Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1890-06-06

shall last, and even perhaps. while /
eternity shall endure.
There came a time to our country I
in the dark days of the sixties, time |
when from all the gloomy horizon /
the last CLEAN Of hope had well nigh +
vanished. when In every home from
Maine to the Gulf. there was weeping
and Wailing, a vacant char, an empty
couch, the dead shr0uded for burial, /
or that dreadful nameIess vacancy, #
which settles down over a household
when the shrouded form has depart
ed feet foremost over the Threshold
along that silent journey where never
shows a track returning.
In the wilderness. on the plains Of
Georgia, along the beautiful valley
of the Shenandoah, and at Gettys-
burg, the mangled cOrpses of our
brave soldiers lay fostering in the
sun or heaped together in the scanty
burial of the battlefield.
In thousands Of temporary hospi-
tails, as we'll as IN the depOts of suf-
fering humanity established by the
Government, lay other suffering thous-
ands who needed, but lacked the
gentle hand of woman to soothe their
anguish, and WOman's smile to light
| the dFeary hours of pain, besides all
| this there were ten thousand wives
I and orphan children left desOlate and
! dependent by the ruthless hand of
war, which had swept away the hus-
/ band and the father There were
/ girls Just springing into wOmanhoOd
! with all its allurements and tempta-
[ tiOns, deprived of a fathers councils;
there were boys before whom the
paths of dissipation and crime were
opening with no restraining hand;
there were the hungry to feed, the
naked to clothe, the sick and the i'm
prisoned to visit, the despairing to
comfort, and the dying to cheer
There was lack of WOman's nursing,
there was dearbh of wOman's tears.
But the great heart Of American SIS
terhOOd was not cold, nor was it's
hand paralized and in '64, the SAM
tary and Christian Commissions were
organized, the women of America, to
whose ranks / am proud to belong,
came to the front with a self devotion
and herOism unparalleled in the his
tory of the world. There was no
more q lack of WOman's nursing OF
a dearth of wOman's tears. Beside
every dying pillow, over every suffer
er's cot bent the pittying form OF
some sister of mercy, there was a
gentle hand to wipe the death damp
from the pallid brow, there was a
sympathiZing ear to catch the last
fond message for the wife, the child
ren, the father, the mother, or the
friend, whose eyes should never see
nor ear hear the returning form OF
the glad voice of the loved one, and
when the news of Sherman at Sa-
vanah, Sheriden at Five Forks, anC
the last grand assault at Richmond
when the Confederate flag went dOwE
7 before the wild onset of the Boys II
Blue, came flashing over the wires
and the hosts of angels and men WAC
were waiting for the knell of the
= Confederacy or the dIrge Of Freedom
to peal through the shuddering air
! when they knew that the fight was
won, that the final perseverance O
the saints was assured and tina
hencefOrward our flag would be il
reality, the flag Of the free. Thel
came the golden opportunity 70
3 WOman's work; on every hand wa
3 ravages of war to repair; broker
I hearts to be bound up, wasted healtl
r to be nursed back to yigOr.
T. The Government loaded down will
4 debt, cares and responsibility. cOulc
!. only recommend, advise and suggest
+ but American women came to the res
= cue, the widow and the orphan wer
sheltered, the hungry fed, the dis
9 banded soldiers cared for, none,
r and labor the sInews of activity Wer
f supplied, women had found he
Q world and work Gradually tn
s traces of war sufferings were ObIiter
u, ated by the return of peace, Day b
u day the scars healed, the sick fecoy
9 cred or passed away, orphans be
It came old enough to provide for them
n selves, or the government PROVIDED
b for them, the disabled soldier and th
9 soldiers widow were pensiOned an
f the burden of relief was ighteneC
s. The Sanitary and Christian Con
d missions were disbanded and ther
IS was little left to remind the strange
o that our land had passed bhE04g
$ such a terrible ordeal, the enthus
} asm which the war had klndled wa
# fast dying away in the hearts Of mar
q and people forgot in the mad gtruq
10 E345 4OL gam WHICH I6JLEL44LlS prosper
y itY brought with it, to acknowledge
It the claim which the soldier who ha
S made this prosperity possible had uE
, ca the nation.
Il To keep aliye the patriotic fire i
} the breasts Of our citizens and NOR
IS especially to klndle that fire in th
n bosom Of every son and daughter c
f these united states, the Grand Arm
l. Of the Republic was organized, com
, posed OF tbs veteran soldiers VIII
} had served IN the a8n3g Qf The BnioI
1t and well and nobly they did the