St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-06-06
THE NATIONS DEAD.
How Memorial Day was Observed in S
TOHuSbury.

people of our town and vicinity, gave
a fitting celebration of Memorial day
and a brief resume of the events of
the day is presented to our readers.
The procession was one of the finest
ever given on such an occasion and
was witnessed by hundreds all along
the line of march.
The Parade.
Mounted Escort of 20 Young Men.
w. H. Sargent, Chief Marshal.
ST. Johnsbury Band 1 8 pieces.
FIRST DIvIsIoN-C. NJ. Bonett, Aid.
ST Johnsbury Guard, % men.
Palestine Commandery, X T., % men.
SECOND DIvISION-E. c. Grant, Aid.
Frost Camp, s. of W, % members.
Chamberlin Post "a members.
THIRD DIvIsIoN-J. A. Goodrich, Aid.
Forty Academy Students
FOURTH DIvIsIoN-F- G. West, Aid.
Eight Soldiers in Carriages.
Twelve Carriages of Citizens.
At the cemetery the marching bod
les formed a hollow square around
the posts lot, and the beautiful ser
vice of the dead was conducted by
Commander Hovey, assisted by
Comrades Carpenter, Crosby and
Chaffee. The volley to the unknown
dead was fired by six veterans. The
exercises closed with singing of Amer
ica by the audience and the benedic-
tion by Rev. John Ward.
The exercises at the hall opened
with music by the band, followed by
prayer by Rev. John Ward. The
Carol quartette, with Mrs. P. F.
Hazen as soloist, gave fine render
ing of Brewster's "Our comrade has
fallen" after which the orator of the
day, Capt. Henry B. AthertOn of
Nashua, was introduced. The ad-
dress was scholarly and able effort,
abounding in practical suggestions.
The speaker thought that in times
of peace we should prepare for war,
and advocated six things which he
considered necessary to the national
American policy, especially toward
all the states south of us from the
Rio Grande to the straits of Magellan.
Our maintenance of the Monroe doc
trine means in effect for the South
and Central American states a gen
eral defensive alliance with us. Sec
ond, the regular army should be held
in the highest state of efficiency.
The government should equip our
army with the best arms, and have
shops and arsenals where they can
be made with the least possible de-
lay. Our next reliance is the militia
This important branch of our ma
tons defence should be kept well
drilled and extended. Fourth, what
of our coast defences? We have none.
Every large city and every good har
Dor on either coast should be well
protected with steel-clad forts equip
ped with the most powerful artillery.
Fifth, we should have a navy COM
prising war ships of all classes-sw1ft
sailing, heavy armored, transports,
tugs, torpedo boats. If we would
re-eStablish our ocean commerce and
render our shores secure we must
have a navy ten times as large and
strong as we have today. The sixth
and last great requisite for the ma
tiOnal defence is the annexation of
Canada. England's possession of
this large territory has been against
us in all past wars. Self-preservation
is the first law of nature, and we
cannot permit any great military
power to be erected on the northern
half of this continent The union of
the provinces with this country is a
prime essential of this nations de-
fence.
The Evening Entertainment.
The monument benefit entertain
ment in Music hall was largely at
tended and the local talent was en-
Enthusiastically received and encored
at almost every. appearance. The
band under their new leader gave
two enjoyable selections. The rem
dering of ''Hark, the merry drum
by the Mahogany quartette, with
Mrs. ]. H. Humphrey as soloist, was
one of the gems of the evening. The
Carol quartette appeared only once,
but were heartily encored when they
gave a sprightly army song in which
Mrs. P. F. Hazen sang a solo to
banjo accompaniment. The Cecilian
quartette deserve great credit for
their beautiful rendering Of ''The blue
and the gray" and have received
many compliments for their efforts.
Prof. Chapman showed rare taste in
the selection of his pieces, and read
them admirably. 'Sheridan's ride"
was unquestionably the finest Mrs.
H. K. Ide captivated the audience
with her solo, and sang as an encore
the always enjoyable "Swanee river"
The memorial of the flowers by 43
children was very pretty exercise
and the ladies of the Relief corps who
drilled the little folks are to be con-
graduated on their success on the
stage. The children were all dressed
in white, and after short recitation
deposited their floral tributes on a
column. The exercise closed with a
tableau in which the goddess of lib
erty was surrounded by soldiers and
sailors and the 43 children. The par
ticipants of the exercise were as fol-
lows:
Maine Alice Parkhurst.
New Hampshire, Maude L. Thompson.
Vermont, Clara Selma.
Massachusetts, Grace Wilcomb.
Rhode Island, Grace Switser