Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1905-10-21

Richmond, Va.-Roosevelt day in
Richmond broke with lowering clouds,
but by 10 o'clock the bright October
sun shone in clear sky.
Business was practically suspended
at 11.9O o'clock and nearly the whole
population was on the street-gath-
cred at the station or lining the side
walks along the route announced for
the procession.
The decorations of the buildings
public and private, were profuse, in
many instances portraits of the Presi'
dent being displayed.
At IL o'clock sharp, the presidential
train pulled into the Main street sta
tion, in which the reception commit
tee had gathered.
Gov. Montague, Mayor Mccarthy
and Capt. w. H. Curtis boarded the
Presidents car and formally welcomed
him to Richmond. Then the Presi-
dent was escorted to the speakers
stand in Capitol square.
The procession was headed by de-
tail of police and consisted of the Vir
ginia military institute cadet corps,
18th regt. Virginia infantry, Richmond
light infantry blues citizens mount
ed escort. the President, governor and
mayor in carriages, and the reception
committee and city council in car
riages.
The line of march was through
some of the principal streets to the
western part of the city and return to
Capitol square. All along the route
the President was enthusiastically
cheered.
When the procession, arrived at
Capitol square, the President and par
ty called at the executive mansion
and paid their respects and then re-
paired to the speakers stand, which
was faced by one of the greatest null
titudes ever assembled in Richmond
Mayor Mccarthy presented the gov
ernor, who in brief and most COM
plimentary speech, the sentiments of
which were cheered to the echo, in
troduced the President, who spoke in
part as follows:
II trust need hardly say how great
is my pleasure at speaking in this his
toric capital Of your historic state;
the state than which no other has
contributed larger proportion to the
. IeauersnIp or the nhtIun; Ior On the
honor role of those American worthless
whose greatness is not only for the
age but for all time, not only for one
nation, but for all the world, on this
honor roll Virginia's name stands
above all others.
"And in greeting all of you, know
that no one will grudge my saying
special word of acknowledgment to
the veterans of the civil war. A man
would indeed be but a poor American
would could without a thrill witness
the way in which, in city after city
In the north as in the south, on every
public occasion, the men who wore the
blue and. the men who wore the gray
now march nand stand shoulder to
shoulder, giving tangible proof that
we are all now in fact as well as in
name reunited people, people inf
nitely richer because of the priceless
memories left to all Americans by you
men who fought in the great war.
"Only a heroic people could have
battled successfully against the con-
ditions with which the people of the
south found themselves face to face at
the end Of the civil war. There had
been utter destruction and disaster,
and wholly new business and social
problems had to be faced with the
scantiest means. The economic and
political fabric had to be readjusted
in the midst of dire want, Of grinding
poverty. The future Of the broken,
warswept south seemed beyond hope,
and If her sons and daughters had
been of weaker fibre there would IN
very truth have been no hope.
"And now, my fellow-citizens, my
fellow-Americans, exactly as all of us,
whether we live in the east or the
west, in the north or the south, have
the right merely as Americans to feel
pride in every great deed done by any
American in the past, and exactly as
we are knit together by the bond of
our common duties in the present,
our common interests in the future.
Many and great problems lie before
us.
"If we treat the mighty memories
of the past merely as excuses for sit
ting lazily down in the present, or
for standing aside from the rough
work of the world, then these memo
ries will prove curse instead of
blessing But IL we treat them as l
believe we shall treat them, not as ex-
cuses for inaction, but as incentives
to make us show that we are worthy
of our fathers and of our fathers
fathers, then in truth the deeds of the
past will not have been wasted, for
they shall bring forth fruit hundred
fold in the present generation"
The President finished speaking at
2.20 p. M, when the line was formed
and the march taken up to the Ma
sonic temple, where an elaborate ban
quet with covers for 400 persons was
spread.
Mrs. Roosevelt was met at the sta.
ton by Mrs. Montague and driven to
the governors mansion, where re-
ception was held in her honor, and
while the banquet was In progress at
the Masonic temple luncheon was
served.