The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-05-29
DECORATION DAY.

Tomorrow we win prause in our busy
life and cast a thought upon those who
have gone before, and whom we our
selves will in time follow. Decoration
Day at first designed to commemorate
those who fell in the great war, has
become day which is universally
marked throughout the Republic. 1t is
our national Jour des Morris, and is
now no longer confined to the decora-
tion of the graves Of those who fell in
the war, or those of the Grand Army
who have since gone 10 their long ac-
count, but is participated in by all.
on Decoration Day, besides the pat
riotic feelings which are called forth by
the military parade, the speeches, ad-
dresses and readings and more than all
by the ever dwindling little group of
veterans who represent the Grand
Army of the Republic in our midst, each
family recalls some member, some re-
latiOn or some dear friend who has
crossed the river and who has gone
from this earth for ever. only to be met
again when we ourselves reach that
troubling and the weary are at rest"
Decoration Day recalls many a sad
memory, and brings the unbidden tear
TO many an eye. Woman ever tender of
heart and OF mind lays the wreath of
flowers upon the grave of the loved one
The wreath of flowers, so beautiful
when first deposited upon the tomb, but,
emblems of mortality, which fade and
wither even as our human lives fade
and wither. And so the memory of
mother, father, children, lover is
brought year by year to mind, and the
bright traits are recalled, the kindly
acts are remembered while all others
are lost in that merciful forgetfulness
of oblivion, which only remembers the
good, and rejects the unpleasant.
But woman's duty does not stay its
hand over hertow particular family
and friends. The grave of the forgot
ten stranger whose friends are far
away, or who died here friendless and
alone finds some loving hand that will
spare a bouquet from its abundance to
mark that even the waif is not forgot
ten.
The day calls forth the kindliest traits
of our nature. and touches the well
springs of memory as nothing else can
1t is to be earnestly hoped that the day
will always be kept with due solemnity
and that it will never degenerate into
a holiday, given up to amusement. In
the hurry of our strenuous and rapid
life we are apt to forget those who have
gone before. Decoration Day calls a
halt and makes us all think. it forces
us to think, it makes us realize the frail
thread upon which the tenure of all
lives hangs. Neither youth, nor
strength, nor brilliancy of mind can
give immunity from the penalty which
mortality must pay. The end may
come swiftly or it may come slowly, it
may come singly or it may come to
whole city, as it did recently when the
forty thousand inhabitants of st. Pierre
were hurried into eternity in a few
seconds. 1t is good FOR us to think and
the thought may have the effect upon
some of us to so strive to live, that the
remembrance of us may be a pleasant
one to those who were our companions
and friends upon earth, a remembrance
which , as it were, has
Deposited upon the silent shore
OF memory, images and precious
That shall not die and cannot be des-
tToyed." 10. ..