Love of Human Beings & Macon was the Propelling Force in His Life

This is the final part of the 1919 interview of then 71-year-old Bridges Smith (1848-1930) entitled "BRIDGES SMITH, AFTER FIFTY YEARS OF NEWSPAPER WORK, INTERVIEWED FOR FIRST TIME BY GIRL REPORTER." Upon his death, Mr. Smith was laid to rest in Rose Hill Cemetery...

Opera Destroyed in Wreck
The names of two of the songs composed by the Judge in his youthful days are "Sweet Face in the Window" and "Greeny Brown Eyes." The title of his opera that was, but which was destroyed in a wreck, was "Dollie, or the Wedding __[?]__." The music was written by Arthur Wood.

The opera was staged in Macon by local talent, Luther Williams, J. W. Nesbit, Miss Rebecca Isaac, now Mrs. Julius Mack, and Miss Annie Massenberg, who afterwards married Capt. E. V. White, lieutenant commander of the "Merrimac," the ship which had the famous battle with the "Monitor" at Hampton Roads, were members of the cast.

Judge Smith was secretary of the first baseball club organized in Macon. The club began its existence, so the records say, in 1876. John Boifeuillet is the only man living now wha was on the team then.

Running on through the little dark green book, the Judge came across an account of a velocipede tournament, promoted by him in 1880...

So Bridges Smith's life has been one of activity. From the time when he was a young man walking his beat with a brisk, energetic step until now, when he walks every morning from his Juvenile Court to The Telegraph with a rather slow step, leaning on his walking cane, and with his broad shoulders bent slightly over, he has worked diligently, always with a constructive end in view. Love of human beings and of Macon has been the propelling force in his life.

As he expressed his love for his city, kindly eyes beamed with happiness, because he realized that he had served it with the best of his ability. He said: "I have been with The Telegraph for fifty years, writing a saying good words for Macon."

...Stay tuned for future postings with more writings by Bridges Smith about Rose Hill Cemetery...