Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1909-06-03
Dead Comrades Ron0red.
Hundreds Participate In Ser
vices at Cemetery and Hall.

Memorial services held Saturday after
noon in this place was in every way a
success. The weather was all that any
one could wish for and hundreds of peo-
pie gathered in town to take part IN the
decorating of the graves and attend the
services in the hall The program as Civ
en- last week was observed and in addl-
ton Miss Lima Michigan read the poem
entitled my Father Was Soldier, .
and Col John r. King of Washington,
made few remarks.
The following is portion OF the ora
ton delivered by Col. John A. Joyce:
"Forty-eight years have passed since
the old Flag fell at Fort Sumpter. For
| ty-four years have winged their flight to
eternity since the Star Spang'ed Barner
rose triumphant at Appomattox. -Four
years of FRI tricidal war desolatcd the
| land, BACKED the homes and crushed the
| hearts of millions to place that glorious
symbol on the highest pinnacle Of Free
dom s temple and prrpetuate its mean
ing to the last syllable of recorded time.
This day is tn. sabbath of patriotism
set apart 10y the Great Republic to honor
the memory of her dead soldiers and sail
ors who fought and fell for It's preserva-
,i,,n We assemble to strew upon the
graves Of our departed Comrades the
earliest flowers of spring and water the
green hi!Iocks Of patriotism with the
tears Of affection.
"Thrse sunny hours we devote to the
memory of the loved and lost, who offer
ed up their lives as pledges for the per-
peluation OF liberty. Let us, the sur
vivors of "grm-viSaged war; renew our
devotion to the Government and swear
by the blood of our dear old Comrades
that the Red. White and Blue for which
they fought and died shall Symbolic for
ever all freedom for all men.
"Cau we ever forget the first drum
beat of Rebellion, the muster, the march,
he charge, the bloody battle, the gr"anS
of the dying and the pale faces Of the
dead?
"From Manassas to Mission Ridge,
from Donaldson to Shiloh, from Antietam
to Cold Hatbor from Nicksburg to Get
tvsburg and on to Atlanta and the sea,
through brake and brier, flood and field,
swamp and forest, the Boys in Blue, led
bv General Grant, the greatest soldier
! -, a., lant in tha
path of duty and at last planted our un-
fading colors over the graves of the Boys
in Gray, victims to the Moloch Of slavery.
"No word of mine shall ever impeach
the bravery and sincerity of those who
fought and fell for the sunny South.
Like brave men they fought us on the
field of battle and foot to foot, and hllt
to hilt, they acted the noble part Of
soldiers.
1--WE were brothers of the same ma
ternal line and God grant that hereafter
we may kneel at the same shrine and
worship at one common altar of law and
liberty.
Here in Gods acre, let us dedicate
an everlasting temple to valor. The
sword shall be the mausoeum of heroic
hearts, its dome the bending heavens and
it's altar candles the watching Stars of
God.
Year after year let US assemble at
this mecca, and kneeling by the graves
of brave men, let the living clasp hands
in fervency of friendship and strew sweet
flowers upon the Wondering remains of
the Blue and the Gary
"From the silence of sorrowful hours
Let desolate mourners go
Lovingly laden with flowers
Alike for the friend and the foe,
Under the sod and the dew
Waiting the judgment day,
| Under the roses the Blue
Under the lilies the Gray"'