The Topeka state journal., 1911-09-26
WATERS WELCOME
TOpeka's Most Able Orator Well
comes the Veterans.
His Address Teens With Poetry
and Sentiment.
MAY BE THE LAST.
Refers Pathetically to Passing
of His Comrades.
What the Memorial Building
Means to Them.
MAY BE THE LAST.

,,nion at the fair grounds today the
address of welcome was delivered by
CAPTAIN J. G. Waters. 1t was one OF
his best efforts and follows;
SOLDIERS and sailors, and, following
Gods plan in his last and perfect
c-eation-the heroic women, of the
war of the rebellion:
'sI could be commissioned TO no
higher honor, nor commanded to a
sweeter service of affection, than that
assigned me at this hour, to welcome
the honored and venerable veterans OF
the worlds supremest war, TO It's
beautiful capital, by the great, loVlng'
loyal state of Kansas.
1T is her birth mark that she star rlieS
at A bugfe call, that her pulses STIR at
a far away drum. 1t is in her piooo
that her cheeks flush at the slght OF
long steep slopes of battle. 1t is the
very passion of her soul to eXult IN
the fierce tumult and rage Of cont1lct
and hllzza in the wild del1rlum ana
ecstacy of victory that IS sl1 sloItous ar,e lld
hOnOra BILE She is at her nobleSt ana
hest in greeting the triumphant return
of her victorious leglonS, ana as sAe
crowns them with her smiles. she oeWs
the laurel with her tears Her great
heart is riven over those, VINO, 70
dumb forgetfulness a prey, are deaI
TO the voice of home, and come not
f ek to her waiting and Welconlng
T,roudly- fell their backs to the field,
their feet to the foe, whose graves no
man may find and only God may
know. a.,.- ~
habe an her breast. with the same love,
this loving commonwealth puts her
arms around you, and as a SWeetheert /
might. with her first kiss, she droops
1,a@ e,7aIids as her Iips meet yours
with a mothers devotion in her ten
der heart, she closets her soul IN pray
or for YOU. and upon this stately cere-
moniaI, decked in the robe sot BRIDE
she comes to meet and greet you,
whatever may betide-
sShe is mindful of your valor and
the trophies you have flung at her
feet The long years of smiling pros
rerous peace the sweep of empire, the
ht1iIded cities. the glory of her homes.
the stride to the stars, the future, big
with it's humanities. all these, and
over all, the stainless banner of a, land
dedicated to liberty and given to God.
These are the triumphs of your arms,
wrung from dire battle by your vaIor,
x-our devotion, your sacrifice.
ssThis is the anniversary of her first
semicentennia1: she has made this I'M
pressive and august event more pro
To1nd nv lavine the cornerstone of a
GREAT Memorial hall, consecrated to
YOU whose foundations are laid deep
in gratitude. whose granite blocks are
mOrtared with her love, whose massive
walls rise with her devoutest benedlc-
+ions. and chiseled in the conscious
and anxious stone, she graves the vic
torres. brave men, whose glories- are
your own It is your epitaph and the
worlds ages will read it with pride.
Memorial a Shrine.
ssThis day history claims you; it has
opened its ponderous tome and waits
the hour when the last lingerer, the
last camp follower, has gone, and then
it writes. Soon you must be silent and
let it voice to coming peoples the story
of scaling cliff, the dark bayou, the
erater's hell, the wilderness, the smok-
ing ships. and the long march; the
weary hospital. the awful prison, and
at every chronicle of death. the pen
shall mark it with a tear; and so long
as the state has sovereignty, she will
turn the pages to find your name and
tell the story. of your doing and daring.
This memorial to you viii be a shrine;
in if shall the affairs rise smoking with
the incense of patriotism: a temple of
ancestry and pedigree, where your chill
dren can come with oblation or smile,
or uravpr or tear, and always. in pride;
here. the proud man, grown naughty
and vain in his conceits, will search its
archives to link his lineage with your
own Here the living few may come to
find themselves famed and perpetuated
in rneroding granite, beyond the
calamity of time. with the glory of
great deeds. And here, shall the gen
erations. as they tread the great high
xva1- of life stop in their maddened
pursuit of transient and fleeting ambi-
fions and read what glory comes of
duty and what immortality sacrifice
may bring
"It is but half a century from the
oDenfng guns that thundered for free
dom. and frenzied the world with an
uncomfortable, insatiate desire to
achieve and enjoy its blessings In
that brief lapse. the desert has bios
somed an empire. and the state, which
gives you welcome, whose existence is
rounded by that period, has vaster
potentialities and grander promise than
the art of Rome. the sculpture OF
Greece or the song of italy. And you
grim. gray and wrinkled men, SCARED
and worn. you. brave veterans, have
accomplished all this. and have planted
on the earth a democracy of the people
bv the people and for the people, that
shall be the hope and inspiration OF
mankind. for all the years the world
NAV sweep its circuit of the sun
solemn as a Sacrament.
There is something in these exer-
cises that is as solemn as a sacrament
a touch of life, a shadow of death and
down, that interrupts the middle Of thS
song, that tugs my coat in the very
climax of prayer and whispers at every
wave and toss of the flag.
standing on the outer rim and verge
of years. beyond the frontiers of al
] lotted time, close to that unmarked
line, almost in touch with the loves anC
roses on the other side. it comes to m'
with the deepest emotion; there art
voices. sweet, familiar and low, I car
almost hear; there is a football moe
casined with silence; there is a beck
oning. wistfuI hand can almost reacn