The Baraboo news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1884-1911, 1905-06-07
BEAUTIFUL.
were The Weather and Exer-
cises on Memorial Dav.

1
Memorial Day than this year.
Bright sunlight, clear air and all
nature aglow with fresh, green life
made the occasion one of lively
memory for our fallen heroes. In
the forenoon the surviving comrades
placed flowers upon the graves of
the dead, and at noon a lunch was
served by the Relief Corps at the
hall, at which the members of the
city council were guests.
The parade in the afternoon was
carried out as sch eduled, the veter-
ans, Select Knights of America and
school children bGing we'll represen-
ted. In the court house park tenn
porary stand had been erected and
there the principal exercises were
held. Rev. Marcus J. Simpson offered
prayer, the Choral Union sang and
City Clerk Workman read Lincoln's
Gettysburg speech. The oration of
the day was most excellently
wrought and out delivered by the
Rev. Mr.. Munneke, and was in part
as follows:
In the estimation ofmost people
Memorial Day has become as much
of holiday as the Fourth of July.
Each year there are fewer soldiers
to join in the procession to the
cemeteries, and each year there are
new graves to decorate with flowers
and flags; and yet the respect for
the day has become so firmly plant
ed in the hearts of the people that
interest in it's observance increases
as the years go by. The Grand
Army of the Republic becomes more
notable as it grows older, and more
interesting as it diminishes in num-
bers.
To the women of Columbus, Mimi,
is attributed the honor of being
among the first to adorn with
flowers the graves of soldiers who
fell in the civil war. No distinction
was made between Northern and
Southern, but the graves of those
who died for the North and South
were alike decorated with flowers in
memory of their noble sacrifice; and
it was this touching incident that
ins pired Francis Miles Finch's
beautiful poem. THE Blue aud
the Gray
mo more shall the war-cry sever,
Or the winding river be red;
They Danish our anger forever,
When they laurel the graves ofthe dead! I!
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day,
Love and tears for the blue.
And tears and love for the gray"
We delight to honor those who
counted not their lives dear unto
themselves, but went out on the
blood-soaked soil of Vicksburg,
Charlottesville, Lookout Mountain
or Atlanta. Do you remember
those awful days? Days when
father and mother gave up their
boys never expecting to see them
again and never did see them again
until they were brought home
wounded, mutilated, crushed, dead.
Four years of blood, four years
of hostile experience, four years of
ghastliness! Mourning! Mourning
Mourning 1t twas helllet loose!What
time of waiting for news Morn
ing papers and evening papers
scrutinized, but no news from "our
boy." At last comes list of the
dead and the missing aud among
the latter is ''our boy"
When missing! How missing Who
saw him last? Missing Missing!
| Oh God, can it be? Missing! Miss
ling! In that awful waiting for
news many a life perished. The
strain of anxiety was too great.
That wife's brain gave way that
first week after the battle and eve
and anon she walks the floor of the
asylum or looks out Of the window
as though she expected some one
to come along the path and up the
steps as she soliloquizes, missing
missing!'
Oh, when the words of our own
poet find their true and deserved
acceptance, not as poetical rhap'
sody, but as practicable truth