Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-06-01
lIxrh DISTRICT CONGRESSMAN
ADDRESSES CROWDS At
AGENCY AND ASHLAND.
PAYS TRIBUTE TO MEN
Speaker Lauds Deeds Of valor Ac-
oomplished by Boys Of '61 and
Inspirations Given Them
- by Women.

w. rdmb0ycT VI blOOmuclU, represent
tative Of the sixth Iowa district, de-
livered the Memorial day addresses
ut Agency and Old Ashland Sunday
The exercises here were held in the
First Methodist church at o'clock
in the afternoon and there was = large
crowd in attendance. After the ser.
vices the soldiers marched to the
cemetery where sixty-eight soldiers
graves were decorated. A beautiful
memorial service was held at Ash.
land at 10 o'clock in the morning. AT.
ter Mr.. Ramseyer's talk the graves
Of the soldiers buried in Ashland
cemetery were decorated.
Saturday afternoon at o'clock
decoration services were held In
Round Point cemetery Rev. M. D.
Cox of Agency delivered the principal
address and the following old sol.
aiers' graves were decorated with
flowers: C. D. King, w. J. MCGEE, P.
Ben S. Brisco, e. w. Lively, w. B.
Brinn and w. M. Campbell, a veteran
Of the Mexican war.
Congressman Ramseyer's address
follows:
1--WE have met on this beautiful
Decoration day to commemorate the
valor and deeds of the men who fought
TO save our union and of the women
who, by their self sacrifice and devo-
ton. inspired the men to glorious
achievements Nothing that we can
say or do here can add or detract
from their achievements. 1t Is rath-
f<.vs ~ he fn
great task remaining before us-that
from these honored dead we take In
creased devotion to that cause for
which they gave the last full measure
Of devotion, that We here highly re-
solve that these dead shall not have
died in vain, that this nation, under
God, shall have a new birth of free
dom and that government of the peo-
pie, By the people, and for the people
shall not perish from the earth.
Little would be gained this after
noon by discussing the causes of the
war from 1851 to 1865. They are
known to every schoolboy. The con-
dict came. Abraham Lincoln, was
elected to the presidency of the Unit
ed States. Destiny had deereed that
the kindliest of men should conduct
the bloodiest of wars. Could this con-
liict have been avoided? What would
have been the result if the south had
accepted Lincoln's offer Of compensat-
ed emancipation? To discuss these
propositions would be mere idle specu-
lation. History tells me that the con-
flict came and tested the endurance,
courage and spirit Of our people as
our people or any other people had
ever been tested before. say that
history tells me the conflict came. You
men and women before me know that
the conflict came and tried your souls
as the souls of men had never been
tried before. You loved your freedom
but you also loved the freedom OF the
enslaved and oppressed man, but
above all you loved your country's nag
and all that that flag represented In
younr country's glorious history. That
is why you were willing to sever home
ties to endure the hardships Of war,
the privations of camp and the suffer-
ings of the battlefield. Your love OF
your countrys flag is what aroused
YOU to respond to the call of Father
Abraham and gave you the victory
at Shiloh and Vicksburg, at Antietam
and Gettysburg. at Atlanta and Spott-
syIvania, and the final triumph at Ap-
pamattox.
"The foe you fought against was
valiant foe; the victories you won
were against tremendous odds, and
now to you belongs all the praise OF
triumphant army, and all the re-
wards that generous and grateful
country can and ought to bestow up
on you.
The Greatest Of Wars.
"The war you were in, up to that
time, was the greatest OF all times,
whether viewed from the number OF
lives lost or from the loss of money
and property. While speaking of the
magnitude Of the war | desire to
nuote you General Joe Wheeler, he
who fought against you during the
Civil war. but he who, when the coun-
try's call came for volunteers to re-
lieve the oppressed in Cuba. was
among the first to offer his services
10 President Mckinley.
General Joe Wheeler says: Take
the killed and wounded in all the
battles Of the French and Indian war,
take the aggregate killed and wound
ed in the war of 1872, take the aggre-
gate killed and wounded in the Mexi.
can war, taksrhe aggregate killed and
wounded in all our wars with the In
dams. and they amount to less than
the killed and wounded in Grants ar.
NV in the struggle from the Wilder
ness to Spottsylvania.
"The killed and wounded OF the Fed
eral army in six out of nearly thou
sand severely contested struggles dur
ing four years of war:
"Murfreesboro, SITS: Seven Days
fight e,291; Chickamauga, 1o,sO6: An
tietam, 11,426; Gettysburg, 1925;
wilderness to spottsylvania, 24,4s1.
I'm the battle of Merengo the
French lost in killed and wounded,
4 700: the Austrians, 6,475. In the
battle of Honenlinder, the French
loss in killed and wounded was 1900;
the Austrian loss was 5000. At Wat.
erloo Wellington lost so61 in killed
and wounded, Butcher lost 5,6l3: max
ING the total loss Of the allies 1851.
sBy comparison we see that inc
greatest of battles fought on European