Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 204, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 August 1913 — REUNION AND EXPOSITION CALL VISITORS INTO THE SUNNY SOUTH [ARTICLE]

REUNION AND EXPOSITION CALL VISITORS INTO THE SUNNY SOUTH

Encampment of G. A. R. at Chattanooga and National Conservation Exposition in Knoxville are Twin Events in Two Southern Cities Bnt Short Distance Apart

Held simultaneously in the South this year are two great events that mean much to the people of that section of the country and that mean much to the people of the North. These two events are: ' The encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic In Chattanooga, Tenn., from September 15 to 20. The National Conservation Exposition that is being held in Knoxville, Tenn., just a short distance away from Chattanooga, from September 1 to November 1. • . After a lapse of fifty years, years that have whitened the hair and bent the forms of the gallant Boys in Blue who fought so well for the preservation of the Union, they are going south of Mason’s and Dixon’s line for their reunion. The Grand Army of the Republic is going South for its reunion on the fiftieth anniversary of the sanguinary battles that were fought on the heights around'Chattanooga. The Grand Army Is going South to partake of Southern hospitality, to see the marvelous changes that a half century has wrought in the South. ' Nowhere in the country will* these veterans, who still wear the Blue, be accorded a more hearty and a more genuine welcome than in the South. No matter where they go they will be welcomed by men as white and as bent as they are and these men will wear the gray. There will be no animosity felt. Instead, there will be cordial handclasps and a recounting of wartime stories when they meet—not as foes upon a field of battle, but as brothers and citlzeSa of a reunited oountry. * Chattanooga la Proud. Chattanooga is proud of the honor of being allowed to entertain the Grand Army of the Republic, to show the veterans of the North the old battle grounds on which are still visible war’s scars inflicted fifty years ago, to do everything in its power to make the reunion of these veterans —growing fewer and fewer In 'number as the years roll by—happy and memorable in every way. In connection with the reunion of the G. A. R., In Chattanooga, it is fortunate that at the same lime the National Conservation Exposition will Ute In progress in Knoxville, distant from Chattanooga just 111 miles by rail. Therefore it la that Knoxville, the exposition city of the South, is extending a cordial invitation to Northern men and women to visit that city during the two months that the gates of the National Conservation Exposition will be open. Fifty years ago the South was bleeding and torn. Half a century ago the South was prostrate. When peace, after the long struggle, was declared, the South was desolated. To-day the South is progressive and patriotic to a degree. The South of to-day is the New South, proud of herself, proud of the country of which she Is a part And so it is, that when the tide of Northern travel is turned toward the South, in September when the veterans and others who are taking advantage of the very low r&teß of rail-' road fare offered for this trip, it is fortunate that the reunion and the National Conservation Exposition, In Knoxville, should dovetail in as they do. The exposition will be the means of showing to these visitors from the North in concrete form and better than any written words could do just what the South has accomplished in the way of self-rejuvenation in fifty years. 1,000,000 Visitors To Knoxville. Knoxville, of Eastern Tennessee, is preparing to entertain thousands and thousands of visitors from the North before and after the

Chattanooga reunion Elaborate plans for tie entertainment of these visitors have been made in Knoxville. It is thought that a great majority of the visitors from the North will want to avail themselves of the opportunity of seeing the New South on display at the National Conservation Exposition, and they will be enabled to do this in most cases without additional cost of railroad fares and in other cases at a very small additional cost. There are many reasons why, when the trip to Chattanooga for the G. A. R. encampment is taken* that every traveler should avail himself or herself of the opportunity of visiting Knoxville and the National Conservation Exposition, and conversely there are many reasons why visitors coming South primarily to visit the exposition should go to Chattanooga for the reonion. Exposition Big Attraction. First of all, there is the exposition Itself to be considered. At the National Conservation Exposition the progress of the New South in the last few years will be graphically and strikingly shown. The exposition will be the big event of the year in the South; it is the greatest exposition ever held Bouth of the Ohio. It has been designed for a purpose, and that purpose has for its aim and object the betterment of the condition of every man, woman and child in the United States. To the visitors from the North the railroad rates that are offered in connection with the G. A. R. encampment and the Conservation Exposition are very attractive. The exposition management has secured very low rates for the entire period of the national show; the men financing the encampment in Chattanooga likewise have secured low rates for that Mg event It takes less than four hours to make the run from Chattanooga to Knoxville, or vice versa. Travelers from the North coming South by way of the Southern railroad out of Washington will find Knoxville on the direct route to Chattanooga. It has been arranged that stopover privileges at Knoxville may be secured for the asking, and this will entail no additional expense. Travelers coming South by way of Cincinnati in many instances will be routed to Chattanooga with a return by way of Knoxville, and travelers by other routes can make the return trip to Knoxville and the exposition at a very small additional cost. So it will be seen that insofar as cost or expense is concerned there is no reason why every ’Northern visitor to the South this fall should not avail himself or hersejf of the great opportunity thus afforded of visiting, not alone ChattaI nooga, but also Knoxville, where the I New South will be on display as never before in its history. Was a Union Stronghold. Chattanooga is rich in Its historical associations; so is Knoxville. Knoxville was the scene of a,siege and of a battle between the troops of Longstreet and the troops of Burnside just fifty, years ago. It is in the very heart of the region that was intensely and unselfishly union in its sentiment during the war, and this in the face of the fact that an espousal of the cause of the onion at that time always was beset with great danger. There are hundreds and hundreds of old soldiers still living who fought In the Eastern Tennessee campaign. Every one of these men will want tb revisit this section of the South. But the great run of visitors will want to visit Knoxville also, not because of its historical 1 associations alone, bnt because of the fact that in that city while the encampment of the old Boys ’.a Blue is on just a few miles away the Watea of the only national exposition in the country this year will.be open and there Is to be Man the triumphant South on display.