xxxxxJohn W. Rust of Fairfax, Va., was the guest speaker, July 27, on the weekly WFTR radio program sponsored by the Warren Rifles Chapter, U. D. C. Mr. Rust, a distinguished lawyer and former state senator, is interested in Virginia's history and is particularly well acquainted with our section of the state. The following is a transcript of his talk:

xxxxx"I was very much pleased and gratified to receive an invitation to talk to the radio audience of Warren County and the Valley of Virginia, upon the subject of the Confederate Museum that is being built in Front Royal, Va., as my father, Captain John R. Rust of Company I, 12th Virginia Cavalry, and my mother, Nannie Antrim McKAy, were both natives of Warren County, Va., and I was born and reared at Nineveh, Warren County, Va., and continued to reside in the County until I was 20 years of age. I still own 500 acres of land on the Shenandoah River, about ten miles below Front Royal, which land has been in my family since 1747, and which land belonged to my grandmother, Mary Ann Ashby. So I am still very much connected with and interested in Warren County, and whatever affects Warren County, and the State of Virginia, is near and dear to me.

xxxxx"My father, Captain John R. Rust, and six first cousins joined the Confederate Army on the day after the State seceded from the Union, April 18, 1861, four Rust boys and two Shumate boys. Four were killed in battle, and my father and your townsman William O. Rust, who was the cashier of the bank in Front Royal for many years, and his brother, Bushrod Rust, who was Superintendent of Schools for many years in Roanoke, Va., were the only survivors of this terrible civil strife, the effects of which we are still feeling today. They were members of the famed Laurel Brigade, under General Rosser.

xxxxx"Eleven McKays were soldiers from Warren County, and the McKay Clan is establishing a memorial in the New Museum to their memory, and a memorial will also be contributed to the Rust soldiers of this war from Warren County.

xxxxx"I have not intended to be too personal in making my talk to you today, but I did want you to know that I am deeply interested in the progress and success of this Confederate Museum to honor as brave a body of soldiers as ever fought for the honor and integrity of their native land.

xxxxxWhen I was in the Virginia Senate I sponsored a bill along with your townsman and statesman, the late Senator Aubrey G. Weaver and the late Senator Henry W. Wickham of Hanover County, to erect a monument to Stonewall Jackson on the Manassas battlefield on the spot where he won his immortal name of "Stonewall." The State appropriated the sum of $25,000 for that purpose and the monument now stands as a lasting tribute to this great Virginian, one of God's most noble men. No finer man or soldier ever lived and died for his home and native land. Would to God we now had more men of his sterling qualities and valor to guide us through the perilous times in which we live and find our country today.

xxxxx"The least we Southern people can do is to erect museums and to write in stone and bronze the deeds of valor and courage of the Southern Soldier in order that their true history may be preserved for future generations.

xxxxx"It is most gratifying that this spot was chosen for this Confederate Museum as it was here that so many of the battles of this war were fought and where Jackson's men defeated Banks in the famous Valley campaign that has been studied by military men of all nations as an example of the highest standard of successful maneuvering of men in battle.

xxxxx"I knew so many of Jackson's men personally as they visited my father on many occasions and I have listened for hours to their wonderful tales of valor and bravery in the defense of this Valley against untold odds in numbers and supplies. For four long years they resisted the hordes of the North, fully armed and equipped, with unsurpassed bravery and courage, and it is but fitting that we should all be united in making this Confederate Museum one of the finest in the South.

xxxxx"I was instrumental in the erection of the Museum on the Manassas Battlefield, having been president of the Manassas Battlefield Confederate Park and I hope to do all that I can to make a great success of this fine memorial to the Southern Soldier.

xxxxx"I have a number of relics that I intend to give to this museum, including bullets, belt buckles, cannon balls, etc. I recently found something on my farm on the Shenandoah River, owned by my grandfather, Charles B. Rust, that I think will be of interest to many people. It is one of John Brown's pikes that he delivered to the slaves in this Valley, under the assumed name of Smith, when he rented property near Harper's Ferry prior to his infamous attack upon Virginia and Harper's Ferry in the vain hope that the slaves would rise up and kill their masters with these crude, barbarous weapons, a thousand of which were made by his adherents in Collinsville, Conn., but not a single slave used them against his master. These pikes are about 18 inches long, made of fine steel, and hammered to a fine sharp point, and were placed in a long handle and used like a spear. These pikes were evidently delivered to my grandfather's slaves with the admonition to use them to kill him and his wife and children as he had 45 slaves at the beginning of the War between the States. However, crazy John Brown was not able to incite the slaves to kill their masters and he met a just and proper death upon the gallows after his abortive attack upon the United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry. I hope I may obtain one of these pikes for this museum.

xxxxx"Except for the erection of this museum to house the many war relics that are fast becoming extinct and lost to future generations, history cannot be properly preserved and the future sons of the North and South will never know of the sacrifices that were made on both sides in this useless war. On the farm on which I was reared at Nineveh the First Maryland Regiment, North, and the First Maryland Regiment, South, fought each other, and brother fought brother, and uselessly killed each other. My mother was given the flag of the First Maryland Regiment, North, by a Southern soldier, who had captured it in this battle and she hid it under the house until after the war. She gave it to the Turner Ashby Camp at Winchester many years ago. The soldier said he would return for the flag if he lived after the war, but he never came back.

xxxxx"No section of the State suffered more during this conflict than this part of the Valley. Winchester changed hands more than any other city of the country, and Front Royal was a close second as the Northern and Southern troops marched through the streets of this Town continuously for the period of four long years. Sheridan destroyed the crops and burned the barns, and carried away the cattle, horses and other stock and made of this fine section a desert, in order to destroy what was known as the bread basket of the Confederacy.

xxxxx"However, this section of the Valley has now recovered partially from his cruel and inhuman war, and its vast fields are yielding as fine crops as any section of the world. Its people the flourishing and prosperous and have a great future before them, but they can never forget the devastation of 1861 to 1865, and this Confederate Museum will contain relics that will impress upon future generations the history of these times, and the many fine memorials to the various fine families of this Valley and County, will perpetuate their memories for all times, and great credit should be given to the noble women and men who have had a part in this great work.

xxxxx"We should all take off our hats to Miss Laura Virginia Hale, and the other fine women who have had such a prominent part in the erection of this Confederate Memorial, and who have given so freely of their time and efforts to such a noble achievement in honor of our sacred dead, who gave their all for the Southern cause and the defense of their homes and State.

xxxxx"I appeal to all who may hear my voice over this radio station to have some part in the erection of this Confederate Memorial and in perpetuating the memory of the brave and noble men who served in the Confederate army from this County and Section, by contributing to the erection of this Museum."