Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1891-06-06

way to gratitude, and our hearts throt
with Thanksgiving to them, and to the
Master Mind who upheld and guided
his people through all the vicissitudes
Of civil strife.
! These meditations aud reflections are
pleasant and happy oncs, and thus in
one sense is this q holiday. But to
you, who participated in that conflict,
who drank from the bitter cup Of death
and devastation; TO MS who have seen
some of its results, in the broken circle
of the home, in the shadowed lives OF
bereaved fathers and mothers, wives
and sisters, to us, withal, il is day of sad
and solemn memories. We do not wish
it otherwise. We have no desire to
forget the past in the enjoyment of our
heritage OF peace. The tears that
come unbidden are not idle ones, but
evidences of genuine sorrow, deep-seat-
ed regret. The emotion that thrills us
with each successive wave Of memory is
the responding chord of the better ma
ture, evidences of oar humanity, proofs
of the immortality of love.
| / take il as manifestation of the
depth and sincerity of our national life,
that there is Memorial Day, an assur-
ance of our greatness and strength as a
people, that though more than a quar-
ter of century has passed, those years
of war and the heroism and patriotism
OF our nation's warriors are still fresh
in our memories, not obscured by time,
nor usurped from their position of i'm
portance by the more recent ev gnts of our
individual and national existence. And
you, mothers and fathers, who have
told so often TO your children the story
of our nations extremity, who have
taught them to cherish the memory Of
those who rose in the majesty of their
manhood TO save her, and died in so
doing, who have instilled in them a re-
spect and reverence for those who still
survive, have by your teachings, erected
q bulwark of courage and patriotism
that will be impregnable TO the assaults
of time creating indifference and care
lessness? Is it not fitting then, that
we should meet as we do to-day, and
for the purpose that causes us to as
semble. Is it not reason for congratu-
lation that there still exists the senti-
ment that starts the tears and stirs the
heart with emotion on this occasion
Yes, it is well, and yet it is not all.
There is something else for us to do,
something else that is our duty 10 do.
A duty, the performance of which is
mott confined to a single day, in each
of the swiftly passing years, but one
that enters into our daily lives, that ac-
companies us always, that is omnipres-
ent, and that duty is the preservation
< Of the nation and the institutions which
they saved frorii dcstructfon az the cost
| Of their own precious lives. Our coun-
I try came out Of the dark days of the re-
bellion, purified in the crucibie of war,
cleansed by the blood OF its noble de-
| tenders. A new and loftier spirit of
patriotism and loyalty stirred our peo-
pie, and though tine clouds of sorrow
still hung dark and heavy in the horizon
of the past, there was arenewal of hope,
YOU looked forward to broader scheme
Of national life, and upward to higher
and better plane of manhood and citi-
zenship. Have we reached it? Are
we nearer il than we were thirty years
ago? There is no possibility that We
have remained stationary. We have
either advanced or retrograded. If the
latter, we have not been faithful to our
trust 1t is well to think Of these
things, even now on Decoration Day,
for the faithfulness, the bravery and
chivalry of our dead soldiers cannot
be requited by flowers and tears
alone. They left US a sacred charge,
and to keep it, is to honor them most
highly, ana to show for them and their
deeds the deepest nd truest regard.
There is no advancement without
more or less opposition; there are no
triumphs of right without strife with
wrong. In these days of peace the rifle
and the bayonet have no terrors
| for us, but in protecting from infamy
the fair name of our country, in keep
ing spotless the folds Of the banner we
love 50 well, there are battles for us 10
fight and win that require degree OF
moral courage and stamina equal to
that which bids man stand firm in
the face of the cavalry charge, and on
the field in the storm of grape and can
ister.
This afternoon, as we stand on com
mon ground, while our hearts are mel.
lowed and our heads are bowed in com
mon mourning, let US learn more thor
oughly the lesson Of true nobility. Let
us turn from this day and place, with its
mingled joys and SORROWS, united in
purpose and determination to battle
with the subtle foes Of our country and
our freedom. Let us guard with a jeal
ous care the rights and privileges OF
American citizenship, let us throw round
ard round again the ties of common in
J terest and brotherly love that bind the
north and south, east and west in grand
unity, let us lay aside that ignobls
claim to superiority and deign to. make
concessions and hold out helping
: hand, and thus reach the only possible
solution Of the race problem. Let us
flight for the purity of the ballot box
for the sanctity Of the home, and the
conditions that make it now the birth
place of honor, of truth, Of love Of lib
erty, and in SO doing we shall render x
those who are gone, to our dead. the
noblest tribute, to our Creator, ths
best evidences Of our deep gratitude, t.
ourselves and our posterity, an ever
lasting service.
Brave boys of 81, the ravages Of wa,
and lapse of time have thinned youl
ranks, a few who met here with you yea
ago have gone to their long home, Will
. the decline of each setting sun YOU
numbers are decreasing. The graves
I of your dead comrades are scattered fa
! and wide, and to-day DER each Of then
gentle hands are strewing these token
OF love. Many in that fair southern
land, meath soughing pines, or on way'
I washed coasts, others on the western
prairie under natures billowy shroud o
green, many on the mountain side
and more in the valley, soothed i
the embrace Of their mother earth
forgetting the weary days OF strife
5 sleeping the last eternal sleep. 500
. you also must go where they have gone
8 only little while and you will ente
5 that eternal service which snail be o
N peace and not Of wss, of joy iiTsstcad Q
sorrow. A few years will come and &
and we, now In sturdy youth or vigol
ous manhood, will Join you; generatio
Twill follow generation, and each sns
+ Ioessige one slowly bnt surely disappea