The Ellensburg dawn. [volume] (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1901-06-07
MEMORIAL DAY GRAFTON
A Patriotic Address by Hon.
Austin Mires.

'o 49, '"A "6o VI PoeEo3 sui
rounded by prosperity, with oppor-
tunity and smiling promise on
every hand, we are apt to forget the
arduous struggles waged and sacri-
fees made by those who have gone
before that these conditions might
be established. 1t is therefore fit.
ting, that at stated times, we meet
together, Withdrawing our attention
from the labors and the cares, the
Joys and the sorrows that daily en-
gage us, and concentrate our
thoughts upon the lives and the
achievements of those who have es'
tablished and preserved unto us
these institutions Of government
whence animate the great blessings
that we enjoy. For this purpose,
this day has been dedicated to a
commemoration of our countrys he
roes in the great rebellion. We are
assembled to give praise and honor
to our soldiers, living and dead,
that the rising generation may
know that they struggled for the
cause of right, and learn to fully
appreciate, and seek to eumlate
their example.
1t was on the 18th day OF April,
1861 that the awful cannon, d.
rected by the hand of Ger. Beau.
regard, belched forth its fierce
declaration of civil war, forcing the
stars and stripes from it, place
above FIT. Sumter, in a mad at
tempt at the destruction of this re.
public. In order to meet that on
slaught and beat back the red waves
of secession, at the patriotic call of
Abraham Lincoln, over two million
five hundred thousand men, of
the noblest citizenship of the world,
enrolled themselves in that gallant
band, that will live forever in the
history of our country as the Grand
Army OF the Republic. They hail
ed from American fresides and rep
resented every calling Of American
citizenship. The farmer left his
pillow; the mechanic his trade; the
banker his till; the clerk his desk;
the merchant his store; the teacher
his school; the student his books;
the doctor his patients; the lawyer
his clients and the minister his
charge. They came together as if
my magic, touched and thrilled by
common impulse of patriotic de-
votion to their countrys veal.
Each in that sacred cause, bidding
adieu to home, with all its endear-
ing associations and ties of love.
They moved away to thrilling time
OF martial music. They disappeared
in the awful shadow. They made
crimson more than a hundred bat
tlefelds, reaching from Bull Run
to Appomattox. with their PRECIOUS
blood. The marched under the
scorching summers sun. They
bivouac in the winters awful
storm. They languished in the
hospitals Of pain. They famished
in the cruel prison pens. But all the
time they kept aloft their country's
flag They suffered, they endured,
they died, but at last they tri-
umphed.
1t was on the 9th day of April
1865, that the gallant leader Of the
rebel hosts, laid down his sword in
humble submission to the peerless
i Grant, on tho glorious field of Apo
mattox. The "Stars and Bars"
ceased forever to contest position
in the sky with the Stars and
Stripes. 1t was then and there de-
creed by the mighty arbiter of war,
that there was room enough in the
sky above the United States OF
America but for one flag, and that
"Old Glory That mighty army
had mingled the stars Of the flag
with the stars Of the sky to endure
as long as governments among men
continue.
Over 100000 of that noble
band had sealed their patri-
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