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F HOGARD Manager
I have the exceptional privilege of
addressing my reader on Memorial
Day and the honor of Bending a mea-
aage to the million odd homea among
which thla article circulate — a privi-
lege I greatly appreciate and an honor
I highly esteem A thousand thoughts
leap forward crowding each other for
recognition: the valor of our men the
abnegation of our heroes the sanctity
of our cause the sacredness of our
mission — the bravery of our foes their
high but false aspirations their mis-
taken seal In an unworthy cause — the
nobility of our women North and
Soutb the beauty of their ideals tbelr
almost divine sacrifices: mothers giv-
ing their sons wives their husbands
daughters their fathers sweethearts
their lovers to be sacrificed as a
bloody holocaust on the horrid reek-
ing altar of war But all these we
must only take as adjuncts of a high-
er and nobler theme: The greatness
of our country In the dispositions and
gifts of Providence and our own con-
sequent responslbilty In transmitting
with added glory the inheritance given
to us by the Fathers of the Republic
and preserved for us by the heroes
whose surrender of life In a holy
cause we this day commemorate
How exactly the observance of the
day arose Is involved In considerable
obscurity but no doubt more than one
incident contributed to the celebra-
tion One tradition has It that on the
breaking out of the civil war a soldier
of the German army came to America
to Join the Northern army with whose
cause he sympathized and served
through the war' coming out unscath-
Soldiers’ Graves in Arlington Cemetery Dedicated
ed - At the close of the fratricidal
strife in visiting with other survivors
the graves of departed comrades in
arms be remarked that it was a cus-
tom in Germany to scatter flowers on
the graves of soldiers once a year
The remark approved itself to sur-
viving brothers in arms friends and
relatives of the heroic dead and flow-
ers were strewn on the graves as to-
kens of love’s tenderness and friend-
ship’s esteem We can readily under-
stand that this was one of the inci-
dents in which Decoration Day origi-
nated ’ -
But iadeed In all ages and all coun-
tries flowers on the graves of loved
ones have been the tributes of affec-
tion of the mourners by the narrow
tomb But what made Memorial Day
so characteristic as a tribute to the
dead was that a certain day waa set
apart for its observance like the holy
days of the church Indeed this Is
the way Saints’ days originated The
anniversary of martyrdom or death
was observed with certain rites and
ceremonies and ao transmitted to pos-
terity And It is In no way deroga-
tory to the crown of Christian mar-
tyrdom to say our heroic dead were
a goodly company of martyrs for coun-
try liberty altar hearth and home of
this land of the free where no slave
can live henceforward forever!
But not until 1868 waa the day of
commemoration definitely fixed It ap-
pears that the Idea originated with
Adjutant General N P Chlpman who
conferred with National Commander
John A Logan of the Grand Army of
the Republic then In Ita infancy
the O A R was organised at
Springfield HI by Dr B F Stephen-
son early In 1866) suggesting that an
organisation should be formed for the
purpose pf spreading flowers upon the
graves of the union soldiers In all the
states or some psrtlcular day through-
out the year The object appealed to
General Logan who appointed May 80
as a day to be set apart for decorat-
ing the graves Then on May 11
1870 May 80 waa fixed upon definitely
for the annual Observance of the cus-
tom initiated two years previously At
the inauguration ' General Logan
stated that the day waa appointed
“for the purpose of strewing with
flowers or otherwise decorating the
graves of comrades who died In de-
fense of their country during the late
rebellion
The celebration was at first called
Decoration Day but aa the observ-
ance grew Into national Importance
and took root In the great heart of
the people it waa felt that the word
“Decoration” was of a too light and
festive a nature and that an expres-
sion more adequately to declare-the
solemnity of the occasion and the na-
tion’s depth of feeling was required
Accordingly the word “Memorial” waa
selected as more fittingly expressive
of the survivors’ conception of what
was due to the memory of the heroic
dead To this instinctive feeling of
the saviors of the union the heart of
the country throbbed a sympathetic
response and Memorial Day with its
grand service of a nation’s sorrow
hag been spontaneously 'substituted
for the less significant “Decoratipn
Day”
It is wise as well as chivalrous
whilst honoring the patriotic dead to
meet the former foe with generous
Impulse and letting the "dead past
bury Its dead" to live henceforth for
the uplifting of the downtrodden and
the regeneration of humanity
Incidences of the great rebellion are
many and varied but all instructive
to the rising generation and preg-
nant with a grand idealism to poster-
ity — the idealism of Duty
“So nlfth I grandeur to our dust
So near to God Is man
When clutv whimpers low thou must
The youth replies ‘I can ’ "
The general said to thq young lieu-
tenant "It is necessary with the first
streaks of dawn to attack the enemy
To insure success we must take him
in the rear I must dispatch these
regiments to-night when the moon
goes down This night marco is a
dangerous enterprise But It must be
attempted and if possible ' accom-
plished without attracting the enemy
or raising bis suspicions I would like
to intrust this enterprise to you for
you have proved to be a Judicious
leader and valiant soldier but If you
undertake the dangerous duty you
must lead them straight" The young
officer accepted the high responsibili-
ty The night was hazy and some-
times clouded which dimmed or cut
off the l'ght even of the stars and the
compass was bis only guide But un-
dismayed and unfalteringly the
young lieutenant led the way through
thicket and brake and copse across
streams through morasses over hills
and the gray etreaka of the dawn saw
the soldiers resting after their weari-
some and arduous march The can-
nons boomed the signal for the battle
the bugle sounded the charge Shot
and shell and shrapnel rained death
and destruction around The critical
moment had arrived when the young
officer was to guide the soldiery to the
rear attack He was equal to the oc-
casion He precipitated himself upon
the foe and the soldiers with a c!:e°r
ruBhed Impetuously on the enemy hut
were received with a thousand guns
belching forth fire and death as the
aun gilded the eastern horizon Among
the brave there was none braver than
the young lieutenant and rushing
foremost against the foe he fell
pierced with several bullets But—
"With dying band above hla head
He shook the fragment of hie blades
And shouted Victory!"
The enemy hesitated for m moment
then wavered broke and fled The
battle was won! The general wished
to compliment the young man upon
the field but beard he fell in the hour
of victory He rode np to where the
young hero lay supported by two com-
rades ebbing out his life’s blood The
general dismounted knelt beside his
young friend took him by the hand
and said with choking sobs “My boy
you did nobly!” A light spread over
the pale face of the youth and a won-
drous ray kindled bis glazing eye as
he said “General didn't I lead them
straight?” “My boy” said the gener-
al with a gentle pressure of bis hand
“you acted valiantly you did all It
was possible to do you did your duty”
A bright smile played around the dye-
ing youth’s Ups his glazed eyeballs
turned back from the threshold of
death and flashed “Thanks” his heart
but once throbbed and forever grew
still! Shall we not keep Memorial
‘ T5ay for such as he?
But besides the men who wore the
blue and marched under the flag there
were other patriots They were those
whose fingers plied the needle and
whose hands moulded the dough and
whose pens Indicted loving words to
boys who were nobody’s sons for
they were orphans — the women of onr
country These whole-souled women
did not know anything of country or
clime or language They only knew a
grand humanity and that all were of
one kin for they were all children of
one great and loving Father And ao
they sent letters to ycung men who
hadno mothers and exhorted them to
be good and true and brave and ever
to do their duty
And ao we commemorate the men
who did their duty and the women
who taught them
Alas! that the ranks of the veterans
are being thinned by an enemy none
can conquer In this Ufe — death And
of those who remain the once elastic
step and lithe limbs and bine coat
have changed'' The elasticity Is gone
the litheness has vanished the blue
has faded but the courage is still
1 there and the patriot’s heart throbs
proudly as of yore '
Patriotism may not be the highest
virtue of the human soul but it has
the most Intimate relation to the cause
we commemorate And then patriot-
ism in America is different in kind
not iu degree only from that of other
countries Patriotism as it has pre-
vailed in the old world has been the
curse of mankind There patriotism
meant to hate your neighbor on the
other side of the river — to oppose rob
and slaughter the men women and
children on the opposite side of the
boundary line for the aggrandize-
ment of the ruling classes — to present
the bodies of the "common people” as
a target for the arrow the sword the
spear and the bullet — to bring mourn-
ing and sorrow and poverty into the
cabin of the oppressed peasant and
the room of the toiling citizen for the
horor power and pelf of one man — to
call the wholesale murder of men
made In' the Image of God glory and
the legalized murderers who reveled
In carnage slaughter rapine and lust
patriots! But America has taught the
world a patriotism of another kind-
broad as humanity and co-extensive
with the globe It has let tyrants and
oppressors know that the poor have
rights and the rich duties and that
downtrodden peoples who have shown
themselves worthy of Independence
6hall not be exterminated through re-
lentless hate and cruel wrong by fire
and sword and famine aud the pesti-
lence that follows In their train In
witness whereof let Cuba testify that
a strong nation whose patriotism is
humanity can and will right the
wrongs of the weak though they may
have a differently tinted skin
This Is the patriotism we celebrate
to-day that Is symbolized in the flag
that floats above us is emblematized
in the solemn functions of commem-
oration when we Btrew garlands of
flowers on the graves and encircle
with a halo of fame our patriotic dead
This la patriotism Indeed when at the
call of duty two millions of the coun-
try’s pride leap forward to preserve
the Union or to die — this is the patri-
otism we wish to preserve and trans-
mit — this is the patriotism we desire
our sons to emulate — this is the God-
given patriotism of humanity which
can never diet To preserve Intact
whole and undivided the constitution
nation and country bequeathed by the
Fathers of the Republic as a home of
the free and a refuge for the oppressed
—be this our single aim our highest
hope our grandest ambition!
Ravenswood Chicago III
Copyright 1KN by Dr F P Duffy