The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-05-31

joys; the milestones that point out the
bright spots in our lives; that repalnt
a picture when we stood, it may be, on
some pleasures dizzy height, with a
landscape all bathed in sunshine and
beauty, spread beneath our feet; while
this day-this thirtieth day of May,
this beautiful, balny spring day, with
its bright sunlight its singing birds, its
emerald carpets Ger our billow land
scape spread, its sweetly scented air,
odOrOus with the perfume OF roses,
this day, dressed in all of natures love-
illness, we consecrate to the memory of
the dead of our dead.
Does this day come to each of US
bringing a sense of proprietorshlp
Are the dead we commemorate our
dead? Are the graves that we today
garland with flowers, our graves, the
graves of our loved ones?
ITO these comrades before me,
whose sympathies are today aroused
anew, and whose hearts are touch ed
les of dusty days, when, weary and
foOt-sOre. they dragged themselves
through long dreary miles; memories
of dark nights of vigil, on picket post
or skirmish line; memories of days and
nights when, numbed with cold, and
shelterless, they were pelted by win
try sleet and winters storms; mem
cries of struggles, when men fell by
hundreds, and columns of veterans
faded away like miSts on a summer
morning; the living, blinded by smoke,
touching elbows they struggled
through the kissing, seething, white
heat of battle; to these comrades. /
say, the answer comes. yes these are
our graves; the sleepers beneath these
grassy mounds are our dead.
1T may be that in life We are strang-
ers-We may not have heard the name
Of the silent sleeper; we may have be-
lOnged to different regiments to differ
ent army corps, it matters not; neither
does the place of birth enter into the
question Whether his childish feet
first pressed the green carpetea valleys
of the Emerald Isle; carried hint
through the picturesque beauty of the
Scotch Highlands; over the vine-clad
hills Of France, across the bread fields
of Germany; up the mountain sleeps Of
Switzerland; or whether he was an
American to the manor born, 1t matters
not; all that we my comrades need TO
know isis that IN the dark and bloody
days from 81 to '65, he wore the blue.
Knowing this, at once the ties Of COM
radeship link our hearts to his pulseless
heart and we are knit to his dust by
ties such as knit the soul of David to
the soul of Jonathan, and preserved his
memory green after death had taken
him.
The speaker detailed at length the
history Of the war and its significance.
Touching upon reverence for the oldsol-
diers he said. But young meni During
the few remaining years, whenever you
meet a wearer of the little bronze but
ton. take off your hat. Young ladies,
give your politest courtesy, your most
gracious smile. And all of you remem-
Der, that to you, the very dust his
weary feet may have pressed, is holy
ground. For. know this, that little
bronze button, with absolute verify tes-
titles, that the wearer, in the da1k hour
Of our nations peril, barred his breast
to the he'll of battle, to keep the gl0r-
ious flag Of our country, floating in the
Union sky"
Old Soldiers in Line.
BY actual count, just PA old soldiers
wearers of the Little Bronze Button,
were in the parade on Wednesday after
noon when the column marched by
Eighth and Kansas avenue. The steps
Of many were slow and feeble Each
year the rank IS gradually thinning
each year the step is growing slower
the march is hating and tagging a little
more. AS the veterans marched by,
the thousands of people on the streets,
barred their heads and cheared
The line of march formed at Fifth and
/ Quincy streets. and going to kan
| sas avenue went south to Ninth street.
east to Quincy and then to the Auditor
/ ium. A Gordon Of police headed the pa
/ rade. Marshall's band was next in line.
Infantry and artillery Of the K n. @.
were the next division. Representa-
! tives from the Odd Fellows the Modern
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