Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-05-30
MEMORIAL DAY
At arlington
Exercises at the National Gene
terry Made Notable by the
Presidents Grafton.
Thousands Come to Hear the
Chief Executive Address the
Veterans.
Roosevelt Takes Occasion to Up
hold Work Of the Army in
Philippines.
Graves of Confederates as Well
as Union Soldiers Strewn
With Flowers.

Win Flowers.
Washington, May 80. Decoration
day was observed here today perhaps
more generaly than ever before. The
announcement that President Roose-
Welt would deliver the Grafton at Ar
lington brought to that historic city OF
the dead a vast concourse of people
among whom were numbered thous-
ands of veterans who journeyed 10 the
cemetery to honor the memory of theii
comrades who had died in their coun-
try's cause, or who, having survived the
struggles of 1861 and 1898, had passed
since into the great unknown. Local
arrangements in charge of the depart
ment of the Potomac, included parade
of all the G. A. r. and other patriotic
organizations, decoration of monuments
and graves and addresses by men
prominent in the affairs of the govern
ment.
At Arlington, where the principal ex-
ercises We're held. the national salute
was fired at noon by the fourth bat
terry of the United States field artil-
iery Music was rendered by the ma
rine band and memorial choir. Upon
arriving at Arlington the procession
marched to the tomb of the unknown.
During the decoration Of the tomb by a
committee chosen from the different G.
A r.. organizations and auxiliary So
cieties the marine band played an ap-
propriate selection. The procession
then broke UP and the decoration of
graves began.
n A touching feature of the decoration
was the strewing of flowers over the
graves of the confederate dead who lie
buried in that section of the cemetery
In the measntime a vast crowd had
assembled at the amphitheatre, where
services We're conducted. The familiar
strain of Nearer, My God. to Thee" by
the marine band, marked the beginning
of the services. President Roosevelts
arrival was the signal for an outburst
of applause.
After the invocation rendition of
several numbers by the band and choir,
Mr.. E. B. Hay read Lincoln's Gettsburg
address. President Roosevelt followed,
and as he arose he was again greeted
with the cheers and plaudits of the i'm
mense audience. His remarks We're
given the closest attention and he was
frequently interrupted by outbursts of
applause.
General Eli Terrence, commander
In chief of the G. A. r. followed the
president with few remarks and then
the services We're brought to a close
with the playing of America the
choir and assembly joining and a ben
ediction by Henry S. Stevens, depart
ment chaplain.
At the Soldiers Home, at Battle
ground Cemetery, near the site of old
Fort Stevens and at st. Elizabeth's
where lie numbers of veterans who lost
their reason as the result of military
service and who We're buried in the
asylum grounds, and at other cemte-
teries appropriate services Were held.
Secretary Shaw delivered the grafton at
Battle Ground Cemtery, while his as
sistant secretary, Hon. M. Allies, made
the memorial address at st. Elizabeths'.
Representative Gardner, of New Jersey,
was the principal speaker at the ma
tiona1 cemetery, Soldiers Home, where,
too, there was an immense gathering
of comrades, relatives and friends of
the deceased soldiers. The presiden
spoke as follows
l"It is a good custom for our country
to have certain solemn holidays in
ccmmemoration of our greatest men
and of the greatest crises in our history.
There should be but few such holidays.
To increase their number is to cheaper
them. Washington and Llncoln-the
nan who did most to found the union,
and the man who did most to preserve
it-stand head and shoulders above all
our other public men, and have by
common consent won the right to this |
pre- -eminence. Among the holidays
which commemorate the turning points
in American history, Thanksgiving has
= significance peculiarly its own. On
July we celebrate the birth of the |
nation; on this day, the 30th of May, |
we call to mind the deaths of those who
died that the nation might live, who |
Uagered all that life holds dear for the |
great prize of death in battle. who
poured out their blood like water in
order that the mighty national struc- I
ture raised by the far-seeing patriot
Hamilton and the other great leaders of /
the revolution. great trainers of tho
constitution, should not crumble into I
ruins.
you whom l address today and your
comrades who wore the blue beside you
n the perilous years during which
strong, sad, patient Lincoln bore the
load of national leadership,
performed the one feat the failure to
oerform which would have meant de-
to everything which makes
he name America a symbol of hope
among the nations of mankind. You
lid the greatest and most necessary
ask which has ever fallen to the lot of
my men on this western hemisphere
Nearly three centuries have passed
since the waters of our coasts We're first
urrowed by the keels of the men whose
,hildren's children were to inherit this
air land. Over a century and a half
# colonial growth followed the settle