Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1885-06-04
An Impressive Little Decoration Scene.

Ns4A AhPA SoosVO. bHNN1O E5CUuC
"Ie lay like warrior taking his rest,
With his martial cloak around him"
1t is not the pomp and splendor Of gilt
tering pageantry that make the deep ant
lasting impressions upon the soul Their
Is more eloquence in the silent tear tina
wells up unbiddcn from the sealed foun
talns OF the heat, than in any language
which tongue or pen can command. Mill.
IONS Ut peop.e assembled yesterday al
over the land to pay the anniversary trib
ute of respect and honor to the soldier
dead. That millions of these did so more
to magnify themselves before men than
to honor the names and slumbcring dus,
OF the fallen heroes who sleep the slcer
that will know no waking until the bu.
gle sound at the Resurrection Morn shal
call them forth, is probably true, toe
true, indeed, TO bear close investigation
But in the main the good motive predom
mates and leavens the whole. Difrercn,
peoples have different manners of ex
pressing their feelings on sdcn occasions
and IN those instances where self-landa
ton is the motive they express them only
too we'll.
But the scene tf unostcntatlous oh.
servancc of the day to which we wish to
direct attention as beautiful and lmpres-
sivc model isl that Of Saturday in this
city. 1t shows that not even one soldier
OF the vast myriad who fought for their
country can fall into the grave IN even
the remote part of the country and civ
lllZation, but what some of his faithful
comrades will seek his final resting place
and d coratc his grave with the artistic
handiwork of nature. As the morning
sun was rising toward the zenith, she'd
ding his edulgent rays Of brilliant splen-
dor alike upon the homes of the rich and
the poor and the abiding places of the
quick and the dead, little cortege OF
seven teams was seen vending its way to-
ward Highland Home cemetery. The
members of this company, though few In
number, represented the whole army of
the United States in the war of tn e rebell-
ion, from the soldier who carried his
musket through the wilderness in the
army of the Potomac to the veteran who
endured the hardships of "Shcrman's s
March to the Sea-" Accompanying them
on-this mission Of vencratlon AMI honor
were their wives and the widow and 1T
tie child of the solitary veteran whose
grave they went to decorate. Among the
little band of veterans who went on this
mission was Mr.. e. V. Smalley, q man Of
national reputation and honor as a jour.
nalist, vino was fortunately sojourning IN
the city and who thought it not beneath
his dignity to join IN paying this tribute
OF respect to solitary soldier and CON-
rade away out in the boundlcss prairie Of
Dakota.
This grave was that OF Mr.. Stctson,
Who was buried last summer in Highland
Home cemetery, the only veteran of the
war of the rebellion. known to be buried
there. lie enlisted IN the 18th regiment
Illinois volunteers, served faithfully his
time and held an honorable discharge.
Most of the comrades Of the q. A. II.
Post had gone to Bismarck but the fol-
l|pRKFi9g RKFsi ~, remained and were present on
tol, James Mckenzie, VIM. Walton, J ohm
+. Vennum, Horace L. Ward, of this
city, T.. V. Smallcy, of St. Paul, and VIM.
b. Coyle, of Yanklon.
On assembling at the grave veteran II.
S. Reeves, of this city, chairman Of the
on decoration, made some ap-
remarks upon the occasion and
the duties of the survivors towards their
fallen comrades, after which he intro
duced Mr.. Smalley, who made a beauti-
full and touching address to the little
groupe assembled in the presence of the
dead, after which the ladies proceeded to
beautifully decorate the grave with flow.
ers kindly furnished by Mrs. II. G.
Hotchklss and other wild floral tributes
gathered from the prairie
The following is a short synopsis Of Mr..
Smalley's address:
elm the great National Cemetery IN Ar
llngton Heights near Washington, where
the dead of the war lie in seried ranks of
green mounds, almost countless in num-
ber. there IS an inscription on a tablet,
which remains in the memory of every
visitor. 1t reads:
"On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their snow white tents are spread,
And Glory guards with solemn round
The blvouac of the dead"
We have faith that those who lie be-
meath these mounds and beneath many
other mounds scattered all over this
broad land, are not in reality dead They
live, not alone IN our memories and in
the honor which a grateful country ac-
cords them; they live, as we firmly be-
lieve. conscious life, in the better coun-
try. May we not also believe that, on
this anniversary day, when we meet to-
gether to pay tribute to their memory,
they look down upon us, as unseen wit
nesses of our ceremony. Dakota, my
friends, IS not land of the dead, II is IN
a peculiar sense a land of the living, full
Of earn nest, vita! people, whose thoughts
seldom turn towards the grave. Yet,
now and then, an old soldier drops by the
way, IN the march of life, ont on these
verdant pralries and passes on TO answer
to his name at The great roll call. They
will be more numerous as the years 60
by, anil more numerous will be the an
nual procession on Decoration day that
go out from the cities and towns, to visit
their graves. The day will then become
more sacred and more observed as the
years roll en-, until finally there will be
but few left of the Grand Army of the
Republic, who saved the Union, to par
tlcipate in the proceedings. To us old
soldiers this dav hrlnpS solemn memories