The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1899-05-11

graves oi previous wars nave been re-
crulted from the army of an united
nation and now, in addition to the
| legiOns which had already establish
ed the standard OF American valor,
we pay tribute to the memory of the
heroes OF Cuba and the Philippines
and the volunteer camp.
The custom of setting aside Ma
tional holiday upon which to decorate
the graves Of its heroes was originat-
ed in this country, and indicates how
close to the people are the citizen
volunteer soldiery. 1t is not mere
form or ceremony: there is personal
tribute in the act. The dead are not
honorcd, rs ii collective body of men,
but aS in'ividuals, and the little flag
unfurled over each mound is indeed
deserved personal tribute and
honor, which recognizes the in
! dlridual worth and value of the
+ humtlcst as well as the highest in
rank. In view of the varied opinions
on expansion, and the foreign policy
/ OF our nation, we are not apt to fully
comprehend the heroism and loyalty
Of the brave boys who sleep beneath
the tropical sun, or to appreciate the
full meaning of the cause for which
they died. The observance of Me-
mortal Day did not become general
until some years after the civil war,
and what is Il more touching or in
spring scene in all history, than the
growing FELLOWSHIP p hat has develop
ed year by year between the selliers
| ,f l,a n.
together to-day beneath the palm
! branches of Southern skies, over new
made graves, with hands firmly
claSped to do honor to Our boys"
as well as to the valor of fathers who
died before them and received the
honor OF military burial.
Some may regard it as mawkish
political sentiment, but do those
glistening eyes which tell Of COM
mon bereavement and common
sympathy mean nothing? In all our
nations history there has never been
such Memorial dav. Bleeding
hearts, North and South respond to
that sympathy which truly makes
our nation of one blood, of one flesh.
A large percentage Of our volunteer
army to-day are mere boys, the
same dauntless and heroic lads who
marched forth in former wars, and
the inclination is not to fully APP
preciate their true heroism. They
nave given us lesson of purer. more
self-sacrificing patriotism, than could
possibly be given had age cooled the
ardor of youth.
Gather the flowers they love so
well for the boys across the seas.
Theirs is a struggle for humanity in
its broadest and most comprehensive
sense. Carping critics may essay to
} belitte that for which they fell, but
when the records of history are made,
even our own struggle for indepen-
dence will not overshadow the great
cause for which our boys have died.
You say conquest? Yes! Conquest
in the highest sense, conquest in the
name of humanitv-human that
extends beyond the circle of our own
boundaries-humanity that embraces
humankind. The lesson to the SER
vitors of Aguinaldo may be severe,
but it is heroic remedy that is
necessary to remove the blight, which
would have soon again settled upon
those distant islands, where Dewey's
guns echoed the first note of liberty.
Our honor was at peril when duty
called, and the treacherous enslave-
ment and chaos threatened, have been
averted, the misguided Filipinos
saved from themselves.
Gather the chaplets of flowers
the sweetest blossoms for our brave
boys; BOYS, who dauntless and fearless,
have penetrated the darkness of
heathendom and the dark ages. to
carry the tidings of liberty and
honor.
Somewhere in the Good Book the
chosen people were admonished to
wear a thread of blue in their mantle
as proof of loyalty. On Memorial
Day in 1899, this thread of blue is
found in the mantle of every Ameri-
can soldier. The grand old flag was
never so dear to us before, and let
even the iconoclast pause for one day,
in his cynicism and bare his head in
the bright May sunshine, in honor OF
the soldier dead.
In the picturesque cemeteries,
many n fair woman will lay a wreath
upon the graves of orr dead heroes
of this later day, and even though
those graves may blister under the
withering blight of topical sun, the
memory of every soldier will be held
> sacred by those at home, where pray
. ers and tears and hopes and fears al
: blend in one pulsating hesrt-throt
: for the boys at the front. In the
future, the receding years will bring
us more into focus with what has
been accomplished, and nothing car
ever dim the lustre of the heroism o
the American soldier boy. fadeless
undying.
What picture could be more in
dicative of the united sentiment O
the American people. than that Of :
Southern lass In the New England
cemetery, who stoops to place
wreath, sparkling with the diamon'
drops on petal and leaf, on tn
mound where sleeps a soldier hero
We no longer ask for more than tha
he was soldier. The children of tn
schools are masters of the ceremonie
: on Memorial Day, and through ther
q are perpetuated the sacred and swee
y memories of our soldier heroes. Th
grim horrors of the tomb and head
Il stone, lose their gloomliness at thi
a. time, when the radiance of Memoirs
DAY. with flowers and carols Of bird:
sot1 1SsI