Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-05-30
LESSON OF PATRIOTISM IS
TAUGHT BY MEMORIAL DAY

ranks are rapidly growing thinner,
yet your cheeks glow and your eyes
brighten at the memory of the days OF
'61 to '65.
1.-The world never knew a more mag
nificent army than that which spraug
to the rescue of the stars and stripes:
and you had foemen worthy of your
steel; the greater the adversary, the
greater the victory.
Mems Souls Tried.
"One lesson in particular does this
day teach-the lesson of patriotism
love of country. When the war clouds
darkened the horizon, when the future
was shrouded in gloom, when the very
foundation Of our government was
shaken by internal dissensions, the
love of husband and wife, father and
mother, sister and brother, sweetheart
and lover. yielded to the love of coun-
try, and the mother saw, perchance
for the last time, her boy start to the
front, he full of hope and ambition,
she praying to God to keep him from
harm and to have ever before him the
honor of the grand old flag.
Those were times that tried mems
souls. We who were born since the
days of that awful conflict have no
conception of the heartaches, the
griefs, the terrible suspense endured
by the loved ones at home for their
absent loved ones amid the horrors of
war. Well may you who experienced
that dreadful ordeal rejoice that the
cup has passed your lips. So, while
today may bring to the eyes of the
widow and mother tears that she can
not withhold, there mingles with her
tears of sorrow the lofty feeling of pa
triotic pride, the thought that the sac
rif1ce was made for her country. All
honor TO the soldier and the soldiers
widow
"A few years ago the women of Co
lumbus, Ga, on Memorial day wreath
ed alike with flowers the graves of the
northern and southern soldiery. That
showed a magnanimous spirit, coming
as it did from the hearts of the south
ern women, heavy, so heavy, with
sorrow. The incident has been immor-
talized in the beautiful poem, begin
ming
BY the flow of the inland river
Whence the fleets of iron have fed;
Where the blades of the grave grass
culver,
Asleep are the ranks of the dead.
Under the sod and dew,
Waiting the judgment day,
Covered with roses the blue,
Covered with garlands the gray.
SectionaIism Dying out.
Truly, the old spirit of sectionalism
is slowly but surely dying out. Prior
to the Spanish-American war l heard
a gentleman from New Orleans give
utterance to about these words: I
hate the word north; l hate the word
l hate the word east; l hate
the word west; l lost a brother shot
to death behind the embellishments of
Fortress Monroe; my father yielded up
his life on the heights of Vicksburg;
yet I say to you of the north, that if
our country needed defenders, we of
the south would vie with you Of the
north in springing to her rescue Lit
tie did the man who uttered these
words dream that they were so soon
to be put to the test. When the war
with Spain was declared, the men from
the south responded with enthusiasm
to their country's call. There should
be no dividing lines of north and south.
Of east and west, but we should ever
be one entire, united and happy peo-
pie.
Keep Patriotism Fires Burning.
"As long as we cherish the memory
Of our soldier lead, we cannot be re
miss in our duty to our country; the
essons they instill will serve to keep
burning the fires of patriotism; but,
ct us once forget that they shed their
ife's blood for the stars and stripes,