Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 29.djvu/19

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In Memory of Jefferson Darts. 7

Mrs. J. D. Weir, Recording Secretary; Miss Cockle, Corresponding Secretary.

Delightful refreshments were served. The committee on arrange- ments and decorations were: Mrs. E. R. Corkele, Mrs. A. W. Roberts, Miss Edith Palfrey, Mrs. J. F. Spearing, Miss E. P. Thomp- son, Mrs. J. W. Carnahan.

Entertainment Committee Mmes. M. A. Farwood, W. J. Morgan, W. H. Williams, W. J. Hammond, Margaret Hunt Brisbane.

Reception Committee Colonel Louis P. Briant, Colonel J. W. Carnahan, Captain B. T. Walshe, Prof. John Dimitry, J. Zach. Spearing.

THE LADIES' CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION LISTENS TO A MASTERLY ORATION BY JUDGE CHARLES E. FENNER.

The crowning event of this beautiful and memorable day was the celebration held at night at Memorial Hall by that veteran organiza- tion, the Ladies' Confederate Memorial Association. Within that hall hallowed by so many precious memories, with the sacred battle flags floating all around, with the portraits of the immortal leaders of the Confederacy smiling from the walls, and everywhere the holy tro- phies and relics of a time that can never fade, the battle-scarred veterans gathered at the call of the noble women of the Memorial Association and just as this old and honored body pinned the colors of the Confederacy on the Louisiana boys who marched forth to death and glory at the first call to arms, just as they watched and waited and wept with them through all the dark days that followed, so now after the lapse of nearly forty years the organization, with its ranks thinned of those early workers, but with their noble daugh- ters taking their places, again stood with the veterans, this time to renew the past, and, above all, the glorious history of the immortal chieftian who stood for all that the Confederacy represented, Jeffer- son Davis.

The hall was packed to the very doors; from the stepson the plat- form to the extreme end of the hall standing-room was impossible. It was a magnificient audience, representing the talent, the chivalry, the glory of the South's best heroes, and its most loyal and patriotic women.

The hall was brilliantly illuminated. Upon the platform stood two pictures of Jefferson Davis, the one entwined with the army, the other with the navy colors. Above was suspended a wreath of ivy,