FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163  
164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   >>   >|  
nd take it, and there was the torturous Smell of it. "He went through the whole, three years of suffering, and at last coming into port it was snowy, it was cold, he was stamping through the snow two feet deep on the deck and longing to get home, and there was his crew torturing him to the last minute with hot grog, but at last he had his reward. He really did get to shore at fast, and jumped and ran and bought a jug and rushed to the society's office, and said to the secretary: "'Take my name off your membership books, and do it right away! I have got a three years' thirst on.' "And the secretary said: 'It is not necessary. You were blackballed!'" WATTERSON AND TWAIN AS REBELS ADDRESS AT THE CELEBRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S 92ND BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY, CARNEGIE HALL, FEBRUARY 11, 1901, TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY AT CUMBERLAND GAP, TENN. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,--The remainder of my duties as presiding chairman here this evening are but two--only two. One of them is easy, and the other difficult. That is to say, I must introduce the orator, and then keep still and give him a chance. The name of Henry Watterson carries with it its own explanation. It is like an electric light on top of Madison Square Garden; you touch the button and the light flashes up out of the darkness. You mention the name of Henry Watterson, and your minds are at once illuminated with the splendid radiance of his fame and achievements. A journalist, a soldier, an orator, a statesman, a rebel. Yes, he was a rebel; and, better still, now he is a reconstructed rebel. It is a curious circumstance, a circumstance brought about without any collusion or prearrangement, that he and I, both of whom were rebels related by blood to each other, should be brought here together this evening bearing a tribute in our hands and bowing our heads in reverence to that noble soul who for three years we tried to destroy. I don't know as the fact has ever been mentioned before, but it is a fact, nevertheless. Colonel Watterson and I were both rebels, and we are blood relations. I was a second lieutenant in a Confederate company for a while--oh, I could have stayed on if I had wanted to. I made myself felt, I left tracks all around the country. I could have stayed on, but it was such weather. I never saw such weather to be out-of-doors in, in all my life. The Colonel commanded a regiment, and did
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163  
164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Watterson

 

Colonel

 

orator

 

LINCOLN

 

secretary

 

evening

 

brought

 

circumstance

 

rebels

 

weather


stayed
 

prearrangement

 

collusion

 
curious
 
reconstructed
 
mention
 

illuminated

 
darkness
 

button

 

flashes


splendid

 

radiance

 

journalist

 

soldier

 

statesman

 

Garden

 

achievements

 

Square

 

wanted

 

company


Confederate
 
relations
 
lieutenant
 

commanded

 

regiment

 

tracks

 

country

 

mentioned

 
Madison
 
bowing

tribute

 

bearing

 
reverence
 

destroy

 
related
 

membership

 
rushed
 

society

 

office

 
blackballed