The Worcester spy., 1899-04-14

dial welcome to this, our 32d ahhlVet
sary. Thirty-eight years ago tHls
month, the youth Of this country
sprang to arms for the preserVeuon OIL
the union, or l might better say tine
making of the union and for four
bloody years struggled and finally ac-
complished that end.
"Thirty-two years ago was formed Dy
your cooperation and assistance, the
best post in the United States. AS we
pass the 32d milestone many of us are
falling away, and year after year SHOWS
a gradual diminishing of our number s:
In the past four years many OF cur o'd
comrades have passed away. In the 'u-
ture, when the boys of 81 have gone
to join the grand army above, the boys
of '9S will decorate the graves of the
heroes Of the civil war"
The POSTMASTER then introduced
State Commander John e. Gilman, who
responded to the toast, 1.-THE depart
ment of Massachusetts" Mr.. Gilman
said in part: 1.-The department COM
mander is certainly pleased to be the
guest of the best post of the United
States, and to find that it has such a
good opinion Of itself. That to me is
certain knowledge that you have a
right to have a good opinion of your
self for the existence of two and thirty
years of the grandest fraternity known
among men.
Such fraternity was never known
before and will never be known again.
Such a grand fraternity could only be
born on the field of battle where COM
rades risked their lives for one another
where one man emptied his canteen to
save the life of his comrade.
You veterans of the Spanish-Amer
lean war, you have done well and
nobly You were prompted by the
same spirit that prompted us. we
glory in all you have done. We glory
that you did not have to take part in
number of battles. (Applause.) We
know what real fighting is (Great ap-
plause.) We welcome you to come un-
der the folds of the flag of the G. A. r.
I'VE are not all heroes. L am free to
admit that | never entered battle
without lump rising in my throat,
but l gripped my gun and went for
ward 1 looked behind me and knew
that life there would be safe. looked
forward and saw the smoke of battle
and realized that my life might be
sacrificed. Why did l go forward? |
tell you that 1 loved my country ana
my flag better than 1 loved my life. In
telling my story simply tell the story
of all volunteers of 81.
George B. Lamb, past commander OF
in part: 1T has always been the sub
iect of discussion among G. A. II. men,
that we have but one post in Worces-
ter 1t is because we are all DfotneIs
that we have but one post, WheFe
smaller cities have two Or three"
James Logan of Post 10 gave some
interesting "reminiscences of pitched
battles between the boys of Sherry
Valley and what is now New Wore IS
hi a1IraeG
ferred in eulogistic terms to the worn
of the American women in two wars.
Lieut.. Col. e. r. Shumway of the
| Second Mass. regiment was introduced
as respondent to the toast, 'Masssa-
chusetts boys in Spanish
wars" Every G. A. r. man in the BAN
quet hall arose, and cheer after cheer
was given, as the speaker rose. H'
said in part:
my service for the United Statei
has been in two wars. In the civil wal
| I experienced the horrors of prison
life. A comparison between the twt
wars, in my opinion, shows that what
ever hardships were endured in tht
civil war, were not lacking in the re-
cent war.
II was fed on canned meat of al
kinds, according to the labels, but al
| tasted the same. I experienced the
| horrors OF a stomach Iull Oh eIuDdlIHee
beef. and l must say that veterans OF
the civil war Jared better on salt horse
meat"
Lieut.. Col ShumWay was cheered tC
the echo as he took his seat.
His Honor Mayor Rufus b. Dodge
was next introduced to respond to 1.-THE
heart of the commonwealth" He
said;
Massachusetts is always proud OF
her citizenship and soldiers. Gov. VOL
colt in 1898 sent the flower
of the youth of Massachusetts. II
was your sons that followed the flag
and made a continuance of your life
and deeds of years ago. If that flag
floats even but an hour over foreign
land. it betters that country The
events of the past year is a triumph of
the speaking people of the
world"
In the trustees report special atten-
ton was paid to relief work Of the post
as compiled by Comrade Pickett, treas
urer of the board of trustees. The
present method of dispensing charity
funds of the post was adopted March
1. 1869. From March l, 1867, to Jan.
1, 1899. he has paid for relief $52, ,855.20