The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1902-1905, 1904-05-20

not stop now. at this distance from
the war. to enquire whether You are
of the north or south. 1t is >utti-
cfent 10 know that you were factors
in the great war Of 1851 and ISIS, and
bore your full share in the rials and
hardships of the campaigns, and
which entities you TO an equal dis
sribution Of the hUnOrs of that war.
To you belongs. as much as to the
Men Of that period, the credit OF
making the history that stands out
most prominently in the ANIMAL OF our
beloved country. A. q veteran OF
the Confederacv I 20 back in pleas
anti may say in reverent-recol-
lection tn the time when l saw you
ladies of the south in your beautiful
homeSpun dresses of the times.
Dresses that Were made from mate
rial spun aud wove by yourselves.
Material with which the delicate
fabrics Of India. nor the elegant
suits from Paris could not compare
in attractiveness. Do you remember
them? Have you ever had dress
since the war of which you We're so
proud as you were Of the Confeder-
ate gown you spun and wove and
made with your own fair hands? Let
ME tell you that the Confederate
veteran whose memory runs back to
that time when be stood before You
in his suit Of gray" has never seen
you so charmingly dressed as when
you wore those Queenly gowns Of
your own haudiwork. In the patri-
otic devotions Of yeur sisters of the
north there IS no lack Of incidents
and unselfish sacrifice that endears
them. especially. to the Union sol
diers. and crowns them with halo
of glory which the world, including
the Confederate veterans. is proud
10 award them.
During that great struggle. COM
rades, We witnessed our fellow SOL
diers falling thick and fast around
Us in every battle; We saw our regi-
meuts decimated continually by
hardships, exposure and disease all
along the lines. At the end of the
war a million graves scattered all
over the country from Maine 10
Texas and from the Canadian Lakes
10 the Gulf of Mexico, including both
Blue and Gray. attested the earnest
ness with which We fought each
other. At the surrender there re-
manned about two millions survivors
of the war. Now there is considrra-
bly, less than half a million of Us
left. In thirJy-nine years We have
seen about twO-thirds Of our numbers
dropped from the rolls as tl.ey have
gone one by one to join the comrades
who fell in 1916. The one third
that is left, Of which this AsSocia-
ton eOmposes a fraction, are no loE-
ger young men. We have all passed
the meridian of our lives. Many OF
our numbers are already stopped
with old age and realize that they
are soon to 20. Ii is a matter Of on
ly 3 few years, At most, when We
shall all have yielded to the CON-
mon enemy and joined our comrades
who have gone before. Some Of our
members who were with Us on our
annual picnic last year have been
consigned to their last resting place
during the year.
In the light Of what we have been
and what We now are, and in consid-
Grafton of what We helped 10 do. the
world will not consider US arrogant or
vain If we point with pride to the
history Of our common country for
the passed forty years. with which
We are so familiar, and in the max
ing Of which We have been factors.
No, l believe the world will Symps.
thiEe with US in the profound sol
emnity with which we commence
rate the past, and looking into the
future see nothing but that history,
which in $ few short years will be /
all the evidence left that we ever
lived.
Judge Coke then recited The
Last Reveille" by 7. c. Harbaugh, |
As follows: