The Oskaloosa herald., 1914-06-11

! DeCduSe WAS UOTH tldt way
cannot help it. 1t was love of coun'
| try that called the boys of 1861 TO
battle Pride of country and love OF
home are natural motives, existing In
all honest human hearts. Men love
and are proud of the SHOWS and CLAN
ciers of Alaska and the neVer-failing
flowers of Florida, the land of flow
ers, because home is there"
II country can be tenderly loved
with insufficient cause, how well may
an American glory in this one, our
own native land, with so many good
reasons for his faith and love.
Someone said, Poland was a good
country to die for. but internally poor
one to live in. But our uniformally
lovely country is not only good to
live in but as well to die for.
As a small boy residing on farm
only few miles from this lodge room
i we'll remember when Fort Sumt'
was fired upon and the shout to arms
went up from valley to hilltop, and
the call went out for 300. 900 soldiers
to preserve the Union, then all the
young and ablebodied men in Jener-
son and Scott townships left the
plows standing in the furrow, grasped
the sword and musket, left rather and
mother and sister and lover ana
rushed to the front to battle for home,
country and the flag and the right;
and the lone grassy mounds In all the
wayside burying grounds are watered
by tae burning tears OF mOthef, SIS
ter and daughter; and today we cover
them over with beautiful MOWERS ana
renew our thoughts OF love.
They were your fathers ana graha'
fathers, and viii Carlton has beautl-
fully memoralized this dear loved DAY
in verse when he said:
cover them over with beautiful flow
efS,
Deck them with garlands, these Dro
Tiers of ours;
Resting so sweetly by night and by
Sleeping the years of their manhood
away;
Cover them over, yes cover them
over with beautiful flowers"
When the war broke out there
were in the United States 26,OOO,00o
free men and 100000 slaves. And
there are more than l00,O0O,OOO OF us
all tree now.
The Grand Army is fast passing to
the final grand review, and soon the
last long roll will be beat and noth-
ing will remain but the memory OF
those dear. brave boys in blue.
In looking over this audience only
one soldier face is here, Thomas john
son. 1t Is not quite fifty years since
the war closed and yet in township
that furnished more than hundred
soldiers all have gone but four TO JOIN
that caravan in the Great Eternal.
Friends, did you know that only four
soldiers of the rebellion are left IN
this township? Their names are
Comrades Thomas Johnson, CPa.)
r. j. Garden UaD, V. b. McCombs'
Ua.), and J. r. Gavin, la.).
The battlehelds of the South are
covered with grass and lowing herds,
and the homes of new generation,
and alongside are the cities of the
dead, where the hand of war tore out
the lives Of the dear ones on both
sides.
As we turn from those bloody
scenes where the curtain was rung
down fifty years ago on the greatest
and blOodiest drama the world ever
saw the full moon of a better cOun-
try and warmer love arose Some
one has said of a scene like this:
The woods are asleep the stars were
awake,
And only the wierd, plaintitf note OF
the whip pOor-will
DistuTbs the solemn silence.
In looking over this assembly we
miss the dear faces and the blue uni
form and brass buttons of the sol
der boys OF 1861 to 1865. We meet
them here and there that are griZZled
and gray, but their hearts are yet
young. But the lines are broken and
the order to close up cannot be obey
ed. Yes, brothers and sisters dear,
we miss and mourn them; they were
our brothers, fathers and grandfath'
ers and friends. In the language OF
the poet:
And the stately ships 60 on
TO the haven under the hill,
But oh, for the touch of a vanished
hand
And the sound of voice that Is
still.
Break! Break! Break!
At the foot of the Crags, Oh sea
But the tender grace of day that Is
dead
viii never come back to me-"
In all that sad journey from 1861 tC
| 1865 the dear women of the North and
South exhibited fortitude ina,
showed them the true descendants ol
the mothers of the Revolution.
On the march and on the field Of
battle the soldier was all life anC
excitement, but to wife. mother anc
sister and lover left at home, how
long the days we're. They performed
the work of the men in the mill anC
| in the field Yes, as of cid, woman
was last at the cross and first at tnt
holy sepulchre. A happy home Is salt
| to be suburb of heaven, and tnous
ands. were destroyed by the grin
monster, war.
To the Stars and Stripes, the red
white and blue and its sparkling
stars. emblems OF freedom, prosperlt.
and plenty and of happiness and con
| tantment the flag we all love so dear