Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-05-26
MEMORIAL SERVICES.

III lucuOTy VI the dCdu cOiulCIS aHd
sailors of this republic The program
had been well selected and was very
suggestive of the spirit and gratitude of
our people and the man who penned
the line Republics are ungrateful' had
he been present on this occasion would
have thought otherwise for everything
was in keeping with the occasion. The
first part of the program was taken up
by glee club in singing sacred music,
the invocation being made by Kew. r.
A. Pease and Rev. S. N. Wilson read
ing from the 90th psalm. The mortuary
report for the year was read by ID. N.
Maxson and in point of features was as
follows:
In April, 1862, Two ladies, one
the wife of the chaplain of Michigan
regiment, the other the daughter of
soldier. decorated with flowers the
graves of soldiers buried in cemetery
| connected with a military hospital at
Washington. By this act they showed
respect for the dead soldiers and veneer
alton for the cause for which they gave
their lives and for which, unnum bered
thousands later gave themselves us a
sacrifice that their country might re-
main undivided and their flag main
tanned unsullied." The custom inaugur-
ated on that April day, struck sympa-
| thetic chord in the hearts of the patriotic
people of the north that never before
| had been appealed to. Its vibrations
awakened sentiment that grew, and in
| its strength developed into a patriotic
duty, demanding that one day IN each
| year shall be set apart as sacred TO the
memory of those who died that their
country might live
This custom of decorating soldiers
| graves became more widely spread as
| the years passed by, until John A.
Logan, The Black Eagle" the idol of
| his comrades and terror of the enemy,
during one of his terms as National
Commander of the q. A. T., designated
| May Both, of each year, as the day to be
| devoted to the memory of dead soldiers,
| their names honored, and the cause for
which they died, reyered.
A part of these memorial exercises
consists of patriotic religious exercises,
to be held on the Sunday preceding
| May 30th, at which time the names and
| military service, sc far as possible, of
comrades who have been finally mus
| tered out" during the preceding year,
shall be given. Three comrades of Cut
Ter Post, No. 55, DepartLl ent of Wiscon-
sin, q. A. r., have passed away during
| the year just passed. A complete rec
y
| tainable, fact much to be regretted,
| but they were comrades, and that is
| knowledge sufficient for us to respect
| and honor their names today.
Peter Clifford, enlisted June go, 1861,
as private in Company K, Sd Wisconsin
Infantry, and was discharged from
same company and regiment December
| 20, 1865, as corporal, having served four
| and half years Death came to him
| October 26, 1902.
Peter Bliss-we have no record of
| date of enlistment or discharge, only
| that he served in the United States
navy and died December 8, 1909.
Charles Hasenfuss, enlisted August
| 18, 1861, as private in Company G, 23d
| Wisconsin Infantry; was mustered out
in July, 1865, from same company and
regiment, after service of nearly three
years.
Clark Miles was not a member of the
| e. A. r., and we have no record of his
enlistment, service, or discharge, but the
fact that he was soldier ION the right
side," during the war of the rebellion,
makes him comrade, and as such, en-
titled to a respectful memory.
These comrades may nave had faults,
and who has them not? They may have
committed errors, and who can plead
not guilty to that charge? But let us
forget the things that were amiss in
their lives, and remember them only as
comrades, for in so doing, we are but
practicing the basic principles of our
organization: Fraternity, Charity and
Loyalty.
One number that met the apprecia-
ton of the people was the singing of
the old hymn Jesus, Lover of my
Soul'' by the twin Geier girls, Lille and
Lila, and the old song was rendered
by them with sweetness and
melody that captivated all Rev.
B B. Gibbs, of the Universalist church
made an address in substance as fol-
lows, taking for his theme I'm memory
of Heroes Dead and Tribute to Those
Living"
Veteran Soldiers and FslloaU Citizens
Every great nation pays homage to
her defenders. Hero worship is as old
as history. Sculpture, painting, oratory
and music thrill with appreciation of
them. 1t is fitting therefore that Amer
lea should recognize with appropriate
services, the valor, devotion and self
sacrifice of her children Today we
citizens and civilians everywhere are
gathered around remnant of that con-
Quering host whose glory never wanes,
to join in the generous service OF plac-
ing flags and flowers upon the graves
of sleeping patriots, to pay homage to
those who remain, and to rejoice with
them that victory perched on Northern
banners and crowned with laurel
wreaths their legions We honor the
military leaders who conducted the
campaigns, directed the forces and led
to final victory. Yet the true heroes
are those who marched "a the ranks. /
honor the man who, without glory or
hope of reward, fought by the bridge at
Antietam, behind the wall at Gettys-
burg, stormed the height at Vicksburg,
waded the mud of Chickahominy suffer
ed in Andersonville or Libby. Itwas the
private who, without promotion bore
the brunt of trial; the private who,
when wars tocsin ceased to sound its
dreadful note, while Europeans, re-
Numbering Napoleon whispered that it
was unsafe TO turn such an army loose
upon the country, marched down Penn
sylvania avenue, past the grand re-
viewing stand of the President, babe
goodbye to comrades, stacked arms and
went back with alacrity and gladness
to life of quiet labor-back TO the
forge, anvil, plane, loom and pillow.
Let us honor the private soldier in the
army that struck such titanic blows for
| freedom, but best of all that disbanGed
peacefully when war was over and dis
appeared like dew before the morning
sun. How quickly time went by and
how much was crowded into those tenn
pestuous years. Great issues were at
stake; the adjustment of slavery, pur-
pose of the centuries. desire of the ten
| der, true hearted Lincoln, dream Ut
John Brown of Owassapotomie, whose
soul goes marching on" to the fore
front of victory: the equality of all men
under law, rivulet that gushed forth
when Magma Charta was wrested from
unwilling English kings, that welled up
| among the Swiss hills, that flowed over
France, that poured out in the hide
pendence Declaration of our forefathers
and in the Emancipation Proclamation
| that kindled the zeal of the North Com
| radpS in volr time the preservation of