The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1901-11-22

indianapolis last week James Whit
comb Riley read a poem in respons
to the toast "A Common Solder.
lintro1ncing ii with these words:
"And may | offer yet another in
stance OF the common patriot
worth. This from the homelv fac
lof life itself, not alone transpiri0g il
my neighborhood. hut yours. rn.
scene of ii i set on the firrn-th,
lold hons place whefe a race of IA
ltriots has been rear7d There l. thf
lold ancestral roof, with the 81 ln.
lcusts looming all abou il, with tie
old sweet blossoms on them an the
cid bees droning there; the old door
yard, the old porch and the Old dog
sleeping in the sun; the old we'll
sweep the little garden patch, and
the old orchard Just beyond. ma lie
sacred as the family burying
ground. The old house j. very full
OF quiet now. Sometimes an old
man comes out aud sits upon the
porch and looks wistiully across the
fields to where the road 10 town
goes by. Sometimes an old woman
comes out ani sis there with him.
saint-like and silently. They see
sometimes neighbor driving by
and know him by his horses; some
times they see 60 by-in early
morning generally-two, three, five,
sometimes as many a. a dozen dit
ferent wagons. and then they know
there is "big day. in towa. Nav
be an old settlers meeting, polit-
ical rally or decoration day. Vague
rumors reach them Of these alien
affairs, but they are always in crest
ed to hear of them-espe-ially of
decoration day-ihe more so since
il seems the old home keeping
couple have never attended this an
nual decoration service made 50
much OF by the people of the town.
Their decoration day experiences
the old man might sum up like
this:
DECORATION DAY ONTHE rLACE.
"It's lonesome-sort o. lonesome-it's a
Suniay-day to me,
Ii pears like, mcre'n any day nearly
ever see.
Yit, with the Stars and Stripes above, a.
fintterin' in the air.
On ev'ry soldiers grave I'd love to lay a
lily there.
They say. though, Decoration diy i
giner'lly Observed
But me AMI mothers never went we
seldom git away
Most rywhere-especially by soldier
boys that's served
In pint o. fact, we're allus home on Dee
Grafton day
They say tie old bows marches through
the streets ia columns grand,
A-follerin' the old war tunes they're
playin' on the band
And citizens all jinin' in-and little chill
dren, too
All marchin' under shelter 81 the old
Red White and-Blue
With roses. rosesi roses ey'ryboly in
the town.
Ind crowds Of little girls ia white, Jest
fairly loaded down
)h don't The Boys know it, from their
camp across the Hill?
DON'T they see their comrades comm
and the old flag iyin' stiIlg
%, can't they hear the bugle and the
rattle of the drum?
lint there no way under heaven they |
can rickollect Us some?
int there no way we can coax 'sm
through the roses, Jest to say
hey know that every day on earfh's (
their Decoration day?
We've tried that-me ani mo;her-lC
where Eliis takes his rest L
q the orchard, in his uniform. and |,
hands across his breast.
nd the flag he died for, smilin' a-rip-
plin' in the br ere
bove his grave and, over that-the
robin in the trees.
And yit it's lonesome lonesome. its
Sunday-,iay 10 me,
,,ears like-more' n any day | nearly II,
ever see,
it with the Stars and Stripes above, a Y
flutterin' in the air. .
n ev'ry soldiers grave I'd love to lay
lily there" G