The daily enterprise. [volume] (Livingston, Mont.) 1883-1884, 1884-05-31
DECORATION DAY.
AS it was Observed by Citizens OF Liv-
ingston.

| AS it was Observed by Citizens oil LiS-
ingston.
Yesterday marked the first Decora-
| tion Day ever observed III Livingston.
and il We mistake not the first ever
observed in Montana. though yester-
day several towns III the territory
each conducted its separate exercises
in honor of the day. In Livingston
the dav was commemorated by ex-
| tended ceremonies. Notwithstanding
| the fact that there were believed to
he no graves of veterans to decorate
| in our little cemetery, sentiment ap-
propriate to the occasion was not
wanting, and the decoration ia mem
ory of fallen friends, relatives and
comrades and of all who fed in the
national conflect. was conducted as
reverently and lis feelingly as ii the
flowers had been placed OH the visible
graves Of the dead.
Farragut Post e. A. r. took the
lead in conducting the ceremonies. At
about 1880 =. IN. the members of the
post assembled at Halloran's S building,
and led by the Livingston brass band
marched to the roller skating rink. AT
2::30 the general public was admitted
and nearly filled the rink. The exer-
cises there consisted Of music and
speech making. The Choral society
had the musical exercises in charge
and acquitted itself very honorably Jas
usual. The grand old hymn "Colum-
bia'' was first rendered. prayer was
offered by Rev. w. E. Archibald.
quartette of male voices, Messrs. Min
tie. WetZstein, Sloan and Chamberlin.
sang Honor the Brave, and then
Rev. L. 4. Hanna addressed the as
sembly on '.Objects of the G. A. 4. :
He said it was only necessary to re-
call incidents of the late WAL to show
the origin of the order. Before the
war the nation was torn .by disputes
over the institution of sla,e cry. then
came the outbreak against Fort sum-
| ter, then war in all its fury. The
south believed in the doctrine of state
sovereignty us taught by John e. Cal
lloun; the north accepted only the be-
lief in the supreme sovereignty of the
United States as champiOned by Dan
| iel Webster. But the question was
ohe that could not be settled III the
halls of legislation but only by war.
They all remembered when Lincoln
issued to the men of the north the call
for troops-iir iirst. for II service of three
months and then for three years first
for 900. 900 men and then for 100000
How molly patriotism responded to
those calls. The plow was left in the
! furrow. the plane on the bench, tile
hammer on the anvil. the teXt-book
on the desk, the lawyer left his client.
the student abandoned his class, the
/ physician forgot his cases and ever
the pulpit was vacated as all the avo
cations of peace gave their quota to
settle the issues of war. During the
four years that tire conflict ragged up
wards of 100000 men SAW service il
the army Of the United States. This
order of the Grand Army of the Re
public was made up of the
survivors. Upwards of 100000
j of those who served in the army of tht
United States during that war have
/ fallen. The battle fields and the hos
pitfalls of the war and the diseases ant
fatalities Of twenty years since. have
each chosen their victims. The &
4. r. is made up Of the veteran sur
vivors, men from all the walks of If,
who are bound together by the fra
ternity of feeling that had come from
the experiences of war. When tn
J soldiers were mustered out of service
they formed brotherhood yet unor
ganized; the camp. the march. tn
hospital. the blttle-field. had givel
common experiences and ceinentet
colnmon sentiment by all manner o
hareships. and it was but natural tia
there should be an org anization. Thi
was affected in 1867 and kppt np eve
since until now there are upward o.
$500 posts scattered over the conntr.
with 4 membership of 10000 men
frI,a,,,sl..r haS M unlIticaj oltipet n.