Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1889-07-16
DECORATION DAY.
Pythian Knights Honor the Memory OF
Their Departed Brethren.

uuhieu lhufsuiy hItefHoDii uDH-r tbe
niost favorable ausp'ces A rain
during tho day cooled the aimOs-
phere TO some extent and the evening
was pleasant far summer. About 10
knights marched uit shortly after 3
o'clnrk accompanied by many friends
In carriages, and the graves of all tho
deceased Knights buried in this city |
were decorated with flowers, tho
beautiful ceremonies being conducted
by Chancellor Commander Bailey
Waller After prayer by Knight
Waller and hymn by the brethren,
the address Of tho occasion was de-
livered by Knight q. N. Bell, a, fol-
lows:
MIR DELL's ADDRESS.
"Slr Knights, Ladies' aud Gentle.
men: II IL well for us In the rush OF
| existunee aud tho manitoba Garas and
responsibilities which occupy nur
minus anu hUsuTb DuE tiieHtlbu w
pause, and lay Ing all aside devote u
few minutes Of each recurring year
10 the memory Of those VIII III We
have loved and lost.
We come to-day to heap with in-
censc breathing flowers the sod which
swells above the bos0msof our dead
with sad faces aud bowed hearts 10
pay TO their memory "the mournful
tribute of a tear" To show that new
faces have not usurped their places
In the hearts that were their own; ID
show that We cherish them as sweet
memorial which minds our hearts 10
the past even whilc our busy hands
are building up the .utu:c.
Oae of the grandest principles OF
our grand order is 10 incite fraterna!
love aud friendship, TO indocirinain
mankind with tho divine prccept of
universal brotherhood, 10 develop
love that ends not with The life of tho
loved one, but follows hnm with grief
stricken footsteps to his last resting
,place, and cherishes as tenderly those
who sleep with nothing save tie
messy mantle of old mother earth
between their bosoms and the bend
ing skies IA they
"Whose statutes stand like sen ,incls
On whitened shafts an bAses,
whose ashes rest in marble coils,
And sepul hurs aud Vases"
We come today to sirew with im-
partial and uudiscriminating hand
the graves If all our dead. Wa ask
not-have no tight 10 ask-what was
the position in this breathing world
OF him whose grave we decorate,
Listening senates may have hung
upon his tongue and the worll have
bowed before his commanding ge-
MUS, yet at our hands he il not rn-1
titled TO one flower the more than the
hunlblcst knight who walked the
obscurest path Of life and died an
honest man.
Ia the democracy of the Pythian
heart all ranks loo, 30 difference and
distinction. Wss he true and loyal
Knight of p, thia. is all we can ask
aud this question answered in the af-
irnat;ve entities lim TO the full
measure OF our iovo.
Since the day when tho exterior
surface of the earth was first ppread
by God as \ shield between tho eyes
Of the living aud the faesa OF the
dead haa u bean the custom 10 straw
with fiowers The spot whore loved
ones sleep. The flower from tho
earliest ages has been taken az typi-
Tying The life OF man. "He comcth
up as flower aud Is cue down. lie
flaeth also 80 shadow aud coniinu
eth not"
"To day he puts forth the tender
leaves OF hope; tomorrow blossoms
aud bears his blushing honors thick
upon him; the third day comes a
frost, killing frost" Type of our
epheineal existence here on earth,
could loving hands select a filter tri-
buic to the memory of our dead but
unforgottent friendsf
Standing here surrounded by our
departed members who have taken
each, his chamber In the silent halls
OF DEATH" the melody oil lips that are
dust and OF tongues upon which has
fallen the eternal silence OF the tomb,
stirs within our heart, these sanctua-
rles OF dim and tender memories,
like the lingering cadence OF some Old
refrain. Wesee them as we know
49,
II