The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-09-24
A SPIRITED REUNION OF WAR-WORN VETERANS
OF De LONG POST, GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC
Continued From Page IL

one side. They remember those panta-
looms. They remember those shoes with
paper soles, which patriotic contractors
supplied the Government. But most of
all they remember the old army shirt,
| that brindle, gray, colorleSS shirt that you
had to boil so often. QLaughter.) Those
shirts were good hunting grounds.
| Qaughter) You remember how you boil
| ed that shirt and afterwards it tickled
you under the arms. oh yes, and how
small that army shirt became after a
few boilings. An inspector was passing
in front of a company when he confront
ed an Irish soldier whose shirt seemed to
be rather dingy. How long do you wear
your shirt?' queried the inspector. About
sixteen inches, sir was the terse reply.
Qsughter.)
mo man who ever wore one of them
ican ever forget il.
1.-The old G. A. r. said the speaker
rulsingly "It was the one which follow
ed Grant from Belmont to Arpo mattox,
fought at Vicksburg and Corinth; was
with Grant, the greatest soldier of his
lday. 1t was the army that followed Nc
Clellan and won the day at Antietam, and
that drove the Confederates back to Rich
riond; it was with Farragut at Mobile
Bay; with Porter at Vicizsburg: with
Foote up under the guns at Donelson,
with all the great Admirals of that war;
it was with Sherman al Missionary Ridge;
in all those wondrous movements that
&c. A. r. fought with Hooker before the
bloody heights of Fredericksburg; dashed
with Burnside at Charlottesville; with
Howard and Meade when Pickett rushed
lup the slopes of Cemetery Hill at Gettys-
burg. when the Confederates reached
their high water mark
"They tell us that our day is past. But
Those men who fought with all the great
Generals are today for fraternity. reach
Ing out the strong hand of patriotism and
helping the widows and the orphans. They
stand for loyalty. 1t Is the color guard
of the nation 1t rallies around the flag
cen though it be with rheumatic limbs
and grizzled beard. 1t sends Dewey to
Manila Bay, an Otis into the Philippines.
a Shafter and a Sampson to Cuba. 1t
knows a member the greatest Presi-
dent since the days of Lincoln in the
present chief magistrate, William Nc
Kinley." prolonged applause.)
Comrade Cooke sang the old war ball
lad I'VE Old Boys in an effective man
} ,ner, and was followed by Past Command
er Robinson of California, who responded
to tho toast George w. DeLong Post"
COMRADE ROBINSON'S SPEECH.
At have been told" said Comrade Rob-
ii,son, "that in the last sixteen years
these annual reunions of George w. De-
, Long Post have been held, and 1T may
, Isl rprise you to know that 1 have been
identified with the postJfn an indirect way
say in the West, a tenderfoot Circum-
, stances transpired so that the history of
, the belong Post is not complete without
, the mention of my name, as your Post
Commander has stated. l had the honor
: of being Commander of the Department
: of California in 1882 and as such it was
, my endeavor to extend the power and in
fiuence of our organization wherever 1t
r was possible to do SO. In June of that
|, year one of my old comrades from Ha-
a. alera To iy1 M
gard to establishing a post here. / as
sumed the responsibility of communicate
ing with him and other persons here in
regard to the matter and soon an appli-
cation was made by a number of Grand
, Army men here, and a charter was is
, sued and sent TO Honolulu, the name was
. selected. and it was reported back in a
, short time as a fully organized post. ]
!, reported my action to the Commander In
, Chief, but it was disapproved with the I'M
darstanding that 1t was not advisable to
extend the organization of the Grand
, Army into foreign country, but the post
. had the ritual, the paraphernalia and the
password, and It was too late. The flag
lad been raised and it was not consider
, ed advisable to haul it down. 1t still re-
imains up and is one of the shining lights
of the great organization. 1t was a great
, pleasure to me to be met by my old COM
rsde, Colonel Dietz. and by him introduce
; ed at the next meeting of the Post after
, my arrival here, and 1t was there / an
, lnounced was the one who had organized
1t. We have every year had representa-
.. tive from these Islands at the department
,, reunions of California, except this year.
We have felt and always will feel fra
. Itcrual interest in George w. belong Post.
, will always take great pleasure in re-
, porting it to the Department OF Callfor-
! MA" (Applause)
; The stirring old Marching Through
: Georgia" ended the campfire reunion, and
! the Vets shook hands again and were
: dismissed by the Post Commander