Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1912-06-04
MEMORIAL DAY.
Ideal Conditions Prevail, Making the
Day the Prettiest in Years.

nished, and as a result the celebra-
tion of the day, dedicated to the
memory of those who once served
their ccun6ry in the field of battle.
was truly a patriotically successful
one. The National colors were every
where in evidence, and the city bore
holiday aspect, as has been seldom
seen here before. Early in the morn
( ing people wended their way to the
cemeteries, to decorate the graves of
their beloved ones Of years gone by,
and whose presence still fingers in
the memory of the living. 1t can be
safely said that ever one thousand
persons were busy decorating graves
in the forenoon of that day The
program was carried out as had beal
announced previously, and the crowds
attending both the exercises at tile
court house square and at the ceme-
terry were never SO large, nor SO a.
tenGiye.
Already during the noon hour peo-
pie in holiday attire formed groups
about the court house and it was soon
after one O'Clock when the German
veterans marched to the square and
formed a circle around the mounu-
ment. The members of Cutler post,
No. 55, followed shortly and took up
the space within the circle formed by
the German veterans. Company G,
W. N. g., and the Fourth Regiment
band were also present, while the
Boy Scouts carried forth masses of
flowers with which the base of the
monument was decorated. The
ritual services of the Grand Army
were performed, after which the par
Elephants took places about the band
stand, where the balance of the first
part of the days program was then
carried out. Several hundred school
children sang the ''Star Srangled
Banner" under direction of Miss
Florence Crane, and accompanied by
OllS DdIu' AOOOlilCy odniOo i. hilOJ
then recited Lincoln'S Gettysburg
address, after which Rev. William III.
Gould gave an address on the "Un-
known Dead" He paid high tri-
butte to those fallen heroes, who died
on the battle field and were buried
where they had fallen, whose identity
never was known, they having enlisted
from all parts of the country at the
call TO help save the nation, and
through their death earned the vic
tory for which the country now is
thankful. To these unknown fall
en-" belongs chiefly the credit of hav-
ing won the great battle, and to them
we owe tribute of recognition and
praise. At the conclusion of the elo-
quent eulogy of the nations heroes
by Rev. Gould the line of march to
the cemetery was then formed.
The parade was led by the Colum-
bia band, followed by Company G.,
the Fourth Regiment band, German
veterans and others, the members of
the G.. A r. being taken to the cem-
etery in special street cars. At the
cemetery the Grand Army ritual SER
vices were carried out on the old
soldiers lot and the graves of the de-
ceased veterans were decorated with
flowers by the boy scouts, the flowers
being furnished by the Ladies' Liter
ary club. BY this time the parade
had arrived and the crowd Surged
around the stand at the north end of
the cemetery, where the closing ex-
ercises took place. Both bands
played national airs and the audience
joined with song. After the offering
of a prayer by Rev. f. H. Brigham,
G.. B. Bird was introduced and de-
livered an address on the origin and
meaning of Memorial Day. He re-
called the turbulent times preceding
| the great strife between the North
and the South the anxious hours
spent by the head of our Nation in
solving the problem of how to save
the country from the enemies both
within and without. and the patriotic
response of our citizens TO the call 70
arms. He also lauded the grand
spirit of freedom and liberty which
was at all times shown by the Ameri-
can people when danger threatened
the country and the hands or the op-
pressor were endangering the liberty
of its citizens. Mr.. Bird called at.
tention to the great assistance rem.
dered our country by the German
blood that flowed and the sacrifices
brought by individuals of the Ger
man nation. He said, that now that
the great work of our old soldiers is
done, the American. people should
never fail to show tieir gratitude and
should constantly dc so by honoring
the dead Mr.. Birds address was
listened to with great interest and
his words left a deep impression on
all o. his audience.
Judge Louis Marchetti then ad
dressed the German veterans in Ger
man lie referred 90 the fact, that
they themselves being veterans ot
one or more wars fought in the
interest of their fatherland, and thai
many out of their ranks fell in battle
/ tbox- co1,ld 80 r,aucl, aaciar apd battai
appreciate at this time the patriotism
which animated che soldiers of tn,
Grand Army in their fight for liberty
and union: that by laying wreath
at the base of the monument on th'
court house square they did show
their appreciation of the service
rendered by the soldiers of the GranC
Army during tae civil war; and tha