Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1899-06-03
DECORATION day.

Decoration Day in Wa-Keeney was
such day in Trego county, and will
be remembered by the people for
long time.
At 1920 a. m. the old soldiers, to-
gether with the volunteers of the 21st
Kansas, assembled at the G.. a. r.
hall. A procession was formed of sol
diers and citizens, and they marched
to the cemetery, where the usual eX-
ercises were held.
At 1:3O p. m. large audience gath
cred in the court house and listened
to patriotic songs and drills of the
school children.
Commander Yetter in few we'll
chosen words introduced the orator of
the day-Hon. John S. Dawson of To-
peka-
Mr.. Dawson held the attention of
the audience for thirty-three minutes
while he pictured again the panorama
of the civil war, touching on the war
with Spain and drawing lessons in pa
triotism and virtue from the brave
story of the past. His word painting
was chaste and eloquent, and it was
ent that Mr.. Dawson's address was
the most brilliant and scholarly ora
tion ever delivered in this city.
The following is the oration:
1t is no new custom to honor the
memory of the dead. All ages and all
peoples have chiSeIied in marble col
ence for the great and good of their
race and kindred. The Egyptians
preserved their dead for many months
and accorded them the place of honor
at their banquets. The funeral pro-
cesSion of Alexander the Great was
two years in preparation. The heroes
of the Romans were enrolled among
the gods. Crusaders marked path
from the HelleSpont to the tomb of
the Savior by the bleaching bones of
their dead: and, even In our day. mill
lions of Mohammedan pilgrams tray-
erse vast deserts of shifting sands to
do homage at the grave of their dead
prophet.
To my mind, the ceremony of Me
mortal Day in the American Repub-
lie is the nobleSt custom of the age,
and will furnish the future historian
with reliable landmark to estimate
the progress which our race has made
in the purer and loftier impulses of
gratitude and patriotism.
The origin of this day is altogether
hitting and proper In 1868 Gen
eral John A. Logan, as comman-
der of the Grand Army of the Bepub-
IIc, issued an order to the posts of that
organization that the graves of the
Union soldiers and sailors Shoald be
decorated with flowers and flags on
the Both of May, and urged that
though other eyes may grow dull,
other hands grow slack, and other
hearts grow cold. the custom be OBJ
served from nntii rho llc
survivor of the civil war should an
Swer the muster call of the King of
kings. This was 81 years ago, and the
beautiful custom has grown with the
years until now it is perhaps the most
commonly observed day in the Union.
not excepting the Foutth of July.
Nothing could be happier than the
use of flowers on this day. The yege-
table Kingdom has been used to give
expression to the feelings of mankind
from time immorial-the laurel, the
willow, the lilly, the shamrock, the
thistle, the rose, the violet, the
orange. the olive, the sunfiower-all
are enlisted to clothe our thoughts
more eloquently than words. The
garb on the grave of the unknown
dead. or the wee forget-me-not on an
infants tomb is a poem and pam
egyrlc which the voice of a Webster
or Cicero cannot hope to surpass.
The purpose of this day will be but
badly served if we cannot learn some
lessons from the history of the past.
if the heroic dead do not cry aloud to
us from their graves proclaiming that
devotion to principle and unSelfish
patriotism are the Surest safeguards
to national longevity
The good or evil of to-day is only
the result of yesterdays teachings.
and the welfare of tomorrow depends
on the conduct of to-day If we. are
rA = 1aer
dead. we need not fear what the fu-
ture may betide.
In the piping times of peace. or
even when our brave troops are plant
ing the banner of the stars in the dis
tant islands of the sea, we realize
But dimly what the conditions were
during these four long bloody years of
civil dlssentions, when the war cloud
hOyered over the land, when the skies
OF the north were darkened with sor-
row and patriotic indignation, and