The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-06-09
Memorial Services Held in
a Virginian Com
munity.
;HEERS FOR GRANT, LEE AND DAVIS
"Dixie Land" and the Rebel Battle
Flag Awake Great En-
thusiasm.
Special to the Jerscv City Ne1rs.

miles away" but there are lew WHO hno"
what delightful, picturesque old place the
| town is.
Few indeed are the regions of this
country more charming than the history
valley of the Shenandoah, with its green car
peted fields, and its deeply wooded heights,
| from which spring the many streams OF
pure mountain water which, tumbling over
the rocks striving to bar their way to the
| old river CLEAN in the sunlight like so many
| threads of moulten silver, and Winchester is
| one of its garden spots.
| The town suffered much during the civil
| war Northern or Southern troops, and
much of the time both were always encamp-
| ed in it's near vicinity, and sklrmlshed, were
| constant in its streets. The sight of uniform
| ed men shooting each other from behind
| trees was frequent on the thoroughfares, and
| houses can vet be seen with bullets IN their
| frame work while one old building on Market
street, still has buried in its walls large
cannon ball. The residents say the town
changed hands seventy times, and when tney
went to bed at night they could not tell
whether "the Yankees or Our Boys" would
| be in possession in the morning. The town
| was intensely loyal to the lost cause and
hated the North with an uncompromlslng
hatred The citizens as a general rule did
not put themselves out to any great extent
| in making the stay Of the Northerners pleas
ant, and they suffered all the hardships OF in
habitants of an invaded country, SO that
when the war closed they were In an I'M
| poverished condition.
A THRIVING CONDITION.
But they lost no time sorrowing over the
| inevitable With the same resolution and
determination with which they fought SO
| long against overwhelming odds, they set to
| work to build up the fortunes of their city,
| and today it is one OF the most thriving
| onnIunities in the Valley. The clatter OF
machinery has succeeded to the rattle OF
musketry and the smoke OF factory cnlm-
| news rolls upward where once that OF can
non obscured the sun.
] Just on the western edge of the city on a
| pleasant elevation are two cemeteries separ-
| aated by a low picket fence. Over one day in
and day out floats the Stars and Stripes and
| in it sleep the American heroes who lost their
| lives in the Valley fighting to uphold what
| that flag represents, "a Union one and
Indivisible." On the other side of the picket
| fence sleeps another host OF American
heroes who misguided, gave up their lives
| in vain but heroic struggle to send the
| country to pieces. No flag floats over the
| hallowed ground in which they sleep, but in
| their, midst there looms up a tall marble
| shaft surmounted with statue of a Con-
| federate soldier, who, leaning upon his
reversed musket with sad countenanoe and
1 AAiSS
| of his comrades.
| TWO DECORATION DAYS.
| Winchester has two Decoration Days,
| both of which she observes. On May so she
goes to the National Cemetery and strews
| flowers over the graves of the Union
| soldiers, and on June she does the same on
| the other side of the picket fence. She puts
| more heart in the latter day, and who Will
| blame her! In the national cemeteries lie
strangers from the far North, while in
''StonewaH Cemetery" as the Confederate
| ground is called, sleep her sons whom she
mourns as only mother can. Preparations
| had been made to have more elaborate ex-
| ercises than usual on the Confederate Me-
mortal Day this year. Congressman Hooker
| of Mississippi, an ex-Confederate General,
| was invited to deliver an GRAFTON, and it was
| intended to unveil statue of Major James
| W Thompson, brave Virginian, who lost
| his life while leading a cavalry charge at
| High Bridge during General Lees retreat
! from Petersburg.
| Camps of Confederate veterans military
| and fire companies and civic organizations
| from the surrounding country were ex-
1 pected to swell the procession and on the
| whole it was to be the greatest Memorial
| Day Winchester had ever seen.
| Nature, however, frowned upon the occa-
| sion. She opened her sluice gates and let the
| water rush forth in torrents until they had
| drowned out almost everything but the Con-
! federate enthusiasm. Then the contractors
failed to deliver the statute of Major
| Thompson and that part or the programme
| had to be abandoned
| 1t was intended to hold the exercises in the
| cemetery, but the heavy rain prevented and
| they were held in the Court House instead.
| The room was sufficient to accommodate just
about one-half the throng that tried to
| crowd into its narrow precincts and
1 when the veterans and militia had been
| seated there was not much room left for
| civilians A band in citizens dress took up
! a position on one side of the platform, while
another in gorgeous red coats ranged itself
| along the front of the stage.
| MEMORIAL SERVICES
| The exercises began with prayer by the
| Rev. Z. D. Clarke of the Winchester Baptist
| Church 1t was a beautiful prayer and was
| followed by bit of old fashioned Metho-
| tlism No State or National funds are spent
upon the Confederate cemetery, and the
entire cost of keeping it up and marking the
| graves is borne by individuals. Through
! the efforts of the Ladies' Memorial Associa-
| tion of Winchester the graves of all the
| Virginians are marked with plain marble,
| like those of their Northern brethren on the
other side of the fence. There are a num-
Der of other graves still marked by the
| homely, weather-beaten slab of wood, which
/ the ladies wish to replace with marble head
| stones 1t was for this purpose that, after
| Mr.. Clarke's prayer, collection was taken
| up while one of the bands played.
/ This was followed by an eulogy of Major
/ Thompson, read by Captain William N. Nc
| Donald, grizzly old veteran who was an Or
dinance officer of the Turner Ashby
Brigade.
One incident was sufficient to show the
stuff of which Major Thompson was made.
The Major, when young man, took part i'll
/ the fight against John Brown at Harper's
Ferry in 1859. In company with his father,
he came near the engine house which Brown
was holding, when his father directed him to
shoot from under cover. mo, SIR" replied
the boy, mo lodging for me. I go right
along with the rest"
s.DIxIEn WAKES THEM UP.
Up to this time the audience had been
| rather cool and somewhat stinted in it's ap-
plause. This was due to the inability of the
| greater part of those in the hall to hear what
Captain Mcdonald said. But when he had
finished the relocated band took a hand in
the proceedings, and struck up .Dixie's
Landn A mighty howl went up from the
crowded court room, which was punctuated
with sharp, quick yell, such as the Sioux
at Buffalo Bills show give when big lunged
John Burke announces the entraHse of their
chief This was said to be the celebrated
.sRebel yell. ? of which SO much has been
heard in the North, and which was popu-
larly supposed to make faint the heart of the
ayeiaacc Yankee every time he heard it. III