Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-06-01
THE.

In the Memorial exercises at the Au-
ditorium May SOth, viii c. Cole spoke
on "The Conseryators of Peace" as
follows:
1t is a solemn and yet proud occa
sion when we meet year after year on
this, one of the most sacred of our ma.
tional holidays.
This is time for remembering the
dead it is a time for honoring the nv
ing.
Let us then turn our thoughts for
few brief moments. to a time in our
national history when the sun did not
shine on a nation blest with peace and
comfort; but when the clouds of war
hung dark and gloomy over nation
shaken to it's very foundation by civil
strife.
We cannot recall the incidents and
happenings of those stirring times
without remembering the men who
were connected with them, and per-
haps of particular men with whom we
are acquainted. Here is a mere boy
who enters the army in the early stages
Cf the war (and there were thousands
of them) after three or perhaps four
years service to his country, in which
time he has become well accustomed to
the Shrek of the shell and the hiss of
the bullet; he is left to make his own
way in the world, with no training but
the training of the battlefield and
camp. To men of this stamp is left the
future of our country.
1t was expected by many European
countries that when the Northern arm
les returned from the war, flushed
with victory, and incensed at the at
titude of England during the war, they
would Immediately attempt to conquer
Canada and having once got a taste
of blood, the United States would be-
come a military power and attempt by
conquest to get everything within
reach
Did these boys forget the old home
they left, thinking perhaps at that
time never to return? Amid the STIR
ring scenes through which they have
passed; did they forget the mothers
loving farewell or the old fathers
broken goodbye?
One of them wrote home the follow
ing lines after three years absence:
| dreamed last night of our hopes and
fears,
And the kiss you gave at eventide,
When we parted sad meath the old
elm trees
That stand round my home by the
riverside,
When the war cloud hangs like the
battle crest
My thoughts will stray at eventide,
And hover DER where the loved ones
rest
In my home away by the riverside.
dreamed last night of the closing
scene,
And the night grew dark, it was
eventide
But the land was bright on the 9th
er shore,
Where the angels dwell by the river
side.
When life is past and the battles
DER
We will meet again-at the even
tide
In abrighter home, on brighter
| shore,
Than the home away by the rivel
side.
DO they return to their homes caring
for nothing but war? Do they care fol
nothing but to boast of the victories
they have won of the hardships the.
have endured? Not for minute.
The same vim and vigor which was
shown on the long and forced marches
they showed in following the plov
from morning till night. The SAM
courage which marked their presence
on the battlefield was shown in bat
tling with the problems of civil life
Men laid down the rifle to take VI
the hoe, and in three months. field
overgrown with weeds were converte
into waving fields of grain. Factorie
which had been standing idle wer
again opened and the machinery whicl
had stood for four years unused wa
again set in motion. And as the grea
wheels started, slowly at first, bu
gradually gaining force and momen
tum, just so the industry of this natio
gained force as the soldiers began t
come back.
When the nation is again active /
the commercial world, these veteran
still remain distinct class; but /
what particular can we call them
distinct class? Do they cherish a BIZ
for and lasting hatred against thei