The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-09-01

CAPTAIN j. B. ADAMS, COMMANDER IN CHIEF.
more than one. third Of the soldiers of
the war-the states of Pennsylvania,
New York and Ohio. But whether the
gathering be large or small the event
is great in significance and in the sug-
gestions for new ideas or the rearrange-
ment Of former ones which it brings
with 1t. The anniversary is held upon
soil peculiarly sacred to the cause rep
resented at this gathering. Pennsylva-
MIA gave more sons according to her
quota as O sacrifice TO the god of battles
than any other state in the Union. She
stood on the border in 1861. She sent
the first volunteer defenders to the i'm
periled capital in the crisis following
Sumter. Her genius ruled in the ma
tional camps and councils, and within
her limits, fair set among the charming
hills of the Cumberland, lies the battle
field of Gettysburg. Cold must be the
heart that will not respond beftting
the occasion and give the hour to graft
tude and congratulation.
There remains little to be said Of the
sacrifices of the armies whose remnants
shall march along Fifth avenue on Sept.
IL. -Four hundred Thousand dead and
long procession of the stricken and
manned is the story the nation knows,
alas, too we'll. But there is another side
to the patriotism of the Union soldier
that might be recalled today, less
grewsome one to dwell upon and more
noble one because it furnished the in
spiration for those deeds of courage
whose glory brightens as the years roll
on. 1t would be an easy task to prove
that the Grand Army, itself body
unique in the worlds experience, is
not due to military clanship nor to the
protective union principle which is so
active in this era. The genius Of the
Grand Army lived in the breasts Of the
soldiery in the war days, and the mind
is almost startled to come upon such
witnesses to the fact as this poem of
Miles O'Reilly's, "The Song Of the Sol
uiers, written Ill camp ia i'O"'
Comrades known in marches many,
Comrades hound bv memories many.
Brothers ever let US be.
Wounds or sickness may divide us,
4 Marching orders may divide us,
But whatever fate betide us,
Brothers of the heart are we.
Tried when death death W. was a near .aJ and S'T usarest
Bound we are by ties the dearest,
Brothers evermore to be.
ana II spared ana growing older
And with @ hearts IT. mo- no thrill r the I colder
Brothers ever we shall be.
av oounrr,or n, .ho h.nnor
imson. white and starry banner.
the baptism of the banner
ildren OF one church are we
nop m~f ,anonO anc,n ae eSn oan utuis d,vida u.s. ..
= whatever fate betide us,
khdren of the flag are we.
There ID nothing of sordid selfshness
nor Of baste or guild exclusiveness
breathing through those lines. No more
were there to be found in the hearts Of
Stephenson and his colleagues, who in
their bivouac in the southwest in 1854
dreamed out their magnificent scheme
for perpetuating in peace the spirit Of
fraternity, charity and loyalty which
characterized the soldiers in the field.
The veterans estimates of themselves
are far too modest when they rest salts.
fed with eulogies upon their battlefield
prowess and their heroic bearing under
severest hardship, and if proximity to
scenes so rich in war associations shall
unloose the tongues Of Commander in
Chief. Adams and his staff of orators at
the encampment they may give to the
careless yet responsive throngs Of out.