Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1910-06-01
MEMORIAL OBSERVANCE

A large congregation assembled at
the union service held at the M Il.
church Sunday morning and listened to
an eloquent address by Rev. w. b.
Dukeshire. His subject was Lin
coln.'' This not only interested the
soldiers of the G. A. R. mainly for
whom the special service was held,
but all others present. He referred
ito his childhood, his poverty, his linn
tied advantages for an education, his
industry, his rapid rise. his physical
superiority; and, later his oratory, his
craftsmanship, his remarkable COM
mon sense, his great heartedness, his
integrity, and his Christianity. He re
ferred to his debates with Stephen A.
| Douglass, his speech at Cooper Instl-
tute hall, New York, the accuracy Of
all his statements which would bear
| closest scrutiny, the beauty OF his die
tion, and especially he commended his
| Gettysburg speech as one of the finest
classics of American literature. 1t
was certainly a mastery effort of the
speaker and will be remembered with
pleasure by the many who listened to
the inspiring theme There was spe-
cial music of a high order, the house
was decorated with flowers and patri
otic colors and all things seemed to be
in harmony with the beautiful day and
occasion.
MonGay's memorial exercises were
of the usual interest. The procession
was made up of the village band, the
old veterans, Knights, Woodmen, and
the school children, who carried flags
and flowers to the village cemetery and
decorated the soldiers graves from the
cemetery the procession returned to
the Seaver hall where the residue of
the exercises were held. The band
discoursed fine music, the choirs sang,
America" and prayer was offered by
Rev. W. B. Dukeshire, after which w.
: w. Reirden the orator of the day adj
dressed the audience. He began by
, acknowledging his gratitude to the
members of the G.. A. r. for con-
ferring upon him the honor of address
sing them for the second time on memo
. rial day. His speech was candid, sober,
sensible and just suitable Tor the time
E and occasion. There were occasional
j passages of humor, also, of pathos
His propositions were we'll fortified
t and his theme well illustrated, anC
: the whole effort was just what greatly
: pleased the soldiers. And the audi
: ence evinced their approval by the
y hearty round of applause which fol
/. lowed its close. To the writer tht
J. scene was pathetic, who, twenty-five
C years previous on the same platform
had addressed on a similar occasion
an audience made up of about fit.
veterans, quite number of the par
! ents of veterans, and se7eEl ystls zzriy
of soldiers from all parts of the town
n And, though the soldiers were 5ssided
: some observing their memorial cxercl6
C es at Orleans Monday yet the deplete'
# numbers, only thirteen of the member
+ of the G. A. R. being present, an
/. only one widow of a soldier, as oh
J. served by the writer, this little mum
e Der preSaged the inevitable 500
the last old veteran will fold his blank
ct about him and lie down to rise n
more but will take his place among tn
y great army of the dead. Mentio
y should be made of the beautiful solo b
y the veteran cornetist, Wesley Batche
z der, accompanied by the band. Ais
U the duet 1.-The Vacant Chair, " by Miss
y es Martha Burdick and Gladys Brat
U shaw One of the pleasing events we
y the flag drill, by lot of young ladies
U They sang the first stanza of 'tMarcl
= ing through Georgia, accompanied b
z Miss Bessie Jerome, and went throug
their graceful evolutions in mos
0 pleasing manner. This was receive
2 with a grand encore by the audienc
0 Much credit is due to Mrs. F. G. Blu
O dick, Miss Bessie jerome and the bar
0 for the excellent music, and children
0 work. O.. V. Dwyer, commander, WI
l untiring in his efforts to make the o
casion grand success. ~