The Delta independent., 1906-07-13
A GLORIOUS
Time FOR ALL.
Western Slope Veterans Eleventh
Annual Reunion at Montrose.
At Delta next Year.

At Delta next Year.
Over two hundred Boys of
'61" assemble at Montrose and
enjoy "reminiscences of the days
when cannon doomed and smoke
wreaths told of joy, of pain and
of sorrow. Parades, addresses,
and tales of stirring times adorn3
the gathering and make it one to]
be long remembered.
Right from the start the veterans be-
gan to enjoy themselves. On Tuesday
they gathered at the hall and at nooa
marched to the incoming trains FROM
the west and south where they met a
large delegation of members Of thoj
G. A. r. and w. r. C. from the towna|
to the west, and from the mountains,
when parade was of course in order.
What is G. A. R. meeting without
the loved parade? The old veterans,
many of them faltering of footstep and
bowed with years, and all of them old
men, marched proudly up Main Street,
to the inspiring strains Of the fife and
drum, the procession being headed BY
the Grand Junction Drum Corps. Aftee
the parade came dinner and . good
time.
After dinner, another parade marched
to meet the train from the East. To-
ward evening came the bean bake, joy
Gus time, for if there is any one thing
4 soldier dearly loves, it is bean bake.
The bean bake was well attended and
the fun ran high. too. Then came The
campfire. when the boys told Of Other
days. Il was free-for-sll. and ther5'
were large number Of the Old soldiers
who responded to calls for q talk. Rev.
rockingham Of Delta made a good talk
praising the veterans.
There were songs between, and they
were the old ones the boys knew, ..Dix-
lie. +" Marching Through Georgia, "a
Thousand Years." and 70 on. and when
John Browns Body Lies Wondering
in the Grave" was reached, it liked
never to stop. Verse after verse, i'm
promptu and otherwise, was started
and carried out by the jolly company.
Perhaps the best talk of the evening
was made by Comrade Wire, a white
headed old man, whose fire and vigor
are not yet dimmed, and whose oratory
is splendid. He talked of great battles,
of great men. of National questions.
He declared the American people intel
ligent enough to settle the money ques-
tion. the trust question, and so on. but
one question, he declared, needed united
action Of good men. It was how to stop
the drinking of alcoholic liquors. This
he declared to be the one great ques-
tion of all questions, the one great issue
Of the age. It was = splendid speech
by . splendid man.
O'Neil H. Horton Of Olathe, told of
his experience and how he came to be
soldier. He said war had been declared
"hell" by Sherman, but it was more
than hell. It degraded men who en-
tered the service, and then he told how
bad habits were fixed on men who had
seen service.
Capt. Barnes presided with dignity
and Commander Bailey made a good
talk to the veterans. Mayor Gray and
Senator DeLong, and others also ad-
dressed the old boys in Blue.
At $50, morning Of the 5th., the
members Of the Western Slope veter-
an Association met At the Methodist
Church with president G. NJ. Baily in
the chair, with sixty-four members
present Others coming In afterward.
After the approval Of the minutes of
last meeting, the reports of the secre-
tary and treasurer were listened to and
approved.
The election Of officers was next in
order. Anderson Of Paonia and vos-
k,,~ - -