The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-31
DECKED WITH FLOWERS.
Graves Of the Federal Dead Around
Savannah.

The Grand Army's Tribute to It's De-
parted Comrades-W. s. Hancock
Posts Exercises in Laurel Grove
emetery-Chaplain Pease's Ad-
dressLThe Decorations in Bonaven-
ture and the Cathedral Cemetery.
The comrades and friends of the de-
parted heroes of the union army gathered
yesterday in Laurel Grove cemetery to
perform the annual memorial rites over
their graves.
Some of the members of the w. S. Han
cock post, with their wives and daughters,
gathered at the cemetery at 6 o'clock and
marched in body to the grave of Com
rade j. 1. Pascal, a member of the post
who died last summer. There they formed
about the little mound of earth which in
closed the remains Of their comrade. Com
mander Joseph F. Emery ofliciated.
After a prayer by Chaplain William
Pease, Adit. Gillespie read the orders
from the national headquarters of the G..
A. r. in regard to the organization and its
duties on Memorial day, and also the
memorial order of the department of
Georgia and the order Of Gen. Logan in
shutting Memorial day. The orders re-
lated to the duties, objects and purposes
of the day They were to strew the
graves of the dead with flowers and to
hold them sacred in the memory of their
comrades.
Chaplain Pease then delivered a short
memorial address. He referred to the
name of the day being peculiarly appro-
priate as it was designed to keep alive the
memory Of the departed heroes through
out generations. He hoped with them
the saying of Shakespeare would be re-
versed, and that only their good would
live after them, and that the evil had
been inferred with their bones. There
are e, 900 graves of federal soldiers in
Georgia, he said. and each of them was to
be strewn with flowers, and flags were to
be put at half-mast in honor of their
deeds.
The blue and the gray, he said, now lie
side by side. All strife has been ended
and only the olive branch prevails. At
the close of his address the song, "Shal
we forget those far off days which made
us comrades all, " was sung by those gath
cred around the grave, and the officer of
the day, w. II. Devlin, strewed the
memorial flowers oyer it.
After the bcnediction the comrades and
friends of the dead soldiers went over the
cemetery and wherever there was a grave
of a union soldier it was marked with
wreathes of evergreen and bouquets of
beautiful flowers. The grave of Comrade
Erastus B. Davis of Beverly, Mass,
who died in Savannah in
1889, was beautifully decorated by a lady
who has promised his comrades at home
that it would not be neglected. Each of
the graves was marked by small union
flag, and not one was passed unnoticed.
Besides the ceremonies at Laurel Grove
q committee, consisting of Comrades
Gray, Ybanez and Cooley, decorated the
graves of Comrades w. H. Dyer and
Charles S. Park, the last comrades that
died, at Bonaventure, and also the graves
of Comrades MahOney, Clancy, Daily and
Houlihan at the Cathedral cemetery.
COmrade William Gray Of Thunderbolt
brought in large amount of flowers for
the decoration of these graves
Commander in Chief A. G. Weissert of
the G. A. r. passed through Savannah
yesterday morning from Jacksonville on
his way to Andersonville, where he went
to attend the exercises there