The Washington herald., 1915-02-16
big navy PLEA
MADE AT GRAVES
Representative Kahn Urges
Preparedness at Maine
Memorial.
PAST MAY BE REPEATED
Fort Myer Soldiers Help Make I'm
pressive Ceremonies Commemora-
tive of Martyrdom of Sailors.
PAST MAY BE REPEATED

is any one so fatuous as to believe
that the American people would consent
to submitting so momentous question
as the blowing up of the Maine to an
international court of arbitration for set
,lement?
With this query. Representative Julius
X aim. of California. opened an emphatic
| preparedness plea in the course OF an
address at the eighth annual Maine
memorial services. held yesterday after
noon i'm the riding hall at Fort Myer.
Va. under the auspices of the Army and
Navy Union.
"Americans are too likely to forget the
lessons of the past" he said. The con-
ditions of the past may be repeated at
any moment. We may all desire peace.
hut we alone are not the arbiters of the
destinies OF the United States. II any
nation now should blow up an American
ship. say it would be wrong to shout
fo- peace.
"Preparedness q Duty"
He said that man was nothing more
than IAN animal coated with a veneer
ing of civilization and that las long
as human emotions exis; and remain as
they are. so long will We have wars on
this turbulent old globe of ours.
Our duty" he declared. lis TO be con-
stantly prepared TO defend ourselves.
Such is the true path Of wisdom. patri-
otism and duty. Anything short OF that
is criminal carelessness."
He pleaded for a larger navy. deridine
the ''niggardly policy of the present
which begrudges every cent spent for
enlargement of the navy.
Even now" he said. I'VE are learning
what it means to nation TO loose con-
troll of the seas"
Maj. Timothy O'Keefe. chaplain Of the
Fifth United States Cavalry pronounced
the Invocation. after Col. John McE,roy.
chairman of the executive committee oil
the celebration. had called the meeting 10
order While the Color Guard of the
Fifth Cavalry presented the colors. the
band played The Star SpanGled Ban
ner." and the Third United States Ar
tllery doomed the national salute OF
twenty-one guns.
a brief message from Carlos Manuel
de Cespedes. minister plenipotentiary
and envoy extraordinary from Cuba. was
read by Jose A Acosta, vice consul OF
the Cuban Legation here. . Brief ad-
dresses were delivered by II. Oden Lake.
national commander of the Army and
Navy Union: II. {. Wilson. department
commander OF the United Spanish War
Veterans: Col. Myron NJ. Parker. and
Gen. Wilson J. HulinG. past commander
general of the Spanish War Veterans.
Z. \. Lang sang.
Flowers Grown on Water.
A troop of the Fifth United States
Cavalry fired three volleys in honor
of the dead of the Maine, and as the
noise died away taps" was sounded
by the trumpters off the Fifth Cav
airy.
The seats in the stands at the Rid
I,lI th>
rainy afternoon. On account of the
bad weather the proposed procession
from the Riding Hall to the memorial
in Arlington Cemetery was called OF.
Floral pieces were taken to Maine
section in automobiles and deposited
on the memorial monument. While
the services were in progress flowers
were strewn along the Potomac by
members of the District Naval Mill
tia aboard the police boat.
Pittsburgh, Feb. 15.-Three stone
tablets in memory of the victims of
the blowing up of the battleship
Maine in 1898 in Havana Harbor were
unveiled here today as part of the
memorial ceremonies One of the ia b.
let's was erected in memory of Lieut..
L. W. Jenkins. of Pittsburgh. who
was one of the victims. The second
tablet was dedicated to tho memory
of the crew that was killed. while a
third was dedicated to the soldiers
and sailors who participated in the
Spanish American war.