The Washington herald., 1915-05-30
above suggested 1 will continue to sisr
myself.
AN OLD SUBSCRIBER.
ORIGIN Of Memorial Day.


ton of a memorial day. George r. Peck
says of him in this connection: Only a
poet could have thought Of II: only
poet could have made it come true But
the idea did not originate with the gen.
eral
The first Decoration Day. as 1t was
then called. was April S. 1866. appointed
by the State Of Mississippi. 1t was not
only observed by that State. but by other
Southern states and communities. among
them Petersburg. Va. and Miss David
son. of that city. was the first woman to
plan a professional memorial exercise.
According to Mrs. Logan. in the early
spring Of 1865 she was one of party
touring the battlefelds of Virginia, and
while in Petersburg visited Old Blanford
Church. a colonial edifice of much his
toric interest. She says of this: The
churchyard was covered with grass after
the manner of English churchyards. and
as we passed through the rows of graves
I noticed that many Of them had been
strewn with beautiful blossoms and deco
rated with small flags of the dead Con-
federacy. The sentimental idea so en-
wrapped me that i inspected them more
closely. and discovered that they were
every one the graves of soldiers who
had died for the Southern cause. The
idea seemed to me a beautiful tribute to
the soldier martyrs and grew upon me
while returning to Washington"
Her husband met her at the station
and she Immediately told him of the
decorated graves in the old churchyard
at Petersburg. What a splendid idea"
he exclaimed, and at once began to form
plans for a national Memorial Day.
Mrs. Logan also says: The idea of
Memorial Day was unwittingly suggested
by the devotion of the people of the
South to their heroes" And adds: 1T
is my pleasure to revert to it and to pay
a just tribute to the gentle people whose
acts gave me the inspiration that re-
suited in the Decoration Day of today"
J.. f. HUDSON.
Culpeper. Va.
Defender Of "War Brides
Editor of The Washington Herald: In
your issue of Monday. May "a. on page
3. there appears an account of the an
nual memorial exercises of the Army
and Navy Union the sub-heading of
which reads Mrs. Isabel Ball. at Army
and Navy Union Memorial Exercises Dc
nounces Nazimova's War Brides as a
Disgusting Piece of Weak Sentimental
ism" Following this are a few quota
tons from the speech made by Mrs
Ball.
lllS lduy mas puDllC Sucn a
statement. and in addition has brand
ed War Brides as THE most dis
graceful and decadent play ever pre-
scented to the American people," and says
that the fostering thought which in
spired II would rot American civiliZa-
ton" I ask you in justice to the major
ity of women the world over. to the play.
War Brides" its author. Marion Craig
Wentworth; and its mouthp!ece. Nine.
Nazimova. to print in your columns the
following:
drama. and forgetting entirely the ia
nous actress who is taking it's message
to thousands and thousan ds of people
let us turn to the cold. bare facts the
horror, the woe. the brutality of war,
and what sane person. man UT woman.
can say that there is any good in it?
Those of us who are bitterest toward
war, those of us who cry out against it
the 1oudest. are not unwilling to ''laud
the women who have given soldiers to
this nation" We know why they were
willing and proud to give their sons to
their country. 1t Is for the same reason
that men say they are proud to fight
and to he soldiers. Because it is bred i'm
the blood: because We are all taught from
childhood to believe that a refusal to
fight is the worst of cowardice Those
of us who possess even small amount
of intelligence know this to be absolutely
untrue. 1t is false doctrine which, like
all the old beliefs of error must some
day be eradCated
| do not believe that the feelings and
emotions shown by the woman who must
send her sons away to battle, can prop
erly be called pride" There may be a
precious few who are really proud. but
the vast majority. like many of the som
who go. labor under the veil of conven-
tionality, and do not say with their lips
what they feel in their hearts. Who of
us could. when in our right minds rush
forth with rife and sword. to kill. to
murder, for that is what il is. Murder
committed in this way is known as brav-
cry, but with the enlightenment of the
whole world and the desire for uplift in
every country of the globe, must come
a more intelligent meaning of the word
bravery, and a greater and more beau
tiful conception of the word pride
The man who invented the electric
chair. and those parts of the country
that have adopted it for use, have done
so because 1t seems more human to take
a life in this manner. rather than the
old way of hanging. 1t is the progressive
instinct mingled with intelligence and
sagacity, the desire TO improve ourselves
and our country in every way. and a love
for justice that pushes US on to a higher
plane of existence. With the wonderful
brains and minds of the people today
both men and women. surely a more hu-
name way of settling disputes can be
found than that of fighting. Our SOL
diers go forth to he murdered: they are
moved down. hundreds 81 them. in the
twinkling of an eye: they suffer untold
agony and make others suffer, and yet
We. or some of us. sit back and say.
there will always be war. just as there
always has been And these same peo-
pie call themselves humane. Such as
sertions are insults to the intelligence
of all persons striving for the betterment
of the world at large.
1t may be that We women will have
the most to do in bringing about internal
tional peace. We have already made the
start. and the following we have, with
the deeds we have accomplished, should
be enough to convince Mrs. Ball. and
any one who may hold the same views.
that the most of us. at least the most in
telligent Of us, are proud to be called
"Joans of Peace
To return to War Brides" One emf
nent critic said: War Brides with
Nine. Nazimova, belongs first in the
of noteworthy dramatic achieve
ments. and II Is quite able to win its VIC
tories and hold public attention on this
ground alone: but the great message it