The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-12-06
.ELKS OF M|SSOULA PAY DUE HOMAGE
TO MEMORY Of DEPARTED BROTHERS
Eloquent Memorial Address Is Delivered by Edward c.
Mulroney at Harnois Theater Before Large
acknowledgements of Occasion
Arc Impressive.

for the lonely room. where in all the
bitterness of desolatiun. he poured
forth his soul lin the resistless elo-
quence OF Woe for his lost and mis-
guided son. Absalom.
Shakespeare. the master Interpreter
of human actions and passions. por-
trays the pathetic picture of ophelia,
Enthusiastically arrayed. her reason de-
throned. mourning for her father and,
as she distributes flowers. calling out.
that is rosemary. for remembrance.
He is gone. he il gone. and Will he
not come again. and viii he not come
again.
England for 10 centuries has piously
gathered her great dead in Westmn-
ster Abbey and Trafalgar square. and
monuments recall Horatio Nelson and
England's giories on the sra.
In Paris there is a sacred spot, dear
to all Frenehmen-down deep in that
splendid urn where rest the ashes of
Napolean-and the column of Ven
dome made of captured cannon re-
cites the sacrifices of the matchless
soldery of France. 1t is said that
the peasant of the Tyrol always I'M
covers his head while crossing the
market place in Mantus for it was
there that Andrew Hofer died for
him..
The memory of an unknown grave
and an unwritten epitaph in Dublin
sends the hot blood rushing to the
hearts of the scattered exiles of Ire
land
Our own great nation devotes Me-
mortal day to the memory Of our dead
soldiers Of frecdom-"Many are the
hearts that are weary tonight as
Shiloh. Gettysburg and Antietam are
recalled. Faster and faster are the
old guard going. and fast comes the
day when children will hush their
childish laughter and cease their child
ish play as they point to the gray
hairs and bent and crippled forms of
the Grand Army of the Republic.
our sacred spots are the scattered
churchyards of the nation While the
union endures. and we pray il shall
live forever. the fame of our soldiers
is secure. While the recollection shall
live of the patient suffering. kindly
soul of Abraham Lincoln. so long will
the men be remembered who were his
right arm of wrath and power to pre-
serve inviolate the union.
So long as the long-suffering negro
shall toll his weary road from bar
barism to civilization. the white man
who fought ana died for him while
his chain still clanked. cannot be for
gotten.
In the beauty of the lilies. Christ was
born across the sea,
with n glory In his bosom that trans
figures you and me
AS he died to make men holy. let us
die to make men free,
While God is marching on"
So II is my friends. that the Beney-
lent Order of Elks. yielding to a SEN
ument as old as humanity. sets aside
the first Sunday in December and
makes It sacred to the memory of our
dead. We are not willing to permit
the winter winds to alone sing the
wailinE requieum of our dead broth
ers. At this hour we remember again
the warming of our initiation. TO
write the faults of our brothers on the
sands. and their virtues on the tablets
of love and memory" May we TODAY
find fresh bonds of brotherhood ana
union I'm the cherished memories of
those who have gone before us.
Life is a narrow vale between the
cold barren peaks of two eternities
We strive i'm vain tn look beyond the
heights. We cry aloud. and the only
answer is the echo Of our wailing CRY.
From the yoiceless lips Of the unrc-
plying dead there comes 10 word. but
IN the night of death hope see. n
star, and listening. love can hear the
rustlins of the wings.
Again and again we have mourned
Tor brother IN the fun ,iror ST his
iis-one who died where mauh,od's
morning almost touches noon. and
while the sha iows were still falling
toward the west"
ot n brother 50 taken, may we NOT
say with Ingersoli: He had not passed
on HES highway the stone that marks
the highest point. but being weary for
a moment, he lay down by the way
Side, and. using his burden for a nil
low. fell into that dreamless sleep that
Kisses down his eyelids still. While
YET in love with life and raptured
with the world. he passed to silenc.
and pathetic dust"
It May Be Best.
Yet. after all, il may be best. Just
in the happisst. sunniest hour If all
he -f..t