Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-06-02
FALLEN
HEROES
HONORED

formed at the court house, and pro-
ceeded along Second avenue. Seventh
street and First avenue to Brookside
grove. where the services were held
The marshal and stan headed the pro
cession, and were followed by the
Woo1man band and the Sedgwick
post. The principals and teachers of
the public schools came next IN order
followed by long column of the
school children The Indian battal-
Ion Of the Fort Lewis school made a
fine showing. After them came the
carriages containing the Woman's
Relief corps. orator of the day and
clerfymen. county and city officials.
citizens and guests of the fire depart
nent handsomely decorated in the
national colors.
~ the grove the stand was elabor-
9tely trimmed with the red white and
blue. and pictures OF Washington. Lin.
coin aud Grant hung in the back.
GROUND very large crowd turned
out TO the service and listened with
naser attention and appreciation to
me program The first number on
the program was Heroes of tbe
haine" by the Woodman band. very
mpfessively rendered. The Rev. o.
8 Sarber then offered PRAYER in
Fhich he Invoked the blessing of God
on the assembled veterans. This was
'nllowed by song, No More the Bu.
Hle Blast" rendered by a select cho-
'Na. The memorial exercises. given
according to the e. A. r. ritual we're
"erN touching, impressing each heart
with the solemn meaning of the day.
They were closed by prayer by the
haplain. Mr. S VI. Biggs then read
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address" that
'"rltiful article written by the presi-
dent who led us through the most
trying period of our country's history.
10 fall. martyr at the close of the
"ar-the address that one never
crows tired of hearing though It
NAY be repeated a thousand times.
Nrs, Vogts solo which followed. was
Heautifully rendered and could not
AL to bring a tender feeling to every
heart that listened to the pathos of
its words and tone. After the solo.
Colonel II NJ. Fitch. of Pueblo
orator of the day arose to de-
liver his address. II was called
"a Distant Review OF the Civil War"
NJ was a finely prepared and inter
7stius article Colonel Fitch said in
brief. Not alone do we have dis
tant view In space of the civil war. but
Tine has also given us the blending
nrects of the high colors that met our
'Tcited gaze thirty-seven years ago.
All we wanted then was to turn our
'acl,r upon the horrors of battle and
'HTrT our tired bodies to the sweets of
home aud peaceful pursuits. Stand
ne here however. forty years from
.he average time of that conflict, and
viewing ii IRON locality where
Steep Sierra far upllfts
It's craggy SUBMITS white with
drifts."
We forget the bloody tragedy of bat
lie the fatigue of the long marches.
The unspeakable horror OF the prison.
the sharp pain OF the wound the red
Of the bloody flag the gold of the
paul'ts the Union blue and the rebel
Tey blend together into the royal
purple. like that of distant view of
n mountain range. Every sharp out
line is softened, every discordant de.
all Is assimilated in to the dizziness
and grandeur OF the whole At this
distance we see only the breadth and
and height Of the ciyil war
Military authors and historians
have hitherto given the honor to those
regiments whose killed and wounded
was the largest but now our dis
tant view shows that the damage to
the enemy is the best test of efficien-
cy, which is only another name for
bravery. II was NOT so much the loss
20 ourselves as the loss which we in
gicted upon the enemy At Gettys-
burg the Union loss was greater than
Al Chickamauga, but the rebel loss at
Chickamauga was greater than at
Gnttysburg The percentage of losses
10 Killed and wounded in proportion
to the numbers engaged at Chicaka-
paupa. make It perhaps the hardest
Fought battle Of the war It really
gave the mortal blow TO the confeder-
aoy.
The dead are held in immortal
honor. Memorial day is set apart for
them We cannot sing their praises
roo highly They are the real heroes
Of that war because they made the
supreme sacrifice. This dying for
ones country always brings honor
and immortality We do not pass be-
vord the grave Of such except to
raise. There are one hundred and
ton thousand Of those heroes who
died on the field Of battle There
qrc thousands who have died since
The Personal Aspects.
The AVERAGE private soldier is the
nue hero who should live forever in
so history Of his country His
leeds should be crvstallized into the
Immortal language Of a Shakespeare.
while be WIS brave In battle under
-hc eve Of his commander. vet he did
rot shirl the humblest duty. If a de
'ail came TINT carried him TO the rear
ho cheerfully obeved, but on the other
hand he was ever at the front when
inty did not command his presence
come other place. He kept in the
ranks on the long dusty march that
brought him to the field Of Gettys.
hurg and unless disabled bv wounds