Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-02-05

manded-a1 honorable dtechafge. Oniy one |
coalition imposed-.hat they fafnish ample |
proof Of disability preventing them from |
earning their living BY manual labor.
say the door, are opened and the sol |
der Odds provided for him everything he |
needs for his comfort and welfare; give |
the brightest side of the picture) veil ven |
tiia.ed apartments heated by steam and
lighted by electricity; comfortable beds;
food of excellent quality which 10 dispensed
With liberal hands; . hospital in charge Of
skiilful men. supplied with the best sppli-
ances and drugs that experience and science
can furnish; . chapel devoted to the ser
vice of God. for Worship and praise. con-
Quoted by earnest hearts and eloquent lips;
library filed to overlooking with books
suited to all tastes, and replenished con-
SANITY With the current literature of the
day: tables covered with the best magazines
and periodicals, With newspapers-not only
local but from all the large centers of the
country. They viii find . beautiful hall
where enterfainn ents by the best available
talent are given them without cost and
xithoat price. With each succeeding day
the band (of whose merit you eau Judge
tonight) depicts in exquisite strains the
emotions Of joy and glAdness. love and wor-
snip, sentiment aud reality, mirth and sor
row, interpreted with the old songs of
patriotism. loyalty and freedom. He will
fad beautiful grounds arranged with care
and taste into gardens and lawns. aud deco
rated with fountains. trees, shrubs and
flowers.
1t is nearly seven years since WAS called
upon to take charge Of the Eastern branch.
At that time the membership numbered 400 !;
today 22O0 names are on our muster rolls.
Three other Homes were then in existence,
IN all of which the membership has in
creased in q still greater proportion. Dur
ing these years one additional Home of
large capacity has been Established. and
Iwo more are now in process of erection !;
aud yet the demand for accommodation
far exceeds the supply
On the first day of this year, l6 543 men
we're enrolled rs members of the National
| Homes, with hundreds Of applicants waiting
| Tor vacancies to occur.
| One million nine hundred and ninety six
| thousand dollars will be required for the
next fiscal year TO support these Homes and
10 erect necessary buildings. When l look
upon these magnificent memorials Of a
lation's gratitude, and think of the millions
that have been and are being paid 10 pen
sl0ns and State aid; when | consider the
special privileges that are given to the
veteran soldier, | marvel At the magnitude
Of the patriotism and gratitude
displayed by the American people. Twenty
nine years have passed awsy since the first
gun was fred At Sumpter. A great major
ity of the men and women who gave US en-
couragement and support when we enlisted,
have gone to the other country, and the
debt of gratitude 10 now being paid by those
who were children gazing with wondering
and curious faces rs We marched to the
| front aye, men and women who were then
unborn, with ungrudgng hands and uncom-
planning hearts are giving the earnings of
honest toll that those who failed not in the
hour of their country's peril shall not uffer
from hunger and want.
The danger, comrs les, is not that the
great heart Of the people of this land, throb-
bling with patriotism, gratitude and liberality
will fail to respond to any just call we may
make upon it: the peril is with US that we
are forgetting the noble impulses that sent
as forward to meet the foe without hope or
promise of pecuniary reward; that the fires
of di,iuterested loyalty are being quenchel,
and that the pure gold of sincere patriotism
! 20 cNSohiAhk amy WIN thC DhoCt httalo
| of selfshness and greed.
| Comrades, | said that was giving you
the brightest picture in my description Of
the Soldiers Homes. 1t would not be Just
to you if fail to point out some of the
shadows which partially obscure the bright
er colors:
at is not good for man to live alone" it
is not good for men in numbers to live to-
gether-bereft of the ennobling, purifying
and humanizing companionship of women
and children. No home a generous gov
eminent could establish--no matter how
elegant its furnishing and surroundings
can replace the home, however humble,
which is supported by honest toll and
adorned BY the loving hands of wife and
children. The truest happiness in life il
around the family hearth stone, and in de
Ginning years, in company with the chosen
companion of our early manhood who has
shared our joys and griefs, our struggles
and victories. The most beautiful music
ever written, rendered by musicians of skill
and taste, sounds tame and soulless when
compared with the sweetness that fingers in
the heart-tones of our children, blood OF
our blood aud bone of our bone"
told you that the soldiers of the Union
met at the Homes on common ground the
cultured and the ignorant, the good and the
bad. The r,bild jest and cruel taunt
from the profane and vicious, annoy and
disgust the self respecting men, and the
comfort of scores is destroyed by the
selhshness of the unprincpled debauches
This class compel strict rules and regula.
tons which are irksome and an annoya nce
to men who have been accustomed to
freedom of action and purpose.
IAN is no gold that glitters;" and CON
rades, | say to you, and through you send 4
message to those you represent and it i,
this -
Only when the family circle i,
broken, when the companion of your
life, has passed to the better country
when your children are scattered and car
no longer perform the Offices of fiIial love
and duty when your hands refuse to work
your feet move feebly and your BRAIN fails
to respond TO your bidding, when you are
poor. sick and weary, should you seek the
National Homa, not with the expectation of
finding real home, but only resting place
near the end of your journey toward the
home beyond.
NATIONAL HOMES.
g The broken soldier, kindly babe to stay,
| Sat by hi- fire, ans talked the night away
! Wept Ger his wounds or, tales of sorrow done
shouldered his crutch, and showed how MID >
were won"
| Toastmaster Michaelis introduced Hon.
II. NJ. Heath, who spoke as follows:
Sons Of Veterans. Hon. II. NJ. Heath
wake in our breasts the living fires.
The holy faith that warmed our sires"
Holmes.
Mr.. IOasfmdster. Ladies and Gentlemen .
Last week your Committee notified me
that Was drafted. offered to pay com.
mutation. They took my money and then
repudiated. They further repres Sc 1ted tha,
this was to be a feast Of reason and flow
of soul have sampled your feast.
patiently wait for the fluids. These dry
dinners remind US that Maine is a prohibit
ton State,--in theory, and mostly in theory
To night, however. it is Condition and
not theory that confronts us
An after dinner speech is a tragedy
Gentlemen, ii takes courage to face a BODY
of men every mothers son of whom be-
lieves that his particular regime mt put down
the Rebellion. | except from this state.
ment our venerable friend from Bangor,
who calamity followed the Home Guards.
and with them fought. bled-and, no, not
nied, Tor bis Is name not born to die
The friend and counsellor of Abraham
Lincoln, his life and rugged honesty will
shine forever, a beacon light for the ages.
The more welcome, when we recall the
havoc Death is making among the great
figures of the war.
Grant, the invincible, one Of the few
great men of the worlds history; Sheri.
dan, the bold, crowned with the chap.et
fresh from Winchester twenty miles
away Hancock, toe superb. onru.hing in