Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1901-06-01

! 81 L is now thirty-six years since the
| first flowers were strewn upon the
80 graves of the men who gave their
! lives that the nation might live. Observ-
ed at first in a small way by isolated
communities, this decoration of the
grassy mounds has come to be recognz-
ed as an established custom and Memo
rial Day has long had fixed place in
the calendar With each successive ami
versary the day has gained q wider OBJ
servance and has been made the occasion
for many appeals to the patriotism Of the
people. The verdure of each returning
spring covers more deeply the scars of
battle which once scanned the hilsdeS
and valleys of the sunny South. On this
day of precious memories it is well to re-
call the sacrifices of bygone years, and it
is also fitting to express the hope that
those who are now charged with the
guidance of our national destinies will
perform their duties periodically and
well.
! When the gray haired veterans of the
great war for the Union meet together in
annual observance of Memorial Day, few
will bear in mind that the day itself, as
part of the national life, is the result
of the inspiration of one of the greatest
of all the volunteer soldiers who fought
for the fag-the late Gen. John A. Logan
of Illinois. Few, indeed, of those not
associated with the organization Of old
soldiers will remember this. The soldier
statesman who won his spurs in actual
fight and refused to accept peaceful hon
ors while the war was still on-one Of
the first, if not the first, of the list of
honored comrades who headed this or
ganization-was the originator of the day
of sorrowful remembrance of the bravery
and virtues of those who fell in battle
or who have crossed the dark river since
the conflict ended.
The apple tree of Appomattox never
blossomed so full and so fair as to-day.
Its flowers and its fruit were never so
fine and fragrant. The Union which APP
pamattox established and cemented was
never SO strong and glorious. It's sacred
, bonds have been welded, not merely by
the mutual pledges of devotion, but by
the fire of heroic service, side by side,
under the common flag, on O distant soil,
and they never before bound up so much
! of national pride and hope and high as
piration.
/ The great chieftains-Grant and Lee,
lllustrious products of the same national
school at West Point-met at Appomat-
tox with mutual respect and honor, and
In their generous and chivalrous coming
together typifed the spirit of a reunited
country. That historic hour dates a new
Union, which is now true union OF
hearts and hands that none can sever
/ nrl
Memorial Day cannot cease to be a great
and tender memory, Each anniversary
becomes more pathetic from the fact
that many of the boys in blue" are pass
Ing away to join the vast army in the
silent land. Every year the ranks of
the veterans on this side the river grow
thinner, and the steps of the marchers
slower Within twenty-five years nearly
all will have joined their regiments ON
the other side. But their deeds can new
err die. Future generations will read
them, deep cut defying the tooth of time,
on the marble Of the country's greatness.
They will blaze on the pillars of the
: Union and in the springtime of each year
a grateful people, bearing choicest flow
ers-nature's sweetest emblem of love
and affection-will decorate their graves;
for those grassy mounds will be known
as shrines forever more; shrines so long
as the republic shall endure; shrines
where patriot knees will bend and pat
riot eyes will weep so long as freedom
has worshiper and equality of rights a
devotee.
Grant and Lee are no more, and Sher-
man and Stuart, and Jackson and Hook
err, Mcclellan and Hill, Early and Meade
all are gone, and the great spirit of
change broods over the scenes of their
former activities The grass grows green
on the deserted battlefields, and all is
ouiet along the banks of the Potomac.
The James and the Chickahominy, the
Rappahannock and the Rapidan, wind
their course to the sea undisturbed by
wars rude alarms. The former turns
the earth in the fertile valleys which
drank the blood of the flower of Ameri-
can chivalry; the feathered songsters of
the wood make melody In the tangled
thickets of the Wilderness; but the great
captains and many OF their devoted fol-
lowers have departed. They pitch their
tents on other camping grounds-not be-
meath the stars that shine On Southern
scenes. but above the stars on the fair
fields of Elysia. There they commune
and there they hold sweet intercourse
We may not know their employments
there; we may not conceive the rapturous