The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1903-09-11

PAIN OF bleeding feet as they march
ed from Valley Forge: sustained the
10000 union soldiers who, during
the war of the rebellion, were CON
fined in southern prisons The same
spirit which nerved Lieutenant Hob
son to sink the Merrimac in the
channel of Santiago harbor was DOS
sessed by Paul Jones when he ran
his good little ship Bon Homme
Richard into the very jaws of the
British squadron and his words when
in battle with the big ship Serapis
will ever be an inspiration to Amer
lean patriots. When the two vessels
came in contact in the death strug-
gle Paul Jones ordered his men to
lash them together and when the
decks had become slippery with blood
| and Watc' was pouring into the
American ship through a dozen holes.
Through the smoke of battle the Brit
ish captain called: Sir, do you sur
render?" Paul Jones replied: Sur
render? Why, sir, we have not vet
begun to fight And they captured
the British ship and from her deck
they saw their own ship sink beneath
the waves with the stars and stripes
proudly flying at the mast.
president Roosevelt a short time
ago declared honesty to be the basis
of patriotism and he might have ad-
ded that patriotism is likewise the
nf
noble quality. for where is the patriot
who is not brave and where is the
brave man who is not generous. That
king Of American PATRIOTS the i'm
mortal Lincoln, was the first to de
clare that the conquered states of
the south should be given their old
time places in the union without
question and without price.
The brave and intrepid Grant
shook hands with Lees grizzled vet
epans whom he had conquered and
babe them return to their homes and
firesides, and his only critics for
that action were a few stay-at-home
patriots who had never smellcd pow
der The bitterness of that struggle
has long since passed away and we
Of this day and generation can have
but faint conception Of the broad
minded charity and generous nobility
of character which prompted Lin
coin and Grant and the veterans I'M
der them to extend the hand of fell
loWship to the men who wore the
gray.
For long years they had sacrificed
their property, their homes. and
their sons to conquer this southern
foe, and when the task was done and
the victory won they broke bread
with the conquered foe as with a re-
turning brother; and who shall say
that the people Of the south have
failed to return in liberal measure
the generous treatment of the vet
Grams in blue. 1t is true that the
people of the south suffered injustice
and oppression during the period of
reconstruction, but it is also true
that the men who carried the bayo-
net in defense of the old flag had no
part in such oppression; and that the
generosity Of the northern soldier has
borne good fruit is shown by the fact
that the people of the south sprang
as one man to the defense of the flag
in the war with Spain.
These reunions are held as | un-
derstand them, not for the purpose of
reminding the Goals of animosity
from the ashes of the past, but for
the purpose of cultivating the friend
ships and ties formed during the try
ing periods in our history. They are
held, not for the purpose of Haunting
the victors' flag in the face of those
who fought for the lost cause, but
rather to extend to them the hand of
hospitality and of good fellowship;
and the manner in which the veter-
ans of the north and south mingle
together is guarantee of peace and
strength for the future.
Patriotism, however, is not the ex-
elusive possession of the man who
goes to war, and any discourse upon
this subject would be incomplete if
it failed to recognize and give credit
to the American woman for her gen
erous share in the patriotic devotion
to our country. Not only does she
share in that self-sacrificing devotion
but she is the source of its inspira-
ton in those who defend the flag. 1t
was thought of wife or sweetheart
which gave you as soldiers courage
upon the weary march; courage to
bear the pain of wounds; courage to
60 to the lannon's mouth.
She shared the trials and anxieties
Of the days of peril and uncertainty
and she likewise shares the joys OF
these reunions.
There are many of the old boys
who fail to respond at each OF these
gatherings because they have gone
to make ready for the last great re-
union, and while we mourn their alb
occS