The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-17
GRAND ARMY
 OF REPUBLIC Annual Encampmcnt Of Alabama Division. COMMANDER IN CHIEF HERE General Eli Torrance Arrived
 Last Night. Five Posts in Alabama Send Dele gates-Meeting Opens at 9 O'clock This Afternoon at
 Odd Fellows Hall.

General Eli Torrance of Minnesota,
 Commander -in- Chief of the Grand Army
 of the Republic. reached Montgomery last
 night. He is here to attend the annual
 encampment of the Alabama Division of
 the Grand Army of the Republic, which convenes in this city today.
 General Torrance arrived in Montgom- cry last night at s:2O, coming from Att
 lanta. He was met at the depot by a Committee consisting of M. 0. Scott, Commander of the William Woods Post, Grand Army of the Republic; Hon. M. D. Wickersham of Mobile. and Captain M. F. Hulet. The General was accom- panied by Mrs. Torrance and they were escorted to the Exchange where num- Der of members of the Grand Army or the Republic called to pay their respects. The Commander-in-Chef is from Min neapolis. He served in the lst Minnesota as a Captain and saw active and danger
 ous service in the desperate fighting In Northern Virginia. He made splendid
 record as a soldier and he is no less es- teemed as citizen, He is lawyer by profession. one of the most prominent In the State of Minnesota. He was elected Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic at its annual encamp- ment last year at Cleveland. He is tall mustache and has a strong. forceful but attractive way of speaking.
 Delighted with Montgomery. At the Exchange last night General Torrance said:
 II have never until today been further South than Atlanta. I am delighted to be in Montgomery, as have looked for ward with pleasure to my visit to the historic city. I have long wanted to Visit the Capitol and other historic points Of interest and tomorrow intend to secure
 competent guide and make the rounds in the past few months. l have visited State Departments in all sections of the country. Not long since we were in the Dakotas. Only last week we were Tn the extreme northeastern section of the coun- | try. From Montgomery we go to New | Orleans to visit the Division of Louisiana. | which also embraces the State Of Ms sissippi. We go to Beaumont from New Orleans where the encampment or the | Texas Division will be held.
 No portion of our journey has been more pleasant than that which has car ried us through the South. We nave in company with some Confederate vet erans | visited the Soldiers Home near Atlanta. All the old soldiers were called in and I spoke to them and shook each one by the hand. I talked with them and learned the regiment to which each one belonged. I knew all the regiments for we had gone up against them again and again in Northern virginia. II was
  shaking between us came. but l thank God that it has come. "The incident was one of the most pleasant in my whole life"
 The Alabama DivisiQn of the Grand | Army of the Republic will meet today at p. m, in. the Odd Fellows Hall on Court Street. An address of welcome to Gen eraI Torrance will be delivered by some prominent ex-Union soldier The assem, blaze will then be addressed bv General Torrance. Al. There are Grand Army posts in Ala bama at Montgomery, Anniston. Bir-
 mingham. CullmAn and Decatur. Ihese posts will send represe ntatives to the encampment to be held here today. The attendance will probably number nfty The Montgomery Post Is William 5. Woods No 6. order regarding the observance of memo- rial day. The order Is accompanied by a copy of Lincoln famous Gettysburg speech. In recent years the custom or sending with each copy of the order copv of the Gettysburg speech has been established.
 The following is the Memorial Day or der T.. ., | most sacred of the year. ana its Plope. ooe,. observance one or the hduoh Sioiee''
 If is the nations Easter. when the peo- pie are summoned to the patriot toihp: inc dead hut by the mystic chords Of
 memory to resurrect the virtues which adorned their lives.
 Ut Is the nations Sabbath. when, at the | shrine of patriotism, all creeos are LOT, gotten and we receive into our hearts new inspiration to duty-a benedicuon day to all who observe it in Its true spir- it and meaning.
 No more beautiful or impressive scene could be witnessed than that of re- deemed nation. ceasing from it's daily toll and gathering around the graves or US defenders. bearing offer 1gs of flowers and giving suitable cxpres.lon of the love and gratitude which a gr at people feel iowa. 1ds those who gave tE eir lives in de- fense of their country.
 "Piutarch tells of witnessing the SDOth memorial service in honor of the Athe- nians who died at Marathon. We are only in the youth of ours, but the memorial IS