Watson's weekly Jeffersonian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1907, June 06, 1907, Page PAGE NINE, Image 9

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ery fight, he usually comes out ahead. There is one entire edition of the Bible which is known as the “Vinegar Bible,” because the printer headlined the weli known chapter in Luke as “The Para ble of the Vinegar”—meaning Vineyard, of course. In McMaster’s “History of the People of the United States,” the author desired to refer to our an cient and heroic friends, the Spar tan band, who defended the Pass of Thermopylae the printer made him say “the Spartan bard.” Ernest Penan was to lecture in Westminster Abbey. London, on the subject, “The Influence of Rome on the Formation of Chris tianity.” The newspapers an nounced the subject as “The In fluence of Rum on the Digestion of Humanity.” Several years before the Civil War. a Southern editor had occa sion to congratulate Genera! Pil low. who had Inst returned from Mev’-n, as “a battle-scarred vet era’-'.” The printer it, “battle scared veteran.” Gen. Pillow, boiling with wrath, rushed to the editorial sanctum for explanations and sat isfaction. The horrified editor promised amends in next morning’s paper. Put the printe 1 * was still on deck, and next morning he had it “bot tle-scared veteran.” Fortunately, nobody was killed. •S * * Editorial Notes. Jesse James, the notorious rob ber, lias a son who has just be come a lawyer. Heredity, you see. The young duck 'makes for the water be cause he can’t help it. Tn Aubrey’s “History of the English People,” it is stated, as a wonderful thing, that the most rapacious of the Norman kings wrung from the helpless Eng lish so great an amount of tri bute that it amounted to $5,000 per day I 'That’s nothing. Rockefell r wrings from the American people a daily tribute of at least ten times that sum. 'The Railroad King says to the Steel Trust Magnate: “You have no competitio and therefore you turn out a poor quality of rails. These rai’s break, and cause thousands cf deaths on the railways.” In answer to this, the Stc 1 'Trust says to the Railroad King : “You are running your road ; so as to earn dividends upon si ■: billion dollars of watered stock : therefore, you buy cheap rail , which you know will not stand the strain. You ought to buy a better quality’ of rail—then vnu would not kill your passengers and employes.” Where lies the Truth in this dispute? WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. There is truth on both sides. It is doubtless true that the Steel Trust, having a monopoly, abuses it. * Lack of competition relieves the mills of the necessity of doing their best. ' There are no rivals who will get the business in case the Trust turns out a sorry prod uct. Consequently, the Trust makes rails to sell, and not to stand the wear and tear of traffic. On the other hand, it is a no torious fact that the railroads have been operated for Dividends to the neglect of every other con sideration, and, therefore, cheap rails have been bought, when a better grade should have been or dered. Brother Tibbles says, in The Investigator: “A great many wrecks have occurred from broken rails, a n d there is a charge made by rail road men that the trust does not furnish rails made according to specifications. Meantime the trust is furnishing rails to the Japanese government at sto per ton less than it sells them in the home market, while Japanese sci entists stand by and see tn it that every rail is perfect. If anv imperfection is discovered bv the Jananese, the rail is rejected a”d goes into the American supply. If it were not for the fact- that all the grafters must stand in to gether, such a state of things would be impossible. The rail roads make no objection to pay ing sto per ton more for rails than they are sold to foreigners, and the tariff grafters make no objection to the railroad methods of fleecing the public.” The National Association of Manufacturers declared in favor of Tariff Revision. Thi'; means that they want cheaper raw ma terials. The shoe manufacturers of Massachusetts, for example, would like to see bides on the Free List, but as to lower dut’es on shoes—oh, never! ■E' ‘ : 5 “ —. n ■■ w • *•’ •• ’• . * ■ ' * ■' J 3 ', ■■ . ■ ’ - >.*s A jp ft z> x £X. JME aiKT - Jk StlS ,j?as* i ■3EBfr_ • ._<«~ g. Mti * O y 39v ... ■ " -aO* wKU- r ,'« -«K. ■ a- I 9 t 1 From Collier’s Weekly. THE FIRST PETIT JURY IMPANELED TO TRY JEFFERSON DAVIS, MAY, 1867. The First Mixed Jury Ever Drawn in the South; Twelve of the Twenty-four Petit Jurors Were Ne groes. This Fact Aroused a Feeling of Intense Bitterness Throughout the South. Story of Jefferson Davis" Capture. (The Macon Telegraph.) The story of the capture of Jeffer son Davis has been told many times, but not always correctly. Formerly, in fact, the chief feature of the tale was a deliberate fabrication, the re sult of a malicious desire to heap obloquy upon a great, but fallen man. But in later years the true story has now been told in the North. A truthful account appeared in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin of May 10, which printed an interview with a local resident, Casper Knobel a former member of the Fourth Michi gan cavalry. Knobel, then only a lad IIIIp* A? JEFFERSON DAVIS. of 18, was with the party that cap tured the president of the Confed eracy. He is thus quoted: “I left Macon, Ga., at 8 o’clock on the morning of May 7, 1865, together with 419 men and twenty officers of the Fourth Michigan cavalry, who were sent out to effect the capture of Davis. After a lot of hard riding and no rest we reached Abbeville on the night of May 9. The next morning at 1 o’clock we learned from a Con federate to whom we represented our selves as a part of the Confederate army, that a party had camped the previous evening about a mile and a half from Abbeville. We knew at once that it was Jeff Davis. We then separated in detachments of fourteen each, the one I was in continuing on the road we had been traveling. “We soon found embers of a dying camp Are. This made us feel sure that we were near the party. It was then about 4 o’clock in the morning and still dark. A thrill went through the company now as some one had to be selected to go on in advance. We knew the camp was guarded, but we know not just how many soldiers there were. It seemed almost certain death to go ahead. At last some one said, ‘Let the Dutchman go.’ T could not understand what was said, but, anyhow, Rinke, the horseshoer of the company told me. “Rinke went with me. We rode along quietly in the darkness until we saw the tents. A colored man left in front of the tent, to guard it. was sound asleep. Rinke and I dis charged our guns and our waiting comrades made a dash for the place. Rinke held my horse while T went up to the tents. I lifted up the flan of the first tent as something told me Jefferson Davis was in there. Sure enough he was. “While the men were making the search Mrs. Davis threw a shaw] over the shoulders of her husband to pro tect him from the raw morning air. From this incident arose the oft-told tale of Davis’ attempt, to flee from the tent In woman’s clothes.” Knobel migM have well added that the seldom-told truth will not Ukelv overtake and displace the “oft-told” H». whom Northern men and women es the older generation aro concerned. Tbev recall ton vlvldiv the nlctures of Jefferson Davis in honn skirts and tb<-> alleged assertions of high armv officers that he was thus clothed when captured. Even so fair-minded a man as Horace Greeley gave space to the story tn his “American Conflict.** and though he did not affirm it nositivelv. admitting that It was denied, was evi dently disposed to believe It. for he remarked that If Davis had succeeded in escaping and the Confederacy had rallied and finally secured Independ ence. the Southern people would have honored their chief for hfs daring and resource In employing such a disguise Neither Mr. Davis nor the nroud and humiliated noonle whom he represent ed would have been disposed to as sent to this. Tt is well that sufficient Northern testimony has been brought forward in recent vears to give the He to a calnmnv which no one now has a right to believe and which will still be be lieved onlv by narrow partisans. PAGE NINE