The Portland daily press., 1896-05-06
A BRIGHT CAMP FIRE.
Department Officers Make Grand
Speeches.

ed BY old Soldiers Who Recall In a
Bright Way the Historic Past.
Last evening the Council of Admins
tration Department of Maine, G. A. R.,
held business meeting at the United
States Hotel, Comrade Carver presiding
Only routine business was transacted.
At O'Clock they adjourned and were
received and escorted to Thatcher Post
hall, where Commander Soule presided.
After the work" Department. Com
mander Lorenzo D. Carver was intro
duced by Commander soule, and was re-
ceived with repeated applause.
COLONEL CARVER
spoke of the pleasure it gave him to be
present with the comrades of Thatcher
Post. He spoke of the men OF the Grand
Army of the Republic, and strongly in
condemnation of the policy of allowing
multitude of most undesirable immi-
grants to come here from foreign ooun-
tries. He touched on the events connected
with the early days of the war. and spoke
of the men who in the north responded
to the call of President Lincoln and who
composed the bulk of the greatest army
of citizen soldiers the world ever saw.
Commander Carver's remarks were to
the point, and was frequently inter
rupted by applause.
WILLIAM FENNELLY,
Senior Vice Department Commander, re-
ferred very feelingly to his strong friend
ship for the late w. B. Smith, formerly
department commander, friendship
tried Oh the march, the camp and the
battlefield. With him he endured the
horrors of long confinement in Sauls-
berry prison.
LIEUT. j. j. CHASE
of Chase's Mills the Junior Vice Com
mander, was unable to do more than
respond to the call of Commander Soule,
having very bad cold. He is the blind
son of Scion Chase, the celebrated green
back leader, and is very popular with the
comrades of the Grand Army. I sup
pose ought to have stayed at home" he
so id after the exercises were over, "but
I wanted to come and here am. / came
here alone"
SAMUEL L. MILLER
of Waldoboro. the assistant adjutant gen.
eral, was next introduced. and spoke
briefly of his connection with the Grand
Army, and of meeting with the comrades
Of Thatcher Post while serving as De-
partment Commander.
WILLIAM Fl. SMITH
of Rockland, Assistant Quartermaster
General. spoke of the great pleasure it
gave him to be present, but declined to
make speech.
REV. J. W. WEBSTER
of Newport, the Department. Chaplain,
said that any speech of his would be
like the cloth to which the woman OBJ
jected, because it was too narrow and too
thin. 81 know that" said the seller,
"but think how long it is" OF late
years whom he has started in to talk
about Grand Army matters, he has never
known when to stop. Thirty years and
more ago, we were boys, but out of the
gathering gloom we heard the cry of the
nation and responded. (Applause.)
can but believe that four years of that
great war were the most important four
years in the history of civilization.
Some think the old soldiers ara trying
to have too easy time. Comrades, what
is it but respose after achievement? We
remember when the country was one vast
military camp. We recall the long
marches over dusty southern roads. Some
of US recall the prison pens. There is
nothing in all that war that we do not
forgive, but, Comrades, there are some
things we cannot forget. People today
do not understand the magnitude of that
great war and what IL cost, but we re-
member our comrades who fell by the
way, the boys we saw die in the glory of
their young manhood. If but privates,
we remember that John A. Logan ssaid
that the humb1est private who was faith
full to his duty did as much as the great
est general. (Applause.) He paid very
fine tribute to the wives and mothers who
waited at home for news of their loved
ones.
GEN. J. P. CILLEY
of Rookland, Judge Advocate of the De-
partment Of Maine, said that the State of
Maine is full of places OF historic inter-
est, and yet the school books tell our
children nothing about them. He told
with fine effect the story of the capture
of a British brig in Machias bay by men
half armed with guns, and half with
pitch forks, and said: "There is no more
brilliant story of valor than this, and vet
our children know nothing about it,
General Cilley touched very briefly on
the part the Maine troops took in the
great war.
DR.. JOHN H. McGREGOR,
Medical Director of the Departments of
Maine, was next introduced by Com
msnder Soule, and told some good stories
in a bright way.E To some degree
stranger In Portland, he could NOT feel
himself to be a stranger in post of the
Grand Army ''
T Fl SWETT