Read Ebook: The Taylor-Trotwood Magazine Vol. IV No. 5 February 1907 by Various

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Not exactly clear in my mind what I intended to do, I ran across to the old log Shiloh Church, which stood on the flank of my father's regiment. On my right the battle was raging with great ferocity, and stretching away to my left and front one of the most beautiful pageants I have ever beheld in war was being presented. In the very midst of the thick wood and rank undergrowth of the locality was what is known as a "deadening," a vast, open, unfenced district, grown up with rank, dry grass, dotted here and there with blasted trees, as though some farmer had attempted to clear a farm for himself and had abandoned the undertaking in disgust. From out of the edge of this great opening came regiment after regiment, and brigade after brigade of the Confederate troops. The sun was just rising in their front, and the glittering of their arms and equipments made a gorgeous spectacle for me. On the farther edge of this opening, two brigades of Sherman's command were drawn up to receive the onslaught. As the Confederates sprang into this field, they poured out their deadly fire, and, half obscured by their smoke, advanced as they fired. My position behind the old log church was a good one for observation. I had just seen General Sherman and his staff pushing across to the Buckland brigade. The splendid soldier, erect in his saddle, looked a veritable war eagle, and I knew history was being made in that immediate neighborhood. Just then a field battery from Illinois, which had been cantoned a short distance in the rear, came galloping up with six guns and unlimbered three of them between Shiloh Church and the left flank of the Seventieth Ohio. This evolution was gallantly performed. The first shot from this battery, directed against the enemy on the right opposite, drew the fire of a Confederate battery and the old log church came in for a share of its compliments. This duel had not lasted more than ten minutes when a Confederate shell struck a caisson in our battery and an explosion took place, which made things in that spot exceedingly uncomfortable. The captain was killed, and his lieutenant, thinking he had done his duty, and, doubtless, satisfied in his own mind that the war was over so far as he was concerned, limbered up his remaining pieces, and, with such horses as he had, galloped to the rear and was not seen at any other time, I believe, during the two days' engagement.

"I belong to Ohio," was my reply.

"Well, Ohio is making a bad show of herself here to-day," he said. "I have seen stragglers from a dozen Ohio regiments going past here for half an hour. Ohio expects better work from her sons than this." As I was one of Ohio's youngest sons, my state pride was touched. "Do you want to come and fight with us?" he asked. I responded that I was willing to take a temporary berth in his regiment. He asked me my name and especially inquired whether I had any friends on the field. I gave him my father's name and regiment, and saw him make a careful entry in a little pass book, which he afterward placed in the bosom of his coat, as he rather sympathetically informed me that he would see, in case anything should happen to me, that my friends should know of it. Thus I became temporarily attached to Company B, of the Ninth Illinois Regiment, McArthur's brigade. Several other men from other regiments who had been touched by this young officer's patriotic appeals also took places in our ranks.

Rather a strange situation that for a boy--enlisting on a battle field, in a command where there was not a face that he had ever seen before; only one face indeed, that had the least touch of sympathy in it, and that belonging to the young officer who had mustered him.

It was at this point that our blue line first wavered. Out of the ravine, over the bank, we survivors poured, pursued by the howling enemy. I remember my horror at the thought of being shot in the back, as I retreated from the top of the bank and galloped as gracefully as I could with the refluent human tide. Just by my side ran a youthful soldier, perhaps three years my senior, who might, for all I knew, have been recruited as I was. I heard him give a scream of agony, and, turning, saw him dragging one of his legs, which I saw in an instant had been shattered by a bullet. He had dropped his rifle, and as I ran to his support he fell upon my shoulder, and begged me, for God's sake, to help him. I half carried him for some distance, still holding to my Enfield rifle, with its beautiful curly stock, and then, seeing that I must either give up the role of good Samaritan or drop the rifle, I threw it down and continued to aid my unfortunate companion. All this time the bullets were whistling more fiercely than at any time during the engagement, and the woods were filled with flying men, who, to all appearances, had no intention of rallying on that side of the Tennessee River. My companion was growing weaker all the while, and finally I set him down beside a tree, with his back toward the enemy, and watched him for a few moments, until I saw that he was slowly bleeding to death. I knew nothing of surgery at that time, and did not even know how to staunch the flow of blood. I called to a soldier who was passing, but he gave no heed. A second came, stood for a moment, simply remarked "he's a dead man," and passed on. I saw the poor fellow die without being able to render the slightest assistance. Passing on, I was soon out of range of the enemy, and in a moment I realized how utterly famished and worn out I was. My thirst was something absolutely appalling. I saw a soldier sitting upon the rough stump of a tree gazing toward the battle, and, observing that he had a canteen, I ran to him and begged him for a drink. He invited me to help myself. I kneeled beside the stump, and, taking his canteen, drained it to the last drop. He did not even deign to look at me during the performance, but he anxiously inquired how the battle was going in the front. I gave him information which did not please him in the least, and moved on toward the point known as the landing, toward which all our fugitives seemed to be tending. But my friend on the stump--I shall never forget him. How gratefully I remember that drink of warm water from his rusty canteen! Bless his military soul, he probably never knew what a kindness he rendered me!

A short distance beyond the place where I had obtained my water supply I found a squadron of jaded cavalry drawn up, and engaged in the interesting work of stopping stragglers. In the crowd of fear-stricken and dejected soldiers I found there, I saw a man who belonged to my father's regiment; I recognized him by the letters and number on his hat. Inquiring the fate of the regiment, he told me that it had been entirely cut to pieces, and that he had personally witnessed the death of my father--he had seen him shot from his horse. This intelligence filled me with dismay, and I then determined, non-combatant that I was, that I would retire from that battlefield. Watching my opportunity, I joined an ambulance which was passing, loaded with wounded, and by some means escaped the vigilance of the cavalrymen, who seemed to be almost too badly scared to be on any sort of duty. When through this line, I pushed my way on down past the point where stragglers were being impressed and forced to carry sand bags up from the river, to aid in the construction of batteries for some heavy guns which had been brought up from the transports. I passed these temporary works, by the old warehouse, turned into a temporary field hospital, where hundreds of wounded men, brought down in wagons and ambulances, were being unloaded, and where their arms and legs were being cut off and thrown out to form gory, ghastly heaps. I made my way down the plateau overlooking the river. Below lay thirty transports at least, all being loaded with the wounded. All around me were baggage wagons, mule teams, disabled artillery teams, and thousands of panic-stricken men. I saw, here and there, officers gathering these men together into volunteer companies, and marching them away to the scene of battle. It took a vast amount of pleading to organize a company of even fifteen or twenty, and I was particularly struck by the number of officers who were engaged in this interesting occupation. It seemed to me that they were out of all proportion to the number of fugitives in the vicinity. While sitting on the bank, overlooking the road below, between the beach and the river, I saw General Grant. I had seen him the day before review his troops on the Purdy road, while a company of Confederate cavalrymen, a detachment of Johnston's army, watched the performance from a skirt of woods some two miles away. When I saw him at this moment he was doing his utmost to rally his troops for another effort. It must have been about half past four in the afternoon. The General rode to the landing, accompanied by his staff and a bodyguard of twenty-five or thirty cavalrymen. I heard him begging the stragglers to go back and make one more effort to redeem themselves, accompanying his pleadings with the announcement that reinforcements would soon be on the field, and that he did not want to see his men disgraced. Again I heard him proclaim that if the stragglers before him did not return to their commands he would send his cavalry down to drive them out. In less than fifteen minutes his words were made good. A squadron of cavalry, divided at either end of the landing, and riding towards each other with drawn sabres, drove away every man found between the steep bank and the river. The majority of the skulkers climbed up the bank, hanging by the roots of the trees, and in less than ten minutes after the cavalry had passed, they were back in their old places. I never saw General Grant again until I saw him as President of the United States.

At 10 o'clock, the sound of the battle indicated that our lines were being pushed forward, and I made up my mind to go to the front. I started with my companion, and in a very short time we began to see about us traces of the terrible battle of the day before. We were then on the ground which had been fought over late Sunday evening. The underbrush had literally been mowed off by the bullets and great trees had been shattered by the terrible artillery fire. In places, the bodies of the slain lay upon the ground so thick that I could step from one to the other. This without exaggeration. The pallid faces of the dead men in blue were scattered among the blackened corpses of the enemy. This to me was a horrible revelation, and I have never yet heard a scientific explanation of why the majority of the dead Confederates on that field turned black. All the bodies had been stripped of their valuables, and scarcely a pair of boots or shoes could be found upon the feet of the dead. In most instances, pockets had been cut open, and one of the pathetic sights that I remember was a poor Confederate, lying on his back, while by his side was a heap of ginger cakes and sausage, which had tumbled out of his trousers pockets, cut by some infamous thief. The unfortunate man had evidently filled his pocket the day before with the edibles, found in some sutler's tent, and had been killed before he had an opportunity to enjoy his bountiful store. There was something so sad about this that it brought tears to my eyes. Farther on I passed by the road the corpse of a beautiful boy in gray, who lay with his blonde curls scattered about his face, and his hands folded peacefully across his breast. He was clad in a bright and neat uniform, well garnished with gold, which seemed to tell the story of a loving mother and sisters who had sent their household pet to the field of war. His neat little hat lying beside him bore the number of a Georgia regiment, embroidered, I am sure, by some tender fingers, and his waxen face, washed by the rain of the night before, was that of one who had fallen asleep, dreaming of loved ones who waited his coming in some anxious home. He was about my age. He may have been a drummer! At the sight of that poor boy's corpse I burst into tears, and started on. Here beside a great oak tree I counted the corpses of fifteen men. One of them sat stark against the tree, and the others lay about as though during the night, suffering from wounds, they had crawled together for mutual assistance and there had died. The blue and the gray were mingled together. This peculiarity I observed all over the field. It was no uncommon thing to see the bodies of Federal and Confederate lying side by side as though they had bled to death, while trying to aid each other. In one spot I saw an entire battery of Federal artillery, which had been dismantled in Sunday's fight, every horse of which had been killed in his harness, every tumbrel of which had been broken, every gun of which had been dismounted, and in this awful heap of death lay the bodies of dozens of cannoneers. One dismounted gun was absolutely spattered with the blood and brains of the men who had served it. Here and there in the field, standing in the mud, were the most piteous sights of all the battlefield--poor, wounded horses, their heads drooping, their eyes glassy and gummy, waiting for the slow coming of death, or for some friendly hand to end their misery. How those helpless brutes spoke in pleading testimony of the horror, the barbarism and the uselessness of war! No painter ever did justice to a battlefield such as this, I am sure.

As I pushed onward to the front, I passed the ambulances and the wagons bringing back the wounded, and talked with the poor, bleeding fellows who were hobbling toward the river, along the awful roads or through the dismal chaparral. They all brought news of victory. Toward evening I found myself in the neighborhood of the old Shiloh Church, but could get no tidings of my father's regiment. Night came on and I lay down and fell asleep at the foot of a tree, having gathered up a blanket soaked with water, which I could only use for a pillow. It rained all night. The battle had practically ended at 4 o'clock that evening, and the enemy had slowly and silently withdrawn toward Corinth. Next morning I learned that my father's regiment had been sent in pursuit of the enemy, and nobody could tell when it would return. I found the camp, and oh, what desolation reigned there! Every tent had been pillaged, and in my father's headquarters, the gentlemen of the enemy who had camped there two nights before had left a duplicate of nearly everything they had taken. They had exchanged their dirty blankets for clean ones, and had left their old, worn brogans in the place of boots and shoes which they had appropriated, and all about were the evidences of the feasting that had gone on during that one night of glorious possession. I remained there during the day, and late that evening the Seventieth Ohio came back to its deserted quarters after three days and two nights of most terrible fighting and campaigning.

At its head rode my father, whom I had supposed to be dead, pale, haggard and worn, but unscathed. He had not seen me nor heard of me for sixty hours. He dismounted, and, taking me in his arms, gave me the most affectionate embrace my life had ever known, and I realized then how deeply he loved me. That night we stayed in the old bullet ridden and shot torn tent and told of our adventures, and the next day I had the pleasure of hearing General Sherman compliment my father for his bravery, and say, "Colonel, you have been worth your weight in gold to me."

Many years after, speaking one day to General Sherman, I asked him,

"What do you regard as the bloodiest and most sanguinary battle of the Civil War?"

"Shiloh," was the prompt response.

And in this opinion I heartily concur.

NOTE--The killed and wounded in the two days' Battle of Shiloh numbered nearly twenty thousand Federals and Confederates, or about thirty per cent of the entire number engaged. These figures become the more significant when it is remembered that a very large proportion of the troops engaged on both sides were absolutely raw and were at Shiloh in their first baptism of fire. These losses again become most significant when compared with the losses in the world's most noted battles. Waterloo is considered one of the most desperate and bloody fields chronicled in European history, and yet Wellington's casualties were less than twelve per cent. In the great battles of Marengo and Austerlitz, sanguinary as they were, Napoleon lost less than fifteen per cent, while at Shiloh, Americans fighting against Americans, the killed and wounded numbered more than twice the casualties of the Duke of Wellington's Army at Waterloo.

SATAN FISHING

Ole Satan went a fishin' when de Lawd he fus' made man, En all de fish dat cum his way he never fail to lan'. He had all diff'unt kind er bait to suit dey appetite, En all de patience in de worl' to wait fer dem to bite; He cotch Eve wid a apple, en ole Adam wid de core, Changed his bait en went on fishin', en he kep' a-ketchin' more; De sinners breed tremendous fas' en cum a-swimmin' by, He drap de hook, dey dive en bite, he lan' 'um high en dry.

En he sets dar still a-fishin', wid a wicked, sinful look, En des to hoodoo niggers, he hangs chickens on his hook, Er a great, big watermelon, er a white man's 'tater hill, Er sump'n des ez certain ter be swallered pas' de gill. So mo'ners, turn yo' haids away, keep lookin' to de right, Ef yo' never fools aroun' de bait you'll never want to bite; Turn f'um de things dat tempt de flesh en watch out fer yo' souls En yo' won't be 'mungst de suckers dat he fries upon de coals!

AMERICANS AT THE PEACE CONGRESS

Secretary of the American Delegation

The fourteenth Session of the Interparliamentary Union was notable in many respects. First, it was held in the capital of the greatest country in the world, not only in its area, but in the fact that it is the oldest representative of the idea of Parliamentary Government. It was in the year 1253 that the first Representative Parliament of England assembled at London. This was the first appearance of this idea in the presence of the royal families which were then reigning in Europe. Indeed, it may be properly called the first appearance of this idea in the modern political world, though of course parliaments have existed in other parts of the world in previous centuries. But between those early efforts at democratic government and the modern regime, a long period of darkness came over the world, and it is perhaps safe to say that the modern era in the political world began with the assembling of the first Representative Parliament in England.

The fundamental idea of democracy is government in the affairs of to-day by persons who are elected by the people of to-day, whereas the fundamental proposition in all other forms of government is that the people of the past have a right to impose their ideas upon the people of the present, through the form of hereditary office-holding and established religious organizations. This being true, it is nothing but right that the United States should be strongly represented at this great conference composed of the people's representatives from practically every nation in the world. The United States Congress has been represented by a delegation at only three previous conferences of the Interparliamentary Union, namely, the one at St. Louis, in 1904; the one at Brussels, in 1905; and the present one. At each of these, except this present one, the Democratic side of the American delegation has been much weaker than the Republican side, there being as a rule only a few Democrats in the delegation, and in no case a Democrat of national reputation. The Democratic side of the delegation at this fourteenth conference of the Interparliamentary Union was as large in numbers as the Republican side, and contained the leader of the Democratic party in Congress, Mr. John Sharpe Williams, and the leader of the Democratic party in this country, Hon. W. J. Bryan. This fact is of great importance to the cause of international arbitration, not only in the United States, but also in Europe, because it has resulted in perfect unity between Mr. Bartholdt, who is a Republican, and the leaders of the Democratic party in the United States. Mr. Bartholdt has taken the lead in this progressive movement, not only among the law-makers of the United States, but of the whole world, by calling for a second conference at The Hague, and by putting forward a proposition which has now received the express approval of the ablest leaders of the Democratic party in the United States. Both Mr. Williams and Mr. Bryan have expressly and powerfully espoused the ideas which Mr. Bartholdt has put forward, and which have now received the sanction of the Interparliamentary Conference. Furthermore, both Mr. Williams and Mr. Bryan have come forward with propositions of their own. With Mr. Roosevelt already committed to the plans of the Interparliamentary Union, and with the probable Democratic candidate at the next election committed even more strongly, the lovers of peace and justice in the Old and in the New World have a right to count absolutely upon the support of the next President of the United States, not only for these progressive steps toward permanent peace which have heretofore been advocated in Europe, but for more advanced steps than were deemed practical at any time in the past, either in Europe or America.

In the Interparliamentary Union we have an organization composed of the most progressive statesmen in all the law-making bodies of the world, and they have been guided with remarkable wisdom to the declaration of a policy against which no sound argument can be raised, because it calls for arriving at the ultimate aim of permanent peace, by walking in the way that leads there, and by taking each step in due order. Thus no existing condition is ignored, however much we may be opposed to it as a permanent fact. Take, for instance, the question in regard to the arrest or limitation of armaments, which was raised by Baron d'Estournelles. It was inevitable that this should cause hostile comment from some quarter, and the closing scenes of the conference brought out this comment. The Duke of Argyll presided, and it was his privilege to respond to the toast of all the nations represented in the Interparliamentary Conference. The banquet was held in a hall decorated with flags of the various regiments of the British army; and in various parts of the great building there were figures of the men who had distinguished themselves in the countless battles which have been fought by the British people, not only in these islands, but in all parts of the world. The Duke of Argyll took advantage of this ocular demonstration of the fact of war, in the distant and near past, to express his belief that the people of England would see similar occurrences in the future. He then proceeded to remark that perhaps it might be better if the Interparliamentary people would fly nearer to the ground. He did not use these words, but the idea was that there was danger of getting in the clouds above the things that were capable of realization. This thought is but natural when one considers more or less carelessly the great questions which are being wrestled with by the Interparliamentary Union, and by the various organizations which have permanent peace as their ultimate aim. I believe, however, that a careful consideration of the things advocated by the Interparliamentary Union will prove that the Duke of Argyll has not differentiated between this organization and some of the other organizations which have peace as the object for which they struggle. Speaking from an American point of view, it would seem as natural to say that the men who formed the United States were idle dreamers seeking the impossible, because previous to the organization of the United States there was no such body in existence, as it is now to say that practical statesmen who can win and hold seats in national parliaments and who can control the action of great political parties are idle dreamers because they recognize the fact that existing conditions are not right, and that there is a way out of these wrong conditions, and that they propose to find that way. Everyone will admit that it is not right for people on two sides of a stream ten miles wide or twenty miles wide, or even a thousand miles wide, to continually go to war with one another when they all know how to administer justice through political institutions. Of course the question arises whether the people can be induced to establish institutions on a world-wide scale, such as have been established during past centuries, first on a small scale, then on a comparatively large scale, and finally on a continental scale. Passing from the abstract to the concrete, here we have in this conference of the Interparliamentary Union two men who have held a seat in the United States Congress for fourteen years, one a Republican and the other a Democrat. The Republican, the Hon. Richard Bartholdt, has proposed that an international deliberative body be formed as speedily as possible, but without authority to enact law, in which all the nations who have commercial dealings with each other shall have representatives. His idea is that this body will be able to discover ways of improving the law of nations, and the method of its administration, and that upon its suggestions the several nations will give effect to these good ideas. He believes also that in due time this international deliberative body will, by the wisdom with which it acts, be able to satisfy the responsible statesmen of all countries that they can safely trust to such a body the declaration of general principles of law to govern the conduct of the nations in their intercourse with each other. It is believed that in due time, through the development of this body, the people of the various nations will acquire the right to vote on international questions by ballot instead of bullet. To regard this as impracticable or even untimely is simply to ignore the essential facts of history during the past centuries, and the speed with which good ideas can be made effectual for large areas at the present time, on account of the great and valuable discoveries which have been made and applied recently to the intercourse between the people of the various nations.

Coupled with this proposition, Mr. Bartholdt has suggested as eminently practical the formulation of a general Treaty of Arbitration, which gives The Hague Court jurisdiction over the questions included in it, whether there is only one or half a dozen classes of questions that are made arbitrable according to its terms, or whether, as in the case of Denmark and Holland, no reservation whatever is made. Mr. Bartholdt simply proposes to let each nation designate the classes of questions which it will consent to refer to arbitration, and to grant The Hague Court jurisdiction over those questions, the treaty to become operative between all nations ratifying and between each nation and all other nations, so far as they designate the same classes of questions as arbitrable under its terms. In the meantime all nations, according to his proposition, shall remain free to arm themselves as heavily as they think their interests may require.

Mr. John Sharpe Williams, who has succeeded in placing himself at the head of the Democratic party in the Lower House in the United States Congress, not only approves of these practical propositions made by Mr. Bartholdt, but he proposes that the judges of The Hague Court shall be paid ample salaries, coupled with a prohibition against their appearing in any case that comes before this International Court, or acting as counsel to any government in any international controversy. This will enable these judges to devote themselves immediately to the task of codifying the law of nations, which is certainly in a most confused and unsatisfactory condition, owing to the fact that it contains many contradictory doctrines announced by particular nations to fit their interests at particular crises, and which have not received the approval of other countries. Certainly a commission of competent jurists to codify those principles of law which should be generally recognized by the nations, and to bring into harmony with sound principles those doctrines about which there is not a complete unity of opinion, can be counted upon to do work of this kind as successfully as similar commissions for the codification of national or State laws. Furthermore, the most capable statesmen of the various countries can be counted on to protect their countries' interests as faithfully and effectually as if those gentlemen were sent out at the head of an armed force.

Mr. William Jennings Bryan, who has twice been the candidate of a great political party for the highest and most responsible office in one of the greatest countries in the world, and who has himself been one of its national law-makers, can hardly be looked upon as too idealistic for the practical affairs of the world. Mr. Bryan now comes forward and places his unqualified, indeed, his earnest approval, upon this plan for the earliest possible organization of the International Conference at The Hague upon a firm and permanent foundation, without authority at the beginning to enact their resolutions into laws binding upon the nations, but with the right to assemble at stated intervals, upon their own initiative, for the discussion of such international questions as the current of events may make paramount, and for suggesting to the various governments of the world suitable and timely amendments to the law of nations, and in the present method of its administration.

Furthermore, Mr. Bryan proposed at this conference and declared his intention of hereafter throwing the full weight of his influence in favor of an agreement between nations to refer all questions to arbitration in the first instance, even though the several governments reserve the right, in matters affecting their vital interests or national honor, to appeal from the decision of the arbitrators to a conflict upon the battlefield. Even if the nations of Europe found themselves unable at this moment to agree to this proposition, there is certainly nothing in the proposition that is unwise in the abstract, and if nothing is ever proposed which the world is not ready at the instant to adopt, it is utterly impossible to make any progress at all. But in the light of the salient facts of history, Mr. Bryan's proposition is certainly entitled to the immediate consideration of every statesman in the world, and, in my judgment, it can count on acceptance in a comparatively short time. The people of England have probably not yet forgotten the fact that if the Duke of Argyll had lived previously to the twenty-second day of June, 1819, he would have had the right, under the laws of England, to prove that he owned the estate of which he is now the distinguished possessor, by defeating any claimant to the same on the field of personal encounter in the presence of the judges of this great nation. I do not happen to know how long the family of Argyll has been taking account of itself, but I venture to say that some of the ancestors of the present duke were among those whose sentiment against the trial by jury of questions affecting title to land made it impracticable to substitute judicial decisions for wage of battle in such questions several centuries ago. But opinions change--principles never. Therefore, it is eminently wise and practical for the progressive statesmen of to-day to put forward the idea of judicial decisions in the place of trials by battle, in those controversies which are international in character; and those statesmen who dare to do this are rendering to our day and generation a service similar in character, but greater in value, to that which was rendered in past ages by those noble men who dared to throw themselves against anything that was wrong, however firmly established in the customs of their country, and who gave over the struggle to substitute Right for Might, even though the fruition of their labors did not come in their own lifetime.

It is certainly a cause for congratulation throughout the whole world that eminent and practical statesmen in both of the great parties in the United States have declared that, so far as the United States are concerned, the substitution of law for war is soon to be made a part of the practical politics of their country.

This is the time, therefore, for all men who have their country's welfare at heart to come forward and labor for the present realization of these practical plans, because they are right, because they are the only way out of wrong conditions. The world will be brought to the adoption of these ideas quickly or after a long delay, according to the action or inaction of the men who have their hands upon the reins of government, and who are influential in the formation of public opinion in their own particular countries. Under such circumstances, the part of wisdom is to join hands in the effort to travel the right road, instead of pausing to consider the length of the journey or the obstacles to be overcome in taking it.

Looking over the crises which have brought the world forward, and at the conditions which surround us at the present time, it is plain that the prospects for achieving what is now proposed are much better than those which surrounded the men who achieved the best things in the past, in every country which now has a part to play in the world's political drama. The prospects of peace and justice not only within the existing political organizations, but in their relations with one another, were never so good as to-day, because the principle of Parliamentary Representative government has been applied during the past few centuries, to a greater or less degree, in almost every nation of the world, and this has prepared each of these nations to participate more easily and more effectively in the application of this principle to the affairs common to them all. While it is certainly true that under existing conditions each nation must make such preparation for its own preservation and the enforcement of its rights in the world as may seem to it necessary, considering the dangers which surround it, and while the Duke of Argyll is only stating the truth in saying that England will probably have to add more flags to her present array of military decorations, it is also true that the principle which can minimize the danger of and in due time destroy the necessity for war, has been discovered and is now in operation, to some degree, in almost every nation in the world. This principle has been put forward for practical application in the affairs common to all nations, has been accepted by men who have heretofore been entrusted with the highest positions of responsibility in the operation of their national government, who have demonstrated that the confidence reposed in them was not undeserved. It is, therefore, simply a question of working out the problem according to a known rule, as truly as when the rule in mathematics is known and the work of solving the problem according to it is all that remains to be done.

FREDERICK A. BRIDGMAN

These words of the greatest art critic of modern times have been the inspiration of Mr. Bridgman's work ever since, as a youth of nineteen, he commenced his artistic career as draughtsman in the American Bank Note Company, of New York. After six months' experience in this department he was transferred to the vignette department, where he displayed the same fidelity and ability which has ever characterized his work. His hours were from nine until five, but he rose at four and painted until eight each morning and each evening he returned to his home to paint until a late hour. Occupying, as he now does, the enviable position of being a medallist of the Paris Salon several times over, not to mention medals from M?nich, London and Berlin and the decoration of the Cross of the Legion of Honor and similar honors, Mr. Bridgman owes his eminence as much to his indefatigable work and his determination as to his talent.

There have been artists distinguished from the fact that their genius was bizarre or their point of view extraordinary, and others pre?minent because they solved, with the ease of genius, the general problems of their art. It is to the latter class that this Southern painter belongs--the class which expresses clearly and forcefully the essential life elements, in contradistinction to the eccentric, exaggerated striving after the weird, which marks the work of the others, whose success is at best, ephemeral.

There is contained in a picture nothing less than all that it is capable of inspiring to our thoughts and imagination. Art, like nature, can only show us what we are capable of seeing and it is this faculty for showing not only the subtle sense of atmosphere to the critics but the beauty of life to all observers, which marks Mr. Bridgman's pictures.

While a large part of Mr. Bridgman's furnishings have been collected during his travels, they have been supplemented by friezes, furniture and ornaments designed by the artist in keeping with his idea of giving each room a complete and distinct individuality. This character note is especially dominant in the Egyptian room, with its painted and gilded cedar wood chairs and its bas-reliefs of Egyptian life. The coloring is dark blue, relieved by gilding in the decorations and hieroglyphics, and lighted by electric lotus flowers.

In the Greek room a frieze of black and terra cotta, reproduced from the old Etruscan vases, runs round the ceiling. Over the mantel stands the frontal of a temple, copied after the lines of the Parthenon. Minerva presides in this shrine, guarded by small Tanagra figurines on the shelf below. There are also some fragments of Etruscan ware. It is a wonderful place to dream in, and a hard place to leave, the more so as Mr. Bridgman exercises hospitality on a scale of typical Southern generosity. There is something in the personality of the man himself--a certain candor or simplicity which, in spite of the cosmopolitan finish of world-wide travel and experience, in spite of honors and acclamation, remains typical of his native section. Tuskegee, Alabama, is his birthplace, his father being a physician of note throughout the state.

Nor do painting and writing complete the list of the Alabamian's talents. He is a devoted musician, finding rest and inspiration in the study of harmonic sound. He always carries with him a musical notebook, jotting down, wherever he may be, any melody or detail of orchestration that strikes him. He is now finishing a symphony, parts of which have been played in classical concerts at Vichy and at Monte Carlo. With such varied gifts it is not surprising that his pictures have a lyrical, musical quality, pulsating with the rhythmical movement of life. He has the supreme painter's gift of conveying not only the effect of air and sunlight, but also the psychic atmosphere of a scene, the glamor, the romance of the Orient.

Robert Joseph Fisher was born at Athens, Tennessee. His father, Richard M. Fisher, was of German descent, and moved to Tennessee from Virginia. His mother, Ann M. Gettys, is of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which town was founded by, and took its name from, her grandfather. Mr. Fisher received a collegiate education at the East Tennessee Wesleyan University, at Athens, and while at school stood at the head of his classes, showing a marked predilection for mathematics. On account of business reverses sustained by his father, he left school and began business life as a clerk in a store in his native town. Subsequently he became teller in the Cleveland National Bank, at Cleveland, in his native state. Upon the death of his father, in 1883, Mr. Fisher returned to Athens and organized the First National Bank of Athens, of which he was the cashier and principal executive officer for about thirteen years. During this period Mr. Fisher promoted, and was a leading spirit in, the organization of the principal industries of his home town, which resulted in doubling the population of the place in a few years.

He was offered the position of cashier in national banks at Chattanooga and Knoxville, but declined. In 1892 he conceived the idea of the Fisher Book Typewriter and Billing Machine, for writing in bound books and for billing in commercial houses. During the succeeding four years he devoted every spare moment to improving his machine, to making his own drawings therefor, to taking out numerous patents, and to overcoming the problems and difficulties which only those who attempt to originate a machine of more than two thousand parts can appreciate. In 1896 he resigned his position in the bank, to devote his entire attention to his inventions. The Fisher Typewriter Company was organized, and two years and one hundred thousand dollars were spent before his first perfect machine was produced. The machines were manufactured at Athens for several years, notwithstanding Mr. Fisher was laughed at when he stated that he was going to manufacture in the South a piece of mechanism as nice as a watch, and in which measurements of one-half of one-thousandth of an inch were common; but the machines were made in the South as accurately as they could have been made anywhere.

After a few years, realizing that it would require a million of dollars to successfully manufacture and introduce his machine, and that this money could not be obtained in the South, he sold his stock and royalty interests in the company to eastern capitalists. A large factory, employing nearly one thousand skilled mechanics, now manufactures his machines at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and several millions of dollars have been invested in the business. The principal office of the company is in New York, with branches in all of the principal cities of the world. There is scarcely a large business in the North and East that does not use his machine, one firm in Chicago alone using four hundred of them. For several years after disposing of his interests in the company, Mr. Fisher retained a connection with it as its inventor. After returning to Athens, Mr. Fisher erected the Athens Hosiery Mills, of which he is the sole proprietor, and which is the largest individual business enterprise in his native county.

Although this business lays a heavy tax on his time and energy, it does not prevent the continuance of his inventions. Over seventy-five different patents, in this and foreign countries, attest his unabated zeal in this work. In 1900 he was awarded the John Scott Medal for meritorious invention by the city of Philadelphia, on the recommendation of Franklin Institute.

The Fisher home, in Athens, is one of typical Southern comfort, Mrs. Fisher, who comes from the prominent Gauche family of New Orleans, delighting in the exercise of hospitality no less than in her devotion to the welfare of her husband and two young sons.

To rise, in a few short years, by sheer force of character--by pluck and brains--from a humble beginning as a clerk in a small retail business in a country town to an eminence where one becomes the cynosure of all eyes in business, is a rare experience, indeed.

And yet that has happened in the life of a citizen of New Orleans--William Perry Brown, the Cotton King.

He was born on a farm, and lived there until well advanced in his teens. When not at school, in his early years, the lad did chores about his home, the Civil War having left his father, who was a Confederate soldier of unblemished record, in reduced circumstances, as were all the people of his section. Under such circumstances, young Brown's training and habits were on lines that tend to build character. They taught him, in his youth, the obligations of duty, the essentiality of self-denial and self-control, of faith in himself, and of hope for success. The lessons were not unheeded.

In meeting difficulties and overcoming obstacles in business which would paralyze an operator of less heroic mold, he is cool, collected, resourceful. Neither by change of countenance, speech nor manner does he ever betray any fear he may feel as to the outcome of the situation in which he is placed.

He is practical, and does things in a common-sense way, avoiding the spectacular as much as possible--his self-reliance and self-assertion being less conspicuous in speech than action.

Mr. Brown's faith in the idea that cotton has been selling too low is not a thing of a day's growth. He is an observer of men and a student of events, noting causes and the effects produced. Therein lies the secret of his success. He realizes that supply and demand regulate prices, when market conditions are normal--free from manipulation to produce, by artful management, deceptive situations.

The old-time speculators, as well as spinners, have been made since then unwillingly to pay something like the prices which trade conditions undisturbed justified. No trick or scheme or effort known to the smooth manipulators to bring about the downfall of Brown, by a decline in cotton, have been spared. So far, he has weathered every storm and bids fair to continue to ride the gale.

Mr. Winston claims, with Patrick Henry, descent from the old Quaker family of Winston, among the earliest settlers of Virginia. His grandfather, Pleasant Winston, having married a Miss Clark, of Lynchburg, and thus coming into possession of a number of slaves which his religion forbade him to hold and the laws of his state forbade him to free, sent them to Liberia to join the new colony founded there. His oldest son, Bowling Henry Winston, on his graduation from the University of Virginia, removed to Indiana and married there, becoming a farmer. John Clark Winston was born here in 1856. He was educated in Virginia and at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1881. It was his intention to study law, but he accepted a tempting offer to take charge of the Western branch of a Philadelphia publishing house, and the fascination of this business so grew upon him that in 1884 he entered it on his own account. His first venture was made in a small building in Philadelphia, just opposite the imposing structure which now bears his name. While devoting himself to business Mr. Winston has always maintained an interest in religious, educational and civic affairs.

As chairman of the Committee of Seventy, he has taken a prominent part in the reform movement in Philadelphia which resulted in the overthrow of the corrupt Republican organization. Although a Republican in National affairs, he has steadily fought for non-partisanship in municipal matters. The City Party was organized by the Committee of Seventy on the platform that city officers should be chosen without regard to political party, and solely in the interest of honesty and efficiency.

Mr. Winston was made Chairman of the Committee of Seventy at the very beginning of the reform movement, and may be regarded as one of the originators of the movement. His name was prominently mentioned in connection with the nomination for governor, and again for that of mayor, but he has steadily avowed his disinclination for holding office.

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