The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-06-03

fortunes and their lives to the cause
of popular liberty. We cannot say
too much in praise of their heroism,
unselfishness and patriotism. They
placed courtesy above life and prin-
ciple above mere existence. They
thereby teach us that life is not
worth living If principle and truth
be missing. 1t is most fitting there
fore, that we as a nation, set apart
one day of the year for the purpose
of showing our gratitude, our rever-
ence and our love for those who
went forth to fight, to suffer, to
groan, to bleed and to die if neces-
sary, in order that " this nation un-
der God might live and not perish
from the earth"
On this day North and South, full
justice is done to the memory of
those who fought on land; but not
enough has been said of those who
fought and fell on the mighty deep.
How well they performed their duty
under the most trying circum-
stances, is a priceless heritage.
Never, since the great sea fight of
Lepanto, where 800 royal Galleys
manned by $4,000 warriors met $50
Galleys manned by 10000 men;
never, since Augustus with 269
ships met and scattered the 260
ships of Mark Anthony; never, since
the inglorious destruction of the
Spanish Armada, has the world seen
such a miraculous creation as the
American navy.
What brilliant achievements are
suggested by the names of Rear Ad-
mirals, frigates, ironclads, gunboats
and men of war. Think of our John
Paul Jones, who when asked by the
British Captain: " Have you struck
your colors?" replied, Il have not
yet begun to fight" Think of Hull
and Arnold and Decatur and Potter
and Farragut. Think of the magic
names of those famous vessels-the
Bon Homme Richard, the Delaware,
| the Constitution and the Chesapeake
commanded by Lawrence, whose dy
ing words to his men were: Don't
give up the ship" Think of the
Niagara commanded by Commodore
Perry who wrote his famous mes
sage on the back of an old letter,
We have met the enemy and they
are ours" Think of the achieve
ments of Dewey and Schley and Of
| all the heroic men who fought on
land and sea ever since we became a
nation.
While we then follow with just
and exalted pride the footsteps of
our soldiers, from the Aroostock
to the Golden Gate, from Porto Rico
to the Philippine Islands, erecting
monuments over the graves of those
fallen on land and crowning the
brow of the living with imperishable
fame, let us concentrate a single
niche in the palace of our memories
to the patriotic American sailors
who braved the shafts of disease of
every cline, who fell in battle far
away from every sight and sound of
home, parents and friends, whose
shroud was the Union Jack, whose
requiem is the everlasting anthem of
the storm-tossed waves, and whose
only monument is the unsullied flag
of their country for which they
fought and died. All, they knew
that loving arms would carry the
men who fell on land and bury them
with the honors of war; but for
them, whose ship was at once their
tent, their battlefields, their ambul-
ance, their hospital and their dying
bed, there remained nothing, save
only the cruel jaws of the man-eat-
ing shark and the endless tossing of
the sea which knows no rest.
In the cemeteries of Federal and
Confederate dead, North and South,
, lie the remains of most of those who
7 fell and died on land, but where
those are who fell fighting on the
J deep will not be known until the sea
{ gives up it's dead.
Let us then unite with Nature in
adorning the graves of those who
have gone hence, with green's and
flowers, tokens of our unforgetful-
ness and praise. AS they cast aside
all distinctions of creed and color
Z race and position, and strove for q
common cause, the perpetuity of the
Republic, so let us follow Nature
a and decorate all graves with equa
i tenderness and love. From the
: greatest General to the younges
: drummer boy; from the greatest Ad
miral to the smallest cabin boy, VIZ
do his day honor all without distinc
ton. 2
Let our young men and maidenl
now scatter flowers in profusion up
: on the sepulchres of the nations de
tenders and upon the waters of ou
y rivers, that they may be borne ou
l on the receding waves of the sea a.
}. messages of love to the brave sailo
J. boys who sleep beneath, and may ou
d hearts this day hold sweet commun
d ion with the dead.
: Continued on Page 81
IS Death of Harry KaPSIalra