The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1884-08-21
STARS ASDB'G&
NON D o. tAnLEroHs AoDRrss


reunion, ut this place. II was prepnred
too late on the evening of that day I"
send with the report of the celebration
published Yesterday mornings 49,
1 have ease Ia put before yohi ~ Va
your home should come one VINO hal
given Ia YOU the supreme anu Hl'lhiW,
test of friendship who Tor you hnl
brnNcd dangers manifold anu varied,
disease and death in all their forms, how
wouId Vuu treat the gucsl' How
warmly would YOU not grasp
him ny the haud' How Your
henri would ga on, Zee him, tins trluud
Mnn had ratified az pruilrred 10 ratllN
his WiHui~nlp Tor you, al, hurlllN Ia
y0u with the great hlgh and loly seal
ut .lN hy", heart n u',h, IN 'hls hlN-
Iud, toward YOU, ., confederate soldiers
al la, pnR Brigade, stand Tor The most
part tur 'ir ulru,W'ul"n ana children al
hi, in!r county OF lilli llgt ui tht~ young
Vi.yut liillHhnTu, ne Nlu-C name ! hiu
Yea welcome, thrice Nvl"nnr M ihru
midst, Believe nae .ha, IHn gtcrlhg ~
warmth i, comm rnSurato VIII the graft
tuuc Wi.rI they i"t' ana Ih' I'h' Mhl'n
thuN owe tn you, >nu' ann
each uf YOU who, IN the
dark and arcary days, followed
with fpglty the banner oi the "l.uN,
Cause" that banner which wont down
IN disaster, which lives ..ull' 10 History,
IL il true, hul MhicH wal i've lhrru -
long rs history shall ,ril of deeds OF
yalor done, as long as pos - can sins ana
sagoS write OF martial glory. You aud
each of YOU, have given 10 the men,
women aud children of this fair land,
the supreme and ultimate test OF your
friendship. For them you have brnNcd
dangers manifold and varied; Tor them
perhaps, you have suffered me
pangs of slow and languishing disease;
90 fAnnI hIltlufrU lltlln-
fields, death in all its horror and it,
grimncss; YOU have endured, perhaps,
the gloom and darkness OF the prison;
YOU have ratified or proilercd 10 rntify
TO your fidelity To them, with tho high
and lofty seal of your best hearts blood.
In the spirit then of such II host Ia such
n guest, they extend To you the hand of
friendly greeting. They bid you wei
como, thrice welcome In their midst.
In these bright days of pcace--in this
fair land of plenty and prosperity, You
are come to renew for day the nSsociii-
lions OF u rugged and trying past. IL
is 4 beautiful custom. II is AL the more
beautiful because il is exclusively Il fca-
ture of these latter times, and of the
days that have succeeded the late war.
History does not record the reunion Of
English or of French veterans, after
the great European wars, to exchange
tho greetings of friendships formed or
10 renew tllt il''l w ialAlAARAiN
DAYS gone by. IL was left To the tmcr-
can mind and 10 the American heart 10
suggest and adopt this comcly practice
of meeting year by year, and re-enkind-
ling those strong attachments which
sprung from the bitter experiences OF
grim-visaged war.
1t was not mine to incur these dan
gers; il was not mine to perform the
hard tasks and undertake the stern du-
ties OF the soldier. | know uOU the
Haunting of the banner in the battles
breeze. | heard not the buglc's blast in
the morn's revelle. | sat not around
the campfire mt night recounting the
dongs OF the day nor indulging in the
anticipation of the morrow. The
cleaning of the bayonot; the flashes of
the SABRE the neighing of the war stccd;
the sharp rattle of the muSketry; the
loud, earth-quaking boom Of the can
nonade; the agony Of the wounded; the
moan of the dying comiadc; the death
grapple with the relentless foe; the
WEAKNESS and privation of the prison
all these were unknown tome. But to
you they were familiar, and ii is indeed
comedy spectacle to see the soldiers OF
1864 meet as the citizens of 1881, and re-
call the rugged experiences of war in the
halcyon days of peace.
Some two or three years ago, under
the command of Lieut.. Greedy, there
sailed from an American port stately
ship, manned by gallant seamen, bound
for the regions of the Polar sea. These
gallant men at length reached the frozen
realm, their place Ot destinations. They
looked abroad and on all sides stretched
scene of cold and icy splendor. Ice in
to the right of them: ice behind
them sIittcrcd and cleaned
in waste of cold and dreary
marniticence. These men were war
riOrs. fighting the battle of science and
civilization with the foes which nature
had created as obstacles to their pro-
press. Day by day, in those nhos pitabie
Regions, the time Went by. and at last the
festival of the Christian world, the happy
Christmas time, when "man's good will
to man breathes forth in everything
visited them IN their desolation. All!
tho wild regrets that could not be sup
pressed! the longings that could not be
lOw-lil,e, over snow, and ice, and land
and sea TO the happy tiresides where
thew knew their loved ones were
gathered, In their minds eve they saw
and missed the grace of children, the
bushes of the maiden, the sweet affec-
ton of the wife, tho soft caresses of the
mother. And still the time sped on, and
hunger came and fell disease, and one
bv one the heroes dropped, and then in
tie lonely and boundless waste of snow
and ice. overlooking the frozen Polar
sea. far from the halints of men and the
bmm of civilization, the weary
eve of the soldier of civilization
cinsed in death. And thus until, when
succor came at last, only six survived.
Six with the life tide fast ebbing from
their bodies. six with their forms
nincbod and emariated, thei. cheeks |
hale and sunken. looking through ewes |
almost ,rlazed in death with gratitude |
ut their rescuers; and these six have re-