Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-02-06
G. A. r. ENCAMPMENT
REUNION or TIA. WAR VETERANS.
THO tity IN asy ~ ir,-r'H Ndiutant ueu-
erals Rcport-th. Meeting mt,
Moruiug I'srsonal Points

Tho t'ty 10 0sy ,tir,-r,H ,diutant uou- !
'rai's Reporr-rho Meeting lhi'
Moruiug-rer.onsi Poinu
Tho city wears holiday oppea auco
due to tho visitation of the state oucamp
mcnt of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Flags are tying from the prominent hotels,
aud many OF the business and private
houses and saloons are ga,ly decor.
ated. Tho weather all day yesterday
wore u threatening appearance, but
towards evening tho sky cleared, and
although considerable moisture re-
maiucd in the atmosphors, II was not
unpleasant abroad. The remainder OF tho
Pittsburg aud adjacent western delegations
arrived on the day express yesterday, aud
the Harrisburg express west brought the
balancc:...of the Philadelphia aud eastern
| delegations.
The Marietta and B,iubridge men ar
rived on the morning train aud promptly
proceeded to their quarters, headed by tho
Mechanics band of Marietta. The Col.
umbia contingent In large force next came
down North Quson street, the Eden band
at their head, Delegates prDmonadod the
streets last evening aud this morning and
the blue cap aud brass buttons soon grew
to be- familiar figures. All the
hotels were crowded last evening,
aud 1t was difficult for those
arriving late To secure accommodations.
The Stevens house in particular was
thronged at an early hour in the evening,
the corridors OF the lower floor being at
times impassable.
Council OF Administrator
The first formal business relative to tho
oncampment was transacted by tho Coun =
Gil of Administration at the Stevens house
last evening. II is composed of 4. g..
Sellers, l.. w. Shengle, Albert Schaeffer,
J. III. Missioner, of Philadelphia, and j. +.
Hunter, OF Pittsburg. The business
transacted is of private character.
The meeting Thi- Morning.
II was half past ten this morning before
, the delegates were called to order, in
Mpuuerchor hall, by Commander Osborne,
who introduced Major A. O. Reuoehl, OF
George IL. Thomas post, this city. His
address Of welcome was as follows:
, CoMRADE COMMANDER AND COMRADES
OF THE G.. A. R-The local committee OF
the posts of Lancaster city have imposed
upon me the pleasant duty Of speaking the
formal words Of welcome customary OI
. such occasions. Looking out over the
: vast asssmblage of comrades am remind
/, ed that language is not at my command to
frame the tLtIng phases of welcome t.
/, such body of representative men. Folios
should DO condensed into pages, pages into
patriotic epigrams To properly utter the
sentiments of our swelling hearts to-day
We gaze into each others faces, and W,
? see the gray hairs aud the burrows of tim,
that mark the march Of years. lnstinc
. lively the mind goes back over two de
= : cades, when the cheeks, now scanned, were
smooth and flushed with the glow o
| patriotic tire.
| kn a,g,hN ,ra 9th hrfnna hank III
u memories OF other days, aud like a flash u
rolls the curtain of the past. From
. thousand camps once moro echoes th'
y n revile and tattoo. Down througI
Il tangled woods and deadly swamps agai
we see the columns of blue march, an
u charge, recoil aud finally close in trump
around the brave aud broken columns {
grey. On the ear again sounds the unio
cheer and the rebel yell, and from tn
D. rocky glens of Gettysburg to the apple tire
! of Appomattox tho music OF our CUR
N sweIls in bloody monotone as OF yesteI
& day.
q, To-day 'gIim visaged war has smoothe
O. it's wrinkled front, and we meet to pc
n petuate the IN mo lies aud the lessons
our years Of service. General aud pr iva
leave their former rauk at tho outer doc
"a and here on one common level We gre
nd each other, by the simple name of cor
ils rade. Upon each breast we wear but oil
j. insgnia-the bronze badge Of the Graz
OF Army of the Republic.
Down in her deepest and most seer
laboratories nature from hor precious M
on terials fashions the diamond. 1t is ii
d, rarest stone that decks the brow of kings
1t is the type of wealth and power. An
So for ages kings aud emperors have crei
ted badges of homer and nobility fc
knights and generals who have brave
fought for masters on fields OF cOnque
for bloody ambition. England has h'
order of the Garter, France has her L
vs.. gion of Honor Prussia has her Iron Cros
Ia but the bronze badge of the Grand Arm
of the Republic among these gaudy syn
I'D bols of kingly wrongs and oppression
'te shines as the diamond beside the blo'
is stone. 1t is the equalization of liberty
III laboratory.
cd "For centuries aud centuries of wror
-, and oppression, the blood and tears
he countless millions have been drained in
ed the crucible 4; but when the fetter fell fro
as the limbs of four million slaves, when Il
he war was over, and the Grand Army of t
IN Republic was organized, the badge
Ill bronze, forged by freedoms hand, becar
ire the proudest decoration that have grac
". the breast of a soldier.
"The Star of Bethlehem rose on |
" nighted world, emblem Of Christiaui
ey that should raise men from darkness
by light.
ais The star of your badge is promise
lat coming generations that the principles
to, which you fought, shalt live not only
I'm one land, but shall spread in every la
tn beneath the sun, until sceptres shall (
ew and thrones shall crumble, and the @
pressed Of every nation shall know
sovereign but the sovereignty of the pc
.ce pie.
led "In the limits of our city you will fl
,ed three graves Of historic interest, for tn
.ut who slumber so quietly now were on
typical figures in the drama in which y,
III, played your part.
an "Where the Conestoga curves among t
a hills sleeps OK President Buchanan, who
of trembling hand held the helm of the ship
re- state as she went plunging into I
in bloody waves OF civil war. Ia a gu
he family graveyard not far off, rests the 9
are Commoner Thaddeus Stevens, and I
nd granite above his heroic heart silent
ON voices forever the principles for which
I'D lived and died. Over yonder beauti
,he shaft tells the pilgrim to hero's shrir
re- where reposes the peerless Reynolds
re-. you stand by each of these graves they v
At teach their silent lessons as you recall t