, 1902-05-31

At the soldiers monument a plat
form had been erected. upon which
sat Mr.. Holiday, Mayor Spicer. the
members Of the city council and
oficers of the post. The relief corps
occupied seats under the front OF the
platform n the band and cadet corps
were disposed around the half circle
fianked by the comrades of the post.
The program as arranged by the
committee was rendered. Mayor Spicel
introducing Mr.. Holiday, who spoke
as follows, receiving a hearty burst OF
applause at the conclusion of his mast
erly address,:
Many years ago 1t was my pleasure
to hear William Writ Henry. nephew
of the great Patrick Henry, reply tic
the toast, Washington In open.
ing his address he said that to try to
add anything to what had been said in
eulogy of Washington would be like
an effort to paint the lily OR gild
refined gold. l feel it would be pre-
sumptious on my part to try to add
anything to the words that have ex-
pressed admiration of the achieve
ments of the volunteer army during
the great war for the preservation OF
the union.
The story Of the call to arms by
President Lincoln, the patriotic re-
spouse thereto, the experience in camp,
on the battlefield and in the hospital
will never grow old to those who have
an interest in the events that are an
essential part of our nations history.
Soldier life broadens the mind Of the
boy who enlists for service in active
warfare. This was peculiarly SO with
the soldiers Of the union army. The
quick adaptation Of the American
youth to military service and his in
itiative in time Of battle was the COM
ment of each representative of a for
eign government on the battlefield of
San Juan hill end Ell Caney during the
Spanish war.
In the discharge Of their duty the
union soldiers come in contact with
men from all the civilized coun-
tries of the globe. They found in
those situations Of danger or distress
that try mems souls. that in all that is
best in mans nature there is but little
IL any difference in men Of different
nationality. The contact with soldiers
Of the confederate army removed all
doubt as to the fighting qualities Of the
men in the north or in the south. The
union soldiers found In the manliness
and soldierly bearing of the c~onfeder-
ate enemy. men who as citizens any ma
ton ought to be proud Of and as SOL
diers having no ~superiors. The broad
enihg Of the mind and quickened SYM
pathy through army life makes veter-
nj of the union army the truest
friends that the exconfederates have
outside of Dixie. The people Of for
eign birth find the veterans liberal.
minded and largely free from those
petty national prejudices that seem in.
herent with too many.
Individual experience while a soldier
will cas- to be the theme of in
teresting stories 30 long as the partici-
pants in warfare live. Such stories are
a strange mingling of the humorous.
the pathetic mt Of soul-stirring events
that In a collective way become a thrill
ling part of the nations history. On
the 7th of last month when in CONVEX
satian with a veteran Of the civil wal
he suddenly, as II awakened from a
dream, said, forty years g yester.
day I saw more dead men than I could
count" In thinking of this change in
conversation I remembered the words
of Robert Ingersoll. that at times the
past seems to rise before us like a
dream" recall in part the
words written of Marathon where 1t
was said that at night ever afterwards
the old heros Of Athens marshaled
their hosts in the clouds and the noises
Of invisible warriors shouting the
charges. the uproar of chariots and
horses and means Of dying spirits could
be heard above that haunted glorious
field" Thus 1t has been eve since with
the survivors Of great battles. The
r~ecollections of the tragic scenes forty
years ago on the field of Shiloh by my
veteran friend was. I imagine. the re-
fiex Of the minds Of other veterans IS
memory recalls the ordeal Of fire and
blood through which every hero Of the
battlefield must pass.
My wish is that the veterans of the
civil war may live many years to 9
the fruitiou of their work; that the ris-