The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-07-11

ago, the bloodiest and most fiercely
> contested battle of the war between
the states was fought at Gettysburg.
1t was there that "Pickett's charge"
the brarest charge ever made in any
war, drenched the fields of Gettys-
burg in blood, and placed the sol
diery of Meade and Lee on the roll
of the earth's immortals. There it is
where a Few months later, Abraham
Lincoln, then president of the United
States, delivered his immortal Get
tysburg Address" Today, another
president OF the United States is
speaking to the people assembled at
+, Gettysburg. Woodrow Wilson. a
Virginian, president OF the United
States, is talking to the assembled
multitude. The survivors of those
who faced each other in deadly strug-
gle there fifty years ago, are facing
each other there today. The torn,
tattered and blood-stained battle
flags are there; the uniforms of blue
and of gray are there; there is a
thin blue line" and a thin gray
line" but the 4bOom of cannon, the
rattle of musketry and the CLEAN of
bayonet will not be there. The men
in blue and gray" the remnants of
the two great armies of Meade and
Lee, who meet at Gettysburg today,
meet as friends, they meet as broth
ers, they meet as citizens of a com
mon country owing allegiance to a
common flag. The great majority of
their comrades have gone to that
bourne from whence no traveller
returns and while these former
foes fraternize att Gettysburg today,
il seems TO me that the ruler of heav-
en- will draw aside the veil and all
ow the followers OF Meade and oil
Lee to gaze upon this picture Of con-
Isecrated reunion.
Mr. Clark finished his address with
very beautiful incident. A major in
the federal army had just given him
a muster roll of Capt B. L. Reynolds
company, eth battalion OF Florida Vol
unteers, Colonel j. N. Martins regi-
ment
Colonel Martin was on the stand,
and paying him an eloquent tribute
Congressman Clark placed the faded
document in his keeping as a precious
souvenir of the civil war.
In accepting the document Colonel
Martin made little speech, so beau /
ciful and so full Of pathos that it drew
tears to the eyes Of many.
1t was a most interesting and beau
-iful incident, and vas fitting ending
OF a patriotic occasion.
We cannot too highly commend the /
citizens of Ocala for the spirit in
which they entered into the celebra-
ton of the Fourth. Nearly every home
was decorated, and from every win
dow and door post. from every dome
and pinnacle, flags of various sizes
loated to the breeze. :
The decorations Of the Ocala Ma /
tiOnal Bank would have done honor to +
decorative artist the band stand
was most tasteful: Franks, the Globe, .
Rheinauer's, the Harrington Hall no
tel. the new building of the Metropol-
itan Realty Company. and. indeed, the
people as a whole caught the inspira-
ton and enthusiasm of the occasion.
and made the day memorable and his
toric /
Among the most attractive home
decorations was that of Mr. Ben Bor- /
den. on Watula street. Besides bunt- /
ing. flags etc, pictures of George
Washington and Woodrow Wilson,
and the formers "hatchet," occupied
conspicuous places on the veranda.
There was another thing that was
most marvellous. Although Ocala is /
a wet" town. and thousands of per
sons thronged the streets, we failed /
to see a single person under the in /.
fiuence of liquor.
The Fourth in Ocala was a great /
day-a red-letter day-a day that will |.
occupy a place on the calendar, and
when the festivities were ended, ev-
erybody was happy.
During the afternoon the balloon as
cended from the ball grounds, as adj /
vertised. The daring balloonist shot
directly upward for a considerable
distance. and ris double parachute
drop to earth again was graceful and
thrilling in the extreme. Ocala's
Fourth was a tremendous success,
and is only a forerunner of what we
will have next year.