Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1914-05-13
HONOR TO NATIONS DEAD.
Last Rites for Men of Navy Observed
at Brooklyn.

| joined the nation to-day in memori-
alizing, with simple dignity, the her
oism Of the 10 bluejackets anS ma
rines who gave their lives at Vera
| Cruz. AS the most impressive fune-
raj pageant since the Spanish war
! started from the Battery to the
! Brooklyn navy yard, it was as if the
whole population Of the city was
there.
The people were still. standing
shoulder to shoulder in q community
Of grief. 1t was a spectacle Of a
city strangely tranSfigured and lift
! ed out Of itself.
In the line Of mourners that fol-
! lowed the artillery caissons bearing
I the dead we're the chiefs of the State
and city governments as well as many
more distinguished men Of nearly
every calling; but every eye in the
| throngs that lined the way turned
| first to the carriage where President
! Wilson rode close behind the last fu-
neral car. The President came from
Washington during the might and
stood as the marines fired their part
! ing volleys, at the Brooklyn navy
! yard, and the navy bugler sounded
TAPS"
On the stand with the President at
dead sailors and marines-mothers
sisters and wives-but in all the
! throng Of mourners, none seemed
more deeply touched by the spirit Of
! the day than the man whose word
sent the lads of the navy to fight for
their country's honor at Vera Cruz.
Voices Nations Grief.
And to the President was left the
! privilege Of voicing the nations grief
and the nations belief that those who
died in the performance Of duty had
done for their country service not
to be measured by their individual
deeds.
THE feeling that is uppermost,"
he said, lis one Of profound grief,
and yet there is mixed with this
grief profound pride that they
should have gone as they did, and IL
l may say 1t out OF my heart, touch
! of envy Of those who were permitted
SO quietly, so nobly to do their duty"
The head OF the nation looked out
EnNerthe thousands massed about the
coffins on the parade ground and his
voice shook with emotion as he de-
clared his creed:
1--WE have gone down to Mexico" i"
he said, "to serve mankind If we can
find out way. We do not want to
fight the MeXicans, we want to serve
the MeXicans."
There was a wiShful note in his
voice as he added: 81 never was under
fire, but fancy there are some things
| Just as hard to do as to go under
fire. | fancy 1t Is just as hard to do
| your duty when men are Sneering at
YOU ,as when they are shooting at you
When they shoot at you, they can
only take your life; when they sneer
at YOU, they can wound your heart" :"
The dead were landed by the tugs
Traffic and Correction early in the
morning and lay in state in the Bat
terry Park plaza for over an hou, be-
fore the procession started. There
were 7 collins. The other two vic
Tins of Mexican 'snipers" died the
day after the Montana had left Vera
Cruz with the dead.
The police escort headed the cor
tege, and was followed by the naval
battalions from the Wyoming and
Texas. Then came the II gun cais-
sons carrying the dead. Each cais-
son was drawn by four horses, astride
| two of which rode members of the
1st and I'd regiments Of field artil-
| lery. There was in addition one
mounted police escort for each cais-
son. Four sailors on each side acted
as pallbearers. These men. tanned
from rec vt service in Vera Cruz. had
been called to New York especially
for this service in memory Of their
! dead comrades.
| AS the procession entered City
Hall place, the voices OF 500 chill
dren rose to meet them. The chill
| dren sang Nearer. My God to Thee"
Daniels Makes Report.
"Mr. President" said the Secre-
| tary, Il have the solemn honor to re-
| port to you as Commander-in-Chi
of the United tSates navy the names
of the United States navy the names
| rines who recently at Vera Cruz seal
ed with their blood their devotion to
| the flag Of their country. All were
| in the prime Of vigorous young man
| hood. or the nineteen who answered
their last roll-call with a cheerful
aye thirteen were % or under. The
oldest was Sc; the youngest 10.
Their average age was but a little
over 90. They were young and sud
denly beheld life's morn decline.
They gave not only all they were,
but all they had.
"The first to make the noblest con-
tribution that a man may give was
George Poinsett, OF the Common
wealth Of Pennsylvania. He was in
his goth year and served as sea-
man on the United States steamship
Florida. The others Of the immortal
| nineteen, in whose honor this memo
rial is held to-day, were:
Boswell, Louis Frank, chief gun
ner's mate, battleship Michigan,
Coulterville, III.
Defabbio, Gabriel A., gunner's
mate, battleship New Jersey, Bata-
! via. y. Y.
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