Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-05-30

| married the celebration of one wear
| ago today, when it rained throughout
! the morning. However. at $50. when
| the procession started. the lowering
clouds had disappeared and there was
more cheering prospect.
The line formed on Third avenue.
between Fourteenth and Sixteenth
streets. moved south on Sixteenth to
Fourth. east to Twentieth, north to
second. west to Fourteenth street. and
thence to the west side of the court
house. where the first part of the eX-
ercises took place, and where had
gathered an audience of perhaps 1000
people. The procession was composed
as follows:
Marshal W. T. Ransom and aides.
William Norris, Charles Goble. Sam
Bowlby, John Schmid, Frank G.
Young.
Platoon of police
City council i'm carriages. ..
Speakers of day in carriages.
Disabled veterans in carriages.
Bleuer'S band.
Company A, 9th Illinois Volunteers.
and Naval Reserves.
Foresters and Fraternal Tribunes in
uniform.
Spanish War Veterans.
Sons of Veterans.
Ladies' Relief Corps.
School children.
Martial band.
G.. \. X.
Civic organizations.
Fire department.
l. Do; r
monies. presided at the exercises.
which began with the bugle call to the
assembly by n y. Coons, chief bugler.
after which there was patriotic Sc
lection by Bleuer's band Rev. Thorn
as Mackin, pastor of st. Joseph's
church. pronouncing the opening
prayer. There was song by the
Milo quartet of Augustana college.
The Nations New Life.
Rev. Ii. w. Reed, pastor of the First |
Baptist church. was introduced and |
spoke as follows:
Memorial day has come to be al |
most a sacred day. The governor of |
our state only shows that he has |
caught the spirit which more and |
more prevails. when he seeks to save
the day from Dissertation, whether |
by business or by excessive pleasure. |
The day has been set apart for pur-
pose. and it is well for us as a people /
to keep that purpose plainly in our
thought
I'VE are asked to spend the day
quietly. and with appropriate exer-
cises pay tributes of respect to the |
nations honored dead. Here in the |
heart of the city we are carrying out |
our part of the program. and at a |
later hour old soldiers Will strew flow
eTs over the graves of comrades who |
have gone on before. We would be |
in sympathy with the spirit and pur-
pose of the day. and act in harmony |
with those who thus honor the mem |
DRY Of the dead.
NO man in this audience can cher
ish a higher regard for those honored |
dead than does this speaker. Too
young at the time of the civil war
even To realize all that il meant. he |
has learned in these later years its
fuller Significance. 1t meant the seces-
sion of states. the disinte gration of |
the union. the sundering of national |
ties; but IL meant even more and |
and worse than these. II meant the
death Of the principles upon which
our government was founded prin-
ciples adopted not for the sake of the
but principles for the de
and outworking of which
the very government itself existed.
These principles were and are Of
even higher value than-the govern
ment atself. The men. therefore. who
protect the life Of the nation. did
more than that-they maintained in
their integrity and beneficent work