NOTES AND FRAGMENTS.

The Alamo Monument.—Judge C. W. Raines has an article on this subject in The Quarterly, Vol. VI, No. 4, in which the authorship of the expression “Thermopylae had her messenger of defeat; the Alamo had none,” is attributed to Gen. Thomas Jefferson Green. Nanna Smithwick Donaldson, in The Quarterly, Vol. VII, No. 4, claims that distinction for General Edward Burleson. Both claims are based on assertions made by the friends and associates of these men, and not upon their own statements, nor are they substantiated by reference to any documents.

While I do not wish to put forth another candidate for this honor, I wish to mention the names of three men who within the very month of the fall of the Alamo, compared, in published documents, now in my possession, the fall of the Alamo and its heroic defenders, to Thermopylae and the Spartans who died there. While, as I said, I do not claim that the expression emanated from these men, yet, at least the sentiment and sense, if not the literal wording and phraseology are found in these utterances.

David G. Burnet, president of the Republic, in a proclamation issued from the press of Baker and Bordens, at San Felipe de Austin, March 18, 1836, announcing the removal of the government from Washington to Harrisburg, says: “The fall of the Alamo is the surest guarantee of our ultimate success. The Spartan band who so nobly perished there, have bequeathed to us an example, which ought and will be imitated; and have inflicted on the enemy a terror and a loss that are equivalent to a defeat.” ¹⁶²

An editorial in the Telegraph and Register, published at San Felipe de Austin (Vol. I, No. 24), Thursday, March 24, 1836, ¹⁶³ gives the facts of the fall of the Alamo, and as complete a list as was known of its defenders. The description is quoted from Mrs. Dickinson, while the list is furnished by John W. Smith and Mr. Navon. The editorial begins: “Respecting the fall of the Alamo: That event, so lamentable, and yet so glorious to Texas, is of such deep interest and excites so much our feelings that we shall never cease to celebrate it, and regret that we are not acquainted with the names of all those who fell in that fort, that we might publish them, and thus consecrate to future ages the memory of our heroes who perished at the Thermopylae of Texas. Such examples are bright ones, and should be held up as mirrors, that by reflection, we may catch the spirit and learn to fashion our own behaviors.”

The General Council of Texas passed an ordinance and decree, approved by Gov. Smith Jan. 9, 1836, appointing and commissioning Thomas Jefferson Chambers to raise an army of Reserve. ¹⁶⁴

In carrying out this work Chambers published, just after the fall of the Alamo, a stirring appeal to the people in which he uses the following language: “Brave, chivalrous, heroic, patriotic band! ye sleep in death but `still are free.' Your names shall be inscribed in the proudest and the brightest pages of history with those of Leonidas, Warren and others, who have offered themselves as sacrifices upon the altar of their country. . . . It is expected that the despot will attempt to advance immediately into the heart of the country to murder and butcher our families, and devastate our homes. Let him come! If he has made for our intrepid brethren and countrymen a Thermopylae at Bexar, he shall also find in the plains of Texas a Marathon and a Plataea. The bones of the barbarians shall bleach upon the fields they desolate.” ¹⁶⁵

Alex. Dienst,  Temple, Texas.

Mr. Windsor's Request for Files of Local Newspapers.

—Mr. P. L. Windsor, Librarian of The University of Texas, has addressed to the press of the State a circular letter, asking for contributions to the library of files of local newspapers and other printed matter. Readers of The Quarterly need not be informed of the importance to future historical research of the preservation of all material furnishing original records of the daily transactions that together make up the history of our State. Of equal importance with the preservation of such material is the establishment of a central depository for them, where each partial collection will be supplemented by, and may be studied in the light of, other similar collections. The fitting place for gathering such a collection is at the State University, where it can be classified and kept by trained librarians, and where it will be most available for use by the students and scholars, certain to be a growing body, gathered for research at the Commonwealth's seat of learning.

Subscribers will do a service to the State by re-enforcing personally, each in his own community, Mr. Windsor's appeal to the press. It is the understanding of the editors of The Quarterly that The University will pay the cost of transporting all papers contributed. Following is the letter:

“To the Editor:

“The Library of The University of Texas is now receiving gratuitously about seventy-five Texas newspapers and is preserving them for the use of future writers of our State and local histories. The Library does not subscribe for any; if it subscribed for only a few of our State newspapers it would hardly be fair to the many, and there is not sufficient money to subscribe for all. To the Editors of the State we wish to suggest the desirability of having their papers on file at this University and to ask them to consider putting the Library on their free list.

“The Library fully recognizes the educational value of the newspaper press and is spending the necessary time and some money in properly caring for the papers which come. The mere cost of binding a newspaper is usually greater than the subscription price, and the papers that we cannot bind at present because of lack of funds, are tied into bundles properly labeled, to await the time when sufficient money will be available.

“The experience of the older States is that not only in writing the more formal histories of State and county and city, but also in almost any serious study of the political, business, social and religious affairs of the State, files of the daily and weekly newspapers published in the various parts of the State are essential. For foreign news, files of one or two good newspapers are sufficient; for complete Texas news, files of many newspapers are necessary. The Library wishes files of our State papers, then, not so much for present use as for future use, and a file of your paper for last year or for any past years is as welcome as the current issues.

“To make these State newspapers most conveniently accessible to the largest number of our citizens, a file should be preserved not only in the county of publication, but also in the Capital; will you help by contributing your newspaper?

“The Library will also gladly receive gifts of any reports or pamphlets issued by local societies, clubs or institutions of whatever sort, and maps and photographs of any part of Texas. What is of seeming unimportance to you may become of considerable interest and value when placed alongside similar gifts from the other parts of the State.

“Address newspapers and all communications to  “The Library of The University of Texas,  “Austin, Texas.”