The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-05-31
FLOWERS FOR THE DEAD.
The Grand Army and Other Organi-
cations Unite in Observing
the Day.
1ing's Opera House Crowded at
the Memorial Exercises in
the Afternoon.
An Eloquent Address by Hon. Joseph II.
Burton, of kansas-Bnttie Hymn
Of the Republic.

The only thing that marred the pre-
gramme Of excuses yesterday was the
muddy condition of the streets and tho
threatening rain which caused the abandon
ment of the parade. During the forenoon
members of the G.. A. r., Sons of Veterans,
Women's Relief Corps and Ladies' Aid
society visited the cemetery where the
graves were decorated with appropriate
ceremonies. Services were held over the
graves of James Mulligan and his son, DO
seph g., who were both veterans, one Of the
Mexican war and the other of the late re-
bellion.
The exercises in the afternoon drew a
large crowd to Ming's opera house which
was handsomely decorated. On the stage
Mt one side stood a tent before which a SEN
try paced back and forth. Flags and low
ers in profusion were in all parts OF tho
house. Members of the various organizs-
tions participating in the services had
ssnts upon the stage. The exercises
opened with prayer by Rev. s. E.. snider,
chaplain of Wadsworth post. Then Post
Adjutant H. 3. Donnelly read the orders of
the day. A quartette composed Of Msssrs.
Eddy, Burgess. Hoenig and Osgood rem
dered \ vocal selection appropriate to the
occasion.
Recitations we're given by Miss Alice Nc
Donald and Miss Lenore X. Murray. Miss
Mcdonald il about II years Did. She de-
livered a poem entitled ''You Didn't Put
Flowers on Papa's Grave" Hex delivery
was excellent. The audience applaudod
her and some one sent up to the stage a
hnurnok Mics MrrravSc rooifok{0r zoe
Memorial Day at the Farm" She also re-
osivsd a floral gift and generous applause.
After this there was more song from the
quartette. Mayor Kleinschmidt then in
troduced Mrs. Kitkendall, of the Woman's
Relief corps. In her hands was a wreath
of flowers and evergreen. In the center in
black letters was the inscription, L the
Unknown Dead" With a few touching
words the tribute was handed to the adju-
tant of Wadsworth post, who accepted it
on behalf of his comrades.
The memorial address delivered by Hon.
Joseph r. Burton, of Kansas, was one of
the best efforts ever heard in Helena on sim
liar occasions. In part he said: This is
people bsnd the knee at the graves of our
hero dead, with a reverence akin to that
which inspires the Christian at the altar.
But there is consolation in our sorrow; we
are proud of our dend and we feel that they
know it. Somewhere they are seeing, yet
unseen and they know all. They see a re-
united, prosperous and happy people; they
see through cycles of time our great destiny
and they know our chartered deed of liberty
is sealed with their blood. They zee and
feel our gratitude. The odor of the flowers
scattered upon their graves reaches their
ing toward earth, they see all our sorrows
and know that their blood liRhtens the bur
dens of millions. while all around them in
all its INDISPENSABLE glory. shines heavens
effulgent light and Gods eternal throne.
A few years ago the blight of rebellion
fell upon this lane like a whitening psGti-
lence. Thu arteries of men were opened by
the lance of treason and there flowed a
river of blood. The hearts of women and
children were touched by the bloody hand
of war, and there gushed forth an ocean of
tears. How vivid from the gray old ruins
of memory comes back that time. The first
news from Sumpter came to the Union like
a blow in the face from the hand of a
brother. 1t was to be a prolonged struggle,
entailing every form Of suffering, every
kind of death; it was to be a war of broth
ers against brothers, fathers against sons,
Anglo-Sa1ons against Anglo-saxons, men
against men. and shall l not say 1t, will not
history SO write it, is it not true. each and
every man fighting for what he believed
was right, and determined to die in tho
struggle or win in the victory.
Wa is death instead of life, and death
has besn called the king of terrors. 1t is
the gateway to the unknown and men
dread O danger unseen. The desire to know
what is beyond the grave is universal. Even
the Christians faith will not keep him from
wanting to know something of the life be-
yond the tomb. He may feel, he does feel,
that all is we'll and yet, he wants to know.
Prentiss when dying said, II want to
knnu - md tina WAITING loved nnaa ry0uy
silent. 81 want to know" came in a fec
bier breath; II want to know and the
sentence was cut short by the angel who
bore the spirit Of the renowned journalist
to that city whose streets are of jasper and
Of gold. 1t is sad to think that one who
had spread such rare feasts of intellect for
the living should die with an unexpressed
wish upon his lips, and yet the few words
spoken, tell of the ruling passion Of every
heart from the cradle to the grave. l want
to know. says the little child as it catches
the first Ineligible words. l want to know,
elastic step toward the schoolroom; / want
to know, says the young man, as he bends
his frail form over some favored author. |
want to know, says the man of years, NJ he
is struggling in the thiokest of the fight.
/ want to know, says the old man, as his
feeble steps totter toward the grave. But
alas, the longing soul cannot be satisfied,
but a deep, dark veil ia drawn between ne
and futurity. From that realm of shadows,
no voice comes back; to that land of the
hereafter, no sublinary light can penetrate.
The soul is caGed i'll bars stronger than iron,
but bye and bye, it shall mount upon wings
of angelic power and beauty and soar into
the bright light OF the unknown. Bye and
bye, we shall know all things, even az we
ourselves are known. And is not this what
we call death; and is not death simply the
beginning of life. The realization of this
great truth that gives the lie to the old say
ing that death is the king of terrors makes
man court death for homo and country.
But when the frightful spectre comes tc
its victim alone in tho woods, or i'll the old
fields surrounded by the shrek of the
wounded and dying, no one to take the last
word, to wipe the death damp from the
brow, or whom he comes lingering from
starvation and filth, tho heart shrinks from
the accumulated horrors. All these suffer
ings were borne by brave men aud given as
the price for a more perfect liberty. But il
tho terrible ordeal through which the
soldiers must pass WAS not revealed to them
at the commencement of the struggle, still
they met every emergency that presented
itsolf with n bravery %unequaled in the
worlds history. Horatius at the bridge has
been the theme of song and story for cen
turtles, while every city and every hamlet
has yet living heroes whose courage
equaled, whose daring excelled that of the
noble Roman, while every cemetery in this
broad land and thousands Of un.
marked graves in the south oontain
heroes, each ono of whom dared and did
more than the men who held the bridge
against Lars Porsena and his hosts. Re
.-.tis, 4 la.- ,.ay IA. r--a