The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-05-24

ing his eye on the north star, had
struck for liberty.
TEL TO our children the meaning of
the Memorial Day. Yes; we viii tell
how these men. in youth, left home and
the wife OF their youth and their chill
dren and all. and barred their breasts
to the foe. standing as living wall in
the defense of Old Glory
I'VE will tell how liberty, peace, the
Union. the flag. the prosperity of the
Great Republic were purchased at the
price Of 500, 600 such lives, and as many
more who returned wounded, and still
as many more with broken constitu-
tions. 10 drag out a decrepit life.
But on that day there will be many
graves Of soldiers undecOrated. All,
comrades. we recall how our ranks
were decimated by the march the fe-
yer and the battle. Where are those
graves Along the line Of march. on
the red field of battle, along the Po-
tomac and the Mississippi. On Dec
Grafton Day I shall think of those who
fell at my side in front of Vicksburg,
and those who died of wounds at my
side on the hospital boat on the way
TO hospital at St. Louis, whom they
buried by the light of the moon on the
banks of the Father of Waters Who
shall decorate their graves? No wife
will be there; no sister. no sweetheart
to strew those graves with flowers and
tears.
"And the missing. Where are their
graves2 All. that word. Missing how
much il meant TO us after the battle,
when we found them not in the list of
the dead or wounded. How much 1t
meant to those at home. / have seen
a mother, a wife, sweet heart, as the
daily paper revealed the name of their
loved one among the missing after
the battle. / have seen the light go
out of that eye. that home, that heart.
I have seen them waiting days, weeks,
months. years for tidings from their
missing one, but no tidings came. But
gray hairs came and burrows of grief
came into the cheek and forehead. At
last. they knew that their missing one
had starved in some prison pen, or had
fallen from loss of blood in some thick
ct in the wilderness and that no more
shoId they meet them until the Resur-
rection Day.
land the unknown dead Some SOL
dier's grave. but whose? We are CRATE
full to Professor Cook for his contribu-
ton to this occasion, He Sleeps I'm
known The siege of Petersburg last
ed many weeks. Daily there were
was almost certain death for any, of
either side. to be out of the trenches.
A hand raised above the Notifications
would bring a shower of balls from the
sharpshooters. A soldier from another
part of the line was shot near Profess
sor Cook. His regiment and name
could not be learned. They buried him
and put on the head-board the sad
word, Unknown. In the trenches,
during the siege, Professor Cook com |
posed the words, and later. the music |
you have heard him sing tonight.
"While we do honor to our heroic |
dead. who shall chronicle the noble |
deeds of the women at homer But for |
their patriotism and sacrifices, their |
prayers and tears, the victory could not |
have been won. Mother, wife, sister. |
sweetheart said to their loved ones: |
Go and defend the flag And amid |
dark days of defeats. wounds, disease, |
words of cheer and hope and love |
came from the hearthstone. While the |
soldiers beat down the foes in front, |
these home guards beat down the |
cowardly foes at home in the rear
81 should like to see their graves dec
GRATED, too. Comrades, some things |
were everlastingly settled by the war
All Europe had said: Free govern
ment is an experiment. The Union will
be dissolved the first strain that is put |
upon it When the rebellion com
menced they said: We told you so; |
free government is at an end. A re-
public cannot stand Never more will |
the possibility or the perpetuity of free |
institutions be questioned.
unlike Europe America needs no |
standing army. Five million citizens |
were turned into soldiers, considering |
both Sides They came from the farm. |
the shop, the factory, the store, the |
bar and the pulpit. and Immediately |
went to the front. When the war was |
over these soldiers returned to the |
farm. the shop and the store. and set |
tied back into their former avocations |
as if nothing had happened.
''Since then our population has dou-
bIed, and upon emergency, such as for
eign invasion. 10000 900 soldiers could |
be rallied from the freemen of the Re
public for it's defense. And slavery. |
the real cause of the war. is forever
abolished. Reconciliation has been es-
tabIished. Henceforth, there will be
no North. no South, no East, no West |
SECTION lines are forever blotted out. |
we will forget Mason and DiXon's line.
We are under one flag and love it.
SOLDIERS we stood together in the
Army of the Republic, under the STARS
and Stripes, let us also be Christian
soldiers in the Army of the Lord, IN
der one banner of the captain or our |
salvation. Let us fight the Lords bat !
Ties until he shall call us from conflict |
to victory. Comrades, we have |
marched and fought under the folds of |
old Glory 1t has waved over us amid |
the smoke of battle. 1t has been |
pierced by minnie balls and shells |
and torn to shreds by the dread |
havoc of war; but it never trailed in |
the dust. have seen the old battle-fag |
of our regiment brought out at re-
unions II was torn, pierced and |
stained but the veterans threw their |
arms about ii and wept, as children. |
old Glory proudly waves over every |
-Inr