Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1888-05-31

OF Hancock at Gettysburg, of Logan at |
Atlanta, of Sherman on his march to /
the sea, of Old Pap Thomas at Nash |
vile, of Fighting Joe Hooker above the
clouds, of Grant at Donaldson, Shiloh,
Vicksburg and Appomatox, and the |
daring and unselfish sacrifices of the |
whole grand army of heroes, living and
dead, who breasted the storm of treason
and washed with their blood the last
blot from our flag.
A few weeks ago / was driven to
Lincoln Park, in Washington, to see
that splendid piece of statuary, The
Emancipation" In heroic size, in
bronze, was splendid likeness of the
immortal Lincoln. His sad, honest
face is touched with mixed expression
OF pity, love and hope; his outstretched
hand is extended over the PROSTATE
figure of an African slave, as though
he is hidden to rise by the great eman.
cipator. The word seems to have been
just spoken that gives the slave his
| freedom; the broken shackels are fall
| ing from his wrists, and the upturned
face of the PROSTATE figure as he is
about to rise from slavery to freedom
beams at the great Lincoln a look of
| gratitude and love that shows the in
spiratiOn of the freedmen in building
the statue.
l thought as l stood before the cold
marble how much of life and hope, of
toll and sorrow, of duty and crime it
represented. / then for the first time
realized the glory of the union soldiers
toll. 1t was said in eulogy of Wilber-
force that when he died he went into
the presence of his God bearing the
chains of 100000 West India island
slaves. The soldiers of the republic
did more than that. They have seized
with one hand the clanking manacles of
4 1000, 900 of bondsmen, and with the
other 10000 of chartered deeds of
American citizenship. And with these
chains in one hand and these deeds in
the other, they step into the forum of
nations and challenge the admiration
of the present, and the ever advancing
future.
Our peerless orator was listened to
with the closest attention and inter
rupted at every pause by round after
round of applause. His magnificent
effort was truly characteristic of ''oul
Burton" and that is praise enough
At its close he was the recipient of an
elegant basket of cut flowers.
America" was sung by the vast
audience. and then w. T. Davidson re-
quested all old soldiers who had moi
, received their orders from the pension
department to call upon him at once.
After Marching Through Georgia,
!, by the quartet and the audience, Rev
j. l.. McKeehan dismissed the thrOnG
; with the benedictiOn.
Thus closed another perfect Memo
rial Day in Abilene, fittingly observed
= alike with reference to the sleeping
f dead and the waiting soldiers yet OF
3 this side the river.
: At meeting in the court house i'm
, mediately after the exercises, the fol
r lowing resolutions were unanimousl,
: passed by Abilene Post No. SO, G.. A
R.:
Resolved, That the thanks of this
Post are hereby rendered to the Hon
j. r. Burton for his instructive, elo
guent and patriotic address, and we
heartily endorse the sentiments sc
, powerfully presented by the speaker.
Resolved, That we tender our hearty
! thanks to Hiawatha band for the splen
did music which they so freely rem
dered, also, to the following Organiza
, tions: Ladies Relief Corps; Co. D, 4tl
: Regt. n. g.; Uniformed Rank, Knight
; of Pythias, and the Abilene fire depart
: ment, for their valuable assistance il
,, the exercises of the day.
, W. S. ANDERSON,
, ]. SCHOPP,
, Unanimously adopted, May so, 1888
D. MATTIsoN, Post Com.
F. Y. CLOSE, Adj't.