The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1896-06-02
Memorial Day at CnaIiis.

appropriately observed in Chal
lis by Lincoln Post No. Is, G.
A. r., the Odd Fellows and the
citizens in general. Exercises
were held in the I. o. o. f. hall
commencing at o'clock p. M,
by the Post, consisting of songs,
speaking, etc. After the exer-
cises at the hall were over, all
marched to the cemetery thels
to decorate the graves of the
heroes and others, with beautiful
flowers.
AS the two stones upon the
ephod of the high priest of the
Jews were memorial of the
mercy and the everlasting care
Jehovah, so Decoration day has
been fixed in the hearts of the
American people as an eternal
memorial of the heroic self -sacri-
fee of those who more than
generation ago lay down their
lives for the cause of freedom
The oft-repeated implication of
the ingratitude of nations and
kings does not rest in any sense
with this free people, who, en-
joying as no other nation that
has been, or is, the priceless boon
of liberty, are properly able to
estimate as well as to appreciate
the price of freedom. Time has
subdued, if not altogether re-
moved, the passions and the
preiudices evoked by the demon
of war, so that the former foe
men gladly gather to pay homage
to the heroes who fell that the
Union might live. The minor
causes are forgotten in the glory
of the achievements of those who
fought and died, as well as those
who fought and survived.
| America needs no triumphal
arch or towering monument as
perpetual memorial of the hero
ism of her sons; for deeper than
the mark of the chisel in the OBJ
elisks of Egypt are set the rec
ords of their doings in the hearts
of those who enjoy the benefits
of union and liberty. Just so
long as this people is free; just
so long as admiration is had for
courage and devotion, every re-
curing Memorial day will be set
apart as one of cherished and
grateful recollection for the
heroes of Bull Run, Gettysburg,
Chattanooga, the Wilderness and
Petersburg-all the hundreds of
battles that made up the sum of
the late civil war.
Memorial Day came at the full
maturity of the springtime in
Challis; when nature had just
begin to assume her richest
robes. Owing to the heavy rain
the procession was not overly
large, but everything passed off
very pleasantly. The exercises
were excellent.
So let the flowers be strewn,
the banners wave, hymns be
sung and eulogiums be rendered;
thus let the living pay homage
to the dead; for that nation is
always safe which places its
heroes above the price of gold
and of silver. AS the blood of
!, the martyrs became the seed of
the church, so the blood of our
; soldier dead has become the life
of the union that is-one and in
separable, now and always.
Death, thou art but another birth,
!, Freeing the spirit from the clogs of earth"
Time goes by with ceaseless
tread. The living heroes of the
: war have silver mingled with the
gray of their hair. Only too
soon shall they join their sleep
ing comrades. While they live
let it not be forgotten that equal
ly with the dead they share the
honor and the glory of the strug-
gle. When they are gone let
their memory be as precious as
, that of those who yielded up
!, their lives on the fields of battle.
The lesson of Memorial Day is
: to keep fresh the memories of
= our illustrious dead, to preserve
, intact what they fought for and
!, saved, to keep alive the patriotic
;, spirit, and resolve, in the i'm
mortal words of Abraham Lin
: coin, ''that from these honored
! dead we take increased devotion
6 to that cause for which they gave
! the last full measure of devotion
!. that we here highly resolve
= that these dead shall not have
= died in vain-that this nation,
: under God, shall have new
: birth of freedom-andt that gov
I ernment of the people, by the
!. people, for the people, shall not
: perish from the earth
q On fame's eternal camping ground
4 Their silent tents are spread