field of
statesmanship, the other world-famed
In the field of science. It Is a singu
lar fact also that they were classmates
In the University of Georgia.
Alexander H. Stephens.
Stephens was perhaps one of the
most unique characters portrayed In
the political history of this rourtlry.
He was vice president of the Confed
eracy, a member of congress and gov
ernor of his state, and during much of
that time was a physical wreck, al
though mentally a giant In strength.
Stephens' grandfather, Alexander Ste
phens, was an Englishman, who set
tled In the Penn colony In 1746, and
was engaged In several conflicts with
the Indians and In the old French war,
serving under Colonel George Washing
ton. The son, then known also as
Alexander Stephens, became an orphan
at the age of 15 years. Ho took the'
middle name of Hamilton from the
Hev. Alexander Hamilton Webster, who
became his tutor after the death of his
father, and who was much Interested
In his career. He accepted an offer of
the rreehyterian Educational Society
to send him to college, with the un
derstanding that he would refund an
amount sufficient to pay for his edu
ration If he changed his inlnd about
becoming a minister. He paid the cost
rtf Ids education as soon os he could
earn the money. In that way he wns
graduated from Franklin College, now
the State University of Georgia.
Stephens’ Great Scholarship.
He was In very delicate health, but
his scholarship attracted attention.
After two months of the study of law
he passed what was declared to be the
best examination his examiners had
ever supervised. In laid he entered
the lower house of the legislature of
Georgia. Hurcesses both In Ills profes
sion and In the political field followed
fust. He was bold In his advocacy of
measures that were of doubtful popu
larity.
Stephens had great physical courage,
which showed Itself by a total Indif
ference to consequences, which was
manifested In his encounter with Judge
Cone, who had cut him terribly with a
knife, and whrn about to bring the
blado to his throat, with the threat,
"Retreat or I’ll cut your throat." re
ceive<1 the reply from Rtephens, "Then
rut.” Hut before he rould execute his
threat Stephens seised the blade In his
right hand, which was forever disabled,
so that he could never again write
easily.
In 1550 Mr. Stephens opposed the se
cession movement In the South. In
185* he retired from congress and made
a speech, declaring thnt the only way
to get moro slaves wns to reopen the
African slave trade, and In that way
control the territories by means of
slave-holding voles. He always sup-
portrd his contentions with strong rea-
CRAWFORD W. LONG.
sons that carried great weight.
Vice President of Confederacy.
In 185* he made a union speech, and
the next year became vice president of
the Confederacy. In 1886 he was at
the head of the peace commission on
the part of the Confederate government
In the Hampton Roads conference.
After the close of the war he was ar
rested and ronflned for five months In
Fort Warren, Ronton harbor, as a
R rlsoner of state. He was released on
Is own parole, and made a reconstruc
tion speech. In 1817 he published the
first volume of his “War Between the
Hlutes." After that he was confined
to his house four years by rheumu
tlsm. ltut he continued active In liter
ary work and In the field of politics.
He was defeated for a seat In the
United Btates senate In 1871, but was
elected to congress In 1874. In 1880 he
was elected governor of Georgia. He
died In 1888. During the lutter part
of his career ’he walked only on
crutches, and his health was extremely
poor, hut It nppeared not to affect the
vigor of his Intellect. -
Discoverer of Anaesthesia.
Dr. Crawford W. Long la probably
most prominently known ns the dis
coverer of anaesthesia, hla right to that
claim being almost universally recog
nised. The fame of Dr. Long has been
commemorated In many ways In his
state, and the decision made to have
his statue at the national capitol seems
but a natural outcome of the contin
ued honors that have been showered
upon him. Dr. Long flrxt used an on-
GETTING NEWS IN OLD DA YS
BEFORE TELEPHONES CAME IN
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
aesthetic March 30, 1*42, at Jefferson,
where a monument marks the spot on
which he used It In operating upon a
patient.
His patient was James Venable, from
whose neck several virulent tumors
were removed. Dr. Long employed sul
phuric ether and about the same time
operated In a similar manner upon oth
er patients without causing them phys
ical pain. It was not until four years
later that Dr. Morton, of Massachusetts,
had one of Ills own teeth extracted
painlessly while under the Influence of
other.
Five years after Dr. Long’s first
painless operation. Sir James Y. Simp
son. of Kdlnburgh, used a preparation
of chloroform as an anaesthetic In his
practice.
Result of Observation.
Dr. Idong's discovery resulted from
observing a subject under the Influ
ence of ether which was given him os
means of observing hls queer an
tics. At that time he observed that
the subject seemed to be oblivious to
pain, and the thought occurred to him
that a surgical operation might be per
formed upon a patient under that In
fluence without giving pain.
Reside hls great eminence as a sur
geon. Dr. Long possessed an attractive
personality. He loved harmless fun,
and was extremely companionable. He
loved the simple pleasures of the
home, and was fond of. reading hls fa
vorite authors to members of hls fami
ly. Like hls distinguished friend, Alex
ander Hamilton Stephens, he opposed
secession, -but when it came he sup
ported hls state.
Dr. Long died when *2 years of age.
being engaged in the practice of hls
profession until the end came. IJe died
lit# rally while "In harness." At
newspaper readers thirty years ago was
not the same proposition as It Is todsy.
There were no telephone and Interurl
trolley Hues to help oat In n pinch.
Neither were there any automobiles to
whisk a reporter to the scene of s crime
or disaster at neck-onilanurrlnf: speed to
get the facts for an "extra" hot from tho
toss. In fact, "extras" were almost an
Innta reporter, and Mayor Ilrldgrs BalUk,
of Macon, who Jumped the newspaper game
some years ago. but who recently went
back Into harness on The Macon Tele
graph.
Few men can relate more Interesting
anil thrilling experiences than old newsiui-
per men. and of this class "Bruff" and
midges Smith bare as many as the next
to their credit
They bare been In places where their
lives were not worth a plugged pewter
nny, and they hare stories to their credit
■t many others fell down on at the time.
Way back la 1879, t«otb Braff and Bridges
Smith were working In Atlanta together.
But they were on different afternoon pa
pers. and. although close friends, they
fought earb other when It came to serving
heir papers. -
On Old-Time Papers,
nruff was working on Tho Atlanta Post,
an nfternoon no per owned by Colonel E.
Y. Clarke, ana Bridges Smith was holdlug
down a Job on The Atlanta Dispatch, own
ed by Henry Dixon, when the town was
startled by the news that «*ld man DeFoor
and hls wife bad been butchered In their
home near Bolton. What happened after
ward when these two hustling reporters
were sent out on the story Is told today
by Mayor Hmith wb«n Anybody tells him
Bruffey asked to be rctncmlwrcd to him.
It was a time when Bruffey handed him
a ripe lemon, although they did not kuow
what that meant In those days.
Old man DeFoor and bis wife Ured on
the Chattahoochee, near Bolton. Their
sons and tbelr families lived near by. One
morning It was noticed that the old man's
bouse had not been opened, and an tnrfw-
tlgatlon disclosed, the fact that the old
couple bad been \bopped to pieces with
an ax.
Hustle for the News.
The nows finally filtered Into Atlanta,
about 8 miles distant, nnd there was a hus
tle In tho city editors’ rooms of The Dis
patch nnd The Dost. Bruff was the star
reporter on The Post, while Bridges Smith
wns considered the swell man on The Dts-
P Now, The Dispatch woa credited with bav-
Tbe Poet, so Bridged Smith was commis
sioned to hire a horse and buggy and hus
tle out to the scene of the crime. It was
the quickest way to get there, for there
was nothing doing In street cars nor au
tomobiles.
When Bruff was put on the Job, nothing
wan said about hiring a horse and buggy,
and It wan up to him to hoof It out to the
Chattahoochee. It was then about 8 o’clock
In the morning, and Bruffey was wonder
ing how he could walk to the scene of the
crime, get hls story nnd walk back again
in time to get It in the paper the same
afternoon.
In rain did be look for a farm wagon
going out that way, but they were all
coming In.. He thought It over, but he
could not solve the problem. Then Bridges
Smith drove along tvith a prancing horse.
Tbs minute the future mayor of Macon
saw Bruffey hitting It along the sidewalk,
tie knew bis friend wns on the Job for
The Post. lie knew, too, that Bruff had
n slim chance of walking out to the river
and bark In time to get the story in the
paper that afternoon. lie Just could not
resist the temptation. 8o be whipped up
bis horse and sticking bis bead out the
buggy top, he gave Bruffey what might bo
termed In later days the "high sign. He
handed him the merry ha! ha!—and to
Bruffey It sounded like n horse laugh.
And nstthc sound of the Jibe was Bmotli-
-ved by the thud of Bridges Smith's horse
galloping up Broad street, Bruffey felt
wire, nnd wished lie worked for a paper
that could hire n horse and buggy.
How "Bruff” Got Even. v
For quite k distance, Bridges Smith kent
bis horse going at a
the story today, be felt »•"•••. ana
„„ glSd fwunStoW Bruffey ou the
biggest story the town !u»d turned' loose In
a month of Hnnduys. He Imagined bow The
Post would look without the DeFoor mur
der story, and then thought how well bis
storr would look lu Tho Dispatch under
b1 FhiMlly l, the < house where the murder was
committed loomed Into view. There was
a morbid crowd of onlookers about the
door, but not one of this crowd w f * *"**[■:
paper roan. He pallet! up Wa horse with
that feeling a newspaper man has when
he thinks he has au exclusive piece of
Tnd as I." /topped hie bone. Bniffey ran
ahead of him and forged hls way Into the
Tw rlilii™ out hnndng on th. h.rt
of the buggy hired for Bridges Smith by
*Bot fffVhe tiny home he ant by the side
of Bridges Smith on the buggy seat.
HAD BEEN HANGED BY MOB
BUT HE LIVED TO ESCAPE
Few hospital* enn rreonl the fact of hnv- So it daylight an Investigation wn« made
In, bod a putlent nJMtvJipuHenepcMj | .nd- „„„ A „ t „ mlnll „ on
from inenlnxtll. nnd from Ihe effect* of tie-
in, lynched. Fewer ,1111 can record a pa
tient almost dead from tbl* singular rotnld-
oatlnn. who ha. disappeared completely and
of whom there waa nerer found a trace.
Vet the Macon Hospital can.
The eleventh annual report of thll excel
lent Institution hna Jn,t been sent out. iinil
although It tells of ttisgnltlccnt growth and
good work done, there I, nethlnx about the
•insular myitery surroundln, the patient
■ 'ynehed and who
Ingltla.
Jngei
tendent of the
waa nearly
dead from raenlngltle.
Dot Hr. Eugene B. Elder, soncrnlsuporln
... .„ Institution, remembers Ihe
mystrrtnns disappearance of hls patient and
he will tell the story wbeu lu a rerololacoot
It was almut two years ago that an el
derly woman In Jones county, near Macon,
waa attacked by a ne,ro. Vine slorlea
were printed In the newspaper* of a negro
ladn, chased nnd raptured, and while these
slorlea did not say so people In the vicinity
of I ho crime Intimated alron,ly that the
guilty ne,ro had lieen caught and dangled
at Ihe end of a rope.
Found Rope's Victim.
The day after this hlnted-at lynching, a
farmer drlrln. Into Macon heard ,nmna
near the roadside. He stopped hla mules,
and upon Investigating found a ne,ro lying
In tho hushes off from the road In au un
conscious condition, lie dldu't know any
thin, to do except take him to the hospital
In Macon.
The itroanln, negro was received at the
hospital, and Dr. Elder became satisfied
that Ihe negro was snfferlog from menin
gitis, hut he was at a loss to account for
the lacerations on the negro's throat They
did not look Ilka knife cuts. They looked
like the sklu and flesh had been scmiM‘,1 or
lorn.
Uke n Itnih the reason earn, to Dr. Elder.
illy while "In harness.” At the
time of hls death he did not know that
the priority of hls claim as the discov
erer of anaesthesia would be ,o widely
rrcoitnlxed as It la at this time. The
dispute over the Identity of the dla
coverer of anaesthesia occupied con'
Kress, but was not settled during the
lifetime of Dr. Long.
The Early Bird.
Bishop Brewster, of Connecticut, la noted
for hls funny slorlea and hi* latest ls said
to he about an old reprobate who decided
to repent, and announced to every one that
whatever wrong he had dons should be
made right. So a nan whom he had cheat
ed mil of a large sum of mooey went
around at mklalght to demand It.
"But what did yon come at this honr for.
and wake me up? Why nut watt till to-
lorrowr said ihe old .Inner, crossly.
“I r-PUed the man, “to avoid
the rush."-Harper's Weekly. •
During the ilay the negro regained roa-
srlonsnesa, hut because of the condition of
hla throat he coaid not talk. Any attempt
to question him produced a singular effect
The negro would stare at hla qnestloaer,
hie eyes starting front their aocketa and
terror written on hls every fretnre. Each
opening and closing of the door In
ward produced the aame effect.
A description of the grin In tb
with that of the negro who was I
have committed the Jones coat.,
tallied. Ho stron, were this and other ctr-
enmatanres In favor of this by
Dr. Elder became convinced
tlent waa the negro who had I .
and that he had afterward been cut down
by friends when tb* mob had left tho
scene of the lynching.
Developed Meningitis.
That afternoon tho negro lapsed again
Into unconsciousness, and because of the
feet that meningitis had also developed Dr.
Elder removed hla patient Into a house In
the hospital yard, where ho would he away
from the other patients.
It was l
natural can Dr. Elder i
Ion that the negro won
The patient was gone.
the ground In the yard showed the track*
of one man. The police were notified nnd
every effort was made to ascertain the
whereabouts of the patient
Patient Disappeared.
Many theories were advanced. Some of
Ihe official* thought -members of the mob
had learned of the negro's miraculous es
cape from death and bad followed him to
the hospital to make sure of the Job. Oth
ers were Inclined to the belief that the
negro regnlnetl consciousness and escaped
from the hospital, fearing another attempt
and a ancscaaful one, would be made lo
lynch him.
But notwithstanding the efforts of Ihe
entire police department, net a trace of the
negro wns found Afterward. Ills former
home was watched, but he never went
Ihero.
The only thing thnt seemed to substan
tiate the belief that the negro eara|>rd was
that several months afterward hls ramlly
left Jones county for unknown parts.
If the negro escaped and later sent for
hla family. Dr. Elder wonders how a man
‘ ‘ng from meningitis and from the effects
bavin, been hanged by the neck conld
And
Atlanta s Mark
On New Stamps
Did yon know that the stamp* of Undo
Sam to be sold In Atlanta at an early
dale will have woven Into the design the
•me of Atlanta?
If not It’s time to "get wise” to this
fact. The poatofflee department of the
government baa decided upon twenty-six
cities of the conotry which will be ao hon
ored, and. needless to my, Atlanta la right
there In the midst of them.
Special stamps will soon be auppllcd to
5,000 dtles of the country, with the names
of the respective cities Impressed thereon.
Only In twenty-six dtles, however, will the
name he woven Into the design.
This cos tom of supplying special stamps
to the different dues has never been fol
lowed to any extent in this country, bat Is
Jj«Ua tho thing In Mexico end other coun-
Just when the new system will be I ns neu
ral ed In America has not been announced.
I*ook out for the Atlanta stamp.
. There'S a reason for tho now scheme.
Stamps are often stolen lo big quantities,
and afterward sobl. If the name of tho city
appears It makes It coaler to traco the
origin of the stomps and find s clew.
Both in and Out
The Needy One-I say, old man, conld
you lend ms s dollar for o day or two?*
. Tbs Other One-My dear follow, tho dol
lar I lend Is out at Present, and I've sev
eral name* down for It when It comes back.
•-Harper s Weekly, .