Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-04-30

man on earth and have Jesus Christ
out Of my life. I'd rather have stand
Ing room In heaven than own the
world. II had to kick Jesus out.
Pralss for Veterans.
when / come to die and reflect up
on my life, I want something besides
courage and bravery In my life. ad-
i.ure bravery and am proud that am
the son Of veteran. There are times
in G mans life when 1t seems that
words are inadequate to express his
feelings. feel as II words were
mighty poor vehicles to convey my
approximation Of being able to address
such all audience as Is before me this
awe feel as look into so many little
bronze buttons, and ! greatly honor
those who wear them.
.'NeaIly fifty years have passed since
you shouldered. your muskets and
marched away at the call Of your
county. Now you are growing old
Many things have Changed since that
| ni..'i1t Fable day when Fort Sumter was
| fired upon. There have besA many
changes since that day when President
| Lincoln was hurried through Balti-
more to Washington. Then there was
no photograph, no -the-loop, no
1
was like Shetland pony compared
with what 1t is now. The telegraph
! was like a boy in knee pants The ma
val vessels Of that time were birch bark
canoes when compared with the mag
nificent battleships Of today, armed
with eigfteen-inch Harveyized steel.
with men enough on them to populate
city and powder enough to blow up
a kingdom.
THE children that were making mud
pies when you left, are today gray
haired and bent. Those that were
| born born after you went away are
now fathers and mothers and even
grandparents.
YOU are living over again as you
i sit those days Of your youth WREN you
stole each others sutler tickets. You
think of that first night on picket duty
when the old SOW granting in the
! thicket nearly scared the gizzard out
of you, the new uniforms, the long
| suits of which by some unscrutable
| Providence invariably went to short
fellow and the short ones to some
lengthy. The old ,ilusket-haw II
/. at home, and / never fred it Off with
out praying, for ! didn't know which
end to trust.
i ~.
i lived to see Old Glory far above the
4 heights to which eagles ever scared.
i don't believe the flag means as much
4 to us as 1t does to old soldiers. With
1t they went through camps, through
battles and into hospitals. Sometimes
1t meant protection, sometimes heart
aches !, it wasn't always healthy to FOL.
low where 1t led, but you soldiers did
t'You saw II careening onward in tht
u charge, and followed fighting. When i
fell, you rushed forward and picked 4
UP, in the mud, Wild, insane rush, ant
il above the roar of 1iusketry, the shriel
of shells, and the groans Of the dying
! you cried, Liberty liberty, libertyP
!. "Forty-fiye springs have carpeted tn,
!, earth with green, and forty five sum
n mers have changed the green to the
golden harvest and fortyfive winters
have turned your hair to snow.
I'VE will never forget your struggl,
to preserve that flag. in the crimson
4 Of which you see. the blood Of com
rades who fell BY your side. Its BLU
is the azure OF Gods sky and his eter
; nal truth It's stars bring back to you
3 picket duty, when the armament %
heaven was your only companion.
!. Eyes, bravery is q great thing, bu
!, thing better than bravery to look bacl
! on as the greatest thing in my life
IAN education Is valuable, but 1t i
worthless without Christianity. Aarol
Burr, graduated from Princeton at six
teen. was one Of the vilest men tina
ever lived. So / want something bet
!. ter than a ponderous intellect.
u want something better than inf
deity. Ingersoll, that painted eche
, and God forbid that am saying any
thing derogatory to man after he !
gone, at the funeral OF his bfothe
spoke of life as a barren vale betwee
two bleak eternities. But when the
! scrape back the leaves of autumn Q
: the snow Of winter to dig the grave c
my wife or children, in an hour Xix
that when | would give my right ey
g or right arm to have back my girl q
! the boy that bears my name, when
t would give all to have back my wifi,
y then at that time | do not want to sa
- -.sSs L.