The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1909-06-04
MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCE.
Exercises at the Cemetery MARRIED
by Rain.

| Corps of Edgerton, the annual tribute
to the memory of the deceased soldiers
and sailors of the civil war of nearly
half century ago, was duly observed
here on Monday. Like many Memorial
days that have gone before business
was suspended, hats were raised in the
presence of the grey haired heroes of
the early struggle, and people general
ly observed the spirit of the occasion.
The afternoon program of exercises at
Royal hall, as heretofore published,
was carried out in detail, where the
seating capacity proved too small to
accommodate those who gathered to
witness these interesting exercises.
Though the skies were threatening
during the afternoon, the breaking of a
sharp thunder storm soon after the pro-
cession started for the cemetery, inter-
fered materially with the decoration of
the graves of fallen heroes, which is
the eliminating feature of memorial
observance. Even though the teams
carrying the floral offerings brayed the
storm and continued to the cemetery,
the work of strewing the graves had to
be temporarily suspended. The mar
shall, and many of the veterans, flower
| girls and others in the procession were
drenched before shelter was reached.
The flags and decorations about town
were a sorry spectacle after the storm
cleared and yet in spite of all every old
veteran was satisfied that a duty had
been performed.
A most excellent memorial address,
delive red by Rev. G. Kenneth MacIn-
mis-, at the request of the G. A. r.
Post is herewith given:
Mr. Chairman; fellow citizens:
| esteem it a pleasure and an honor
to stand in your presence and take part
in this memorial service which has been
instituted to tenderly and reverently
keep alive in our hearts and in the
hearts of our children the sad but prec-
ious memories of the war of 81.
We have come together here this
afternoon to pay respect to the memory
of our fallen heroes, and tribute of
homage due their surviving comrades.
The ignorant, the careless and the in
different will pay little attention to
gatherings of this nature; they have
little or no gratitude in their hearts for
these who gave their lives a sacrifice
upon the altar of their country S liberty;
but in the future history of our nation
no pen shall be too sacred to record
their deeds of valor. A learned teacher
once said: 81 never come into the pres
ence of my students without the feeling
that should take off my hat in rever-
ence, for know not but that T. am
standing in the presence of future
prince or king" With something of
the same feeling, / can seldom stand
beside the grave of or come into the
presence of true and loyal soldier
without the impression that I am in
the presence of prince of liberty and
patriotism, who has fully earned that
title by his sacrifice and service for his
country, and to whom / am Indebted for
the privileges / enjoy. Soldiers of the
Grand Army, the nation honors you for
your loyalty, for the sacrifices you
made, for the service you have rendered
and the people of Edgerton will not
forget their debt Of gratitude to you
and to the memory of your fallen COM
rades.
When Daniel Webster was delivering
his great address at the laying of the
corner stone of the Bunker Hill monu-
ment in 1925, he said: VETERANS, you
are the remnants of we'll fought field.
You bring with you the marks of honor
from Trenton and Monmouth, from
Yorktown and Camden, Bennington and
Saratoga. Veterans of half century,
when in your youth you put everything
at hazard in your country's cause, good
as that cause was, and sanguine as
youth is, still your fondest hopes did
not stretch on to an hour like this. At
a period to which you could not reason
ably have expected to arrive, at mo-
ment Of national prosperity such as you
could never have foreseen, you are now
met here to enjoy the fellowship of old
soldiers and to receive the outfowings
of universal gratitude.
Edward Everett, delivering an encon-
ium on the American flag, so stirred
his audience that two old veterans of
the revolutionary war arose and bowed
to the speaker Mr.. Everett was deep
ly moved and said, ''Sit down, aged
friends, sit down. No American audi
ence wants to see you stand in it's
presence. We are the ones to stand
and uncover our heads to you. We
know that it was your blood and sacri-
fees which made that flag possible
Sit down, aged friends, sit down. =
Daniel Webster and Edward Everett
voiced the sentiments of a grateful and
loyal people who were profoundly con-
scious of their debt of gratitude to the
veterans of the revolutionary war.
And believe that the people of Edger-
ton and vicinity, in company with all
true and worthy Americans, are pro-
foundry grateful to the soldiers of the
civil war, the heroes whom the nation
honors today.
Dr. Plantz, president of Lawrence
University, said to the students of that
institution: 81 am not in favor of
sports on Memorial Day, for they are
not in harmony with the spirit that
should attend the day. One would not
think of celebrating the anniversary of
the death of wife or child with base
ball game and do not see that it is
different in paying respect to patriots
IL ~ e