Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-06-01

enemy nred upon Fort Sumter and
thus began the terrific struggle which
! gave Abraham Lincoln the chance to
answer his own prayer 1t was the
| summit-kissed moment Of his good
and great life when he signed the
emancipation proclamation. Thus
again America was proud of her
chance to serve In humanity's cause.
say 1t again. America has proven
to this world her sincerity. None
should misjudge her, all must respect
her. And mark you, my friends. this
is why We are here today 1t is that
we may honor our veteran soldiers.
Not SO much that they fought. Any
man can and Will fight. 1t is not al
ways honorable to fight 1t is because
these men fought so unselflshly and
so well that we gather in this fashion
today. Not that they were able to
beat back the foe. Such an achieve
ment might have been ignoble. base,
mean. unmanly. Merely to achieve
counts for but little. Not that
they were able to expand our ter
ritory that ambition might be salts
fied No, God be thanked, none Of
these things moved these men. A
friend Of mine told me this. We
were on the train. when big burly
fellow attacked little fellow who was
absolutely unable to defend his rights.
arose from my seat, went to the big
fellow and said, Please, sir, you are
disturbing the peace of this car we
are not enjoying your show. And,
too, you are interfering with the
rights of this defenseless man. l ask
you to desist or l shall lick you, and
l did lick him. - This, sirs, Is your
story In a nutshell. You fought for
the preservation of peace in your own
family and also for the rights of de-
fenseless black man, and in attempt
ing this task what was accomplished?
Let us. see.
Preserved the Union.
First of all, you preserved the
union. o, l know, sirs, we have heard
this before and so often that the story
gets old. I know it, but age gives it
lustre, does 1t not? Out in Oregon
We are want to boast Of old Mount
Hood And, sirs, what magnificent
pile it is, it is the wonder and admi-
ration Of the tens of thousands that
have gazed upon its unspeakable
HdJ0Sty. l$OW, tucAc dlc IWO laws
about this Mount Hood which would
have you study. First of all, the pile
itself. Observe! In that country we
never speak Of the south side. the
north side, the east or west side. 1t
is always Mount Hood. the great.
wonderful picture of Gods majesty
and power. There it stands, glorious
in its magnifcence, moderator OF
the country round about But this is
not all. Mount Hood could not be
were 1t not for the ten million atoms
in their places, bearing aloft this
snowcapped p"ak. There they are un-
seen and unknown, but there, never
theless, discharging duty with con-
stancy and faithfulness. So has it
been with our soldiery/ Thousands of
them in unknown graves today. Hun
dreds Of them, at this moment, in OBJ
scurity. But nevertheless, and let us
not forget, they bear aloft upon their
crushed shoulders America, undivid-
ed and glorious. In ST. Paurs, Lon
don, England, find good illustra-
ton of what l am trying to place be-
fore you. It Is said that in one cor
ner Of this bewitching spot there is to
be found modest little marble slab
on which are inscribed these words: