Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-05-30
THURSDAY. 30, 1895
The FIowcr-strewn Graves.


II not in the first, then in the second
wear after the close OF the late war
our people began to observe one day IN
each year. I'm the month when the roses
we're in bloom, as sacred 20 the work OF
decorating the graves Of our Confederate
dead.
In the far South an earlier day was
adopted than in Richmond. The reason
was obvious BY the time that roses are
blooming most bounteously at Richmond
they are dropping at New Orleans.
So in one place. one day was fixed
.7on; In another place. another day. But
t..rywhere in the South, this day was
,,scd "Aiemorial-Da And 1t was OBJ
i--gcd rather as a holy day than as a
,c.1ay. within the modern definition OF
lat word. There were no excursions;
20 baseball games; no sports; nothing
30 what was in keeping with the pous
.It. cf recalling the virtues Of our he
.-.s and boscechlng God to make US
-9ray Of their sacrifices
T4.-ty years have passed since the war
.csea. and IT is not strange that we are
20 longer able TO maintain the same
s'en1cl- Of observance as that with
wh,ch Memorlal-Day was inaugurated.
1icry OF the men and women who sur
v.ycd the war are now in their graves
s.rc7.ng besides the soldiers slain In bat
tc
We nave fewer veterans now than then.
&c .hc men who were "at the 'front.'
crcm The first gun at Bethel to the last
gun at Anpoma:toX. we cannot now
,u,nt mary. OF those who saw three
fca-s' foid-seryicc we could muster no
-.clt host o. the two years men
core survive. cf the one years men, more
SSH Uut we ehoult hnd. If We had
r-.i-cil OF the lighting men Of Lee and
Icsnto thgt the grca, ma tority who sur
..yc4 the pe-Is ot the war have since
i-iael Tie ranks n their dead comrades
,u TIE further shore.
ZINE IS the blessed balm that nature
sr.gcs TO hcsr,s torn by the death Of
owed one. The public grief is no longer
.e Keen as it was. The war-period Is
'.a-di1c IN the distance. Nature Is
akins heg course.
Deeply planted in the hearts Of the
Younger generation of southerncrs are
owe ana reverence for our dead. and a
wholesome appreciation Of the principles
~. which We fought. but the young people
tuyc not the old folks recolections.
solder fathers could have no more Chi
VARIOUS sons than ours are. The
women Of tSc war-Whose sufferings were
qtte as great as the sufferings Of the
mel IN the Geld-could have no more
,lder and loving daughters than theirs
are: hut parents cannot OF they would
transfer to their children the recollections
20 all that we went through during those
four years Of battle and hunger; those
four years Of thinning ranks and sinking
11pos.
Though here at Richmond, so far as
The decoration OF the graves in Holly
VOID Cemetery is concerned we have
D.. late adopted the National Decoration
Dly as Memorial-Day; ours is still Me
no-ial-Day. or "Hollywood-Day. Holly
wood Cemetery always dear to us is
,carer than ever since IL has become
ne resting place Of the President Of the
ronfederacy. Great men were buried
there before the body Of Mr.. Davis was
brought here from New Orleans; but not
one who living occupied more space in
the eye OF the world, or dead. is more
beloved by the South.
Henceforth, as long as Memorial-Day
is observed (which will be until another
great war drops its blood-stained cur
tain upon the national tragedy Of lSel-'65).
Mr. Davls's grave VIII be one Of the chief
objects OF our womens care.
Our duties at Hollywood claim our
whole attention, yet We cannot but think
of the strange spectacle to be witnessed
at Chicago to-day, where monument
Is to be unveiled 10 the Confederates who
died in Camp Douglas from 1862 to 1866.
How times have changed Chicago fired
one hundred guns upon receiving the
news Of the fall and burning OF Rich
mond. We have been in the habit Of
thinking II the greatest South-hating city
In all the country-a conclusion not
weakened but rather confirmed by one
OF its Grand Army posts jumping" on
Lee Camp about Rev. DIR. Caves address
at the unwilling Of the soldiers monu-
ment here last year. Yet Chicago is the
first northern city TO have a Confederate
monument; monument to the fund Of
which many Chicago Union veterans con-
.ributed. And 1t has been expected that
many Union veterans would participate
In the unwilling ceremonies. but the
Grand Army OF the Republic leaders have
been doing all that they could 10 dis
courage the idea, and It remains to be seen
whether the fighting veterans or the
political veterans will have their way.
II Is for the interest OF the country that
the former should prevail.