Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1916-06-02
PASSING OF YEARS
THINS HERO RANKS
Soldiers March to Cemeteries in
Morris Followed by Largest
Crowd in Twenty Years

1.-The muf1ed drums sad roll has beat
The soldiers last tattoo;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few;
On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
But glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead" "
With the Morris band heading the
procession Morris Old Soldiers, school
children and citizens on foot and in
carriages, each bearing a small flag,
went to the cemeteries Memorial day
morning where services were held at
the mounds marking the resting places
of deceased members of the G. A. R.
post and citizens of Morris. Various
estimates place the number of peo-
pie who took part in and attended
the exercises at 700 to 1000, and it
is generally claimed that it was
the largest gathering of the kind held
in the city for the past twenty years.
The exercises at the graves were
along the lines of former years.
Rev. Henry Nobbs offered prayer
and short addresses were made by
members of the G. A. R. Post and
others while the children from the
public schools and the Catholic paro
ch!al school sang. A profusion of
flowers were placed tenderly on the
graves of the loved dead. William
Hope acted as marshal of the day.
Owners of automobiles in the city
kindly offered the use of their cars to
the committee who saw to it that
many OF the older people of the city
were brought out to participate in the
exercises.
At two-thirty in the afternoon a
patriotic program was given at the
armory when about every seat in the
spacious auditorium was taken. All
the stores and business places in the
city remained closed. The program
at the armory was opened with song
by the male quartet and Rev. F. H.
Richardson offered prayer. Rev. F.
A.Stever read the Gettysburg address.
Commander Colyer of the G. A. R.
Post reviewed some of the war history
and read from his diary faithfully
kept all through the last year of the
war. He took occasion to condemn
the practice prevalent in late years
of observing Memorial day with horse
racing, base ball games and other
sports tending to detract from the
sacredness and solemnity of the oc-
casion. He spoke kind words for the
misguided brother who faced him in
the trenches and in the charges
which made the civil war memorable
as one of the most bloody in the
worlds history. A. B. Newton gave
reading on Lincoln, supplemented
by "reminiscences of the great presi-
dents life. Miss Eckes sang and
was followed by Attorney Mangan
who appeared as the speaker of the
day. Mr.. Mangan paid eloquent
tribute to the brave defenders of
the country whose deeds, he said,
would live through the ages. Time
and the sword had thinned the ranks
of the gallent men who marched away
in the cause of liberty and union in
the beginning of the war, he said, and
soon the last survivor would be laid
away and there will be no more old
soldier to march with tottering steps
on Memorial day. The G. A. R.
would be made over to the sons OF
veterans and only the memory of the
present little blue-coated groups
would be left. Mr.. Mangan's address
was listened to attentively and here
and there through the audience there
was a struggle to keep back the
tears. The male quartet Joined the
audience in singing "America," and
the program closed.
The success of the days programs
is largely due to the activity of the
committee appointed by Mayor Jones
and the city commission at the sug-
gestion of Comrade Colyer who fol
almost thirty years had looked after
the matter in Morris. City Agent
Siverts, Archie Stone, Jr., and Rev.
Henry Nobbs, with VIM. Hope as
marshal, had charge of arrangements
and they were given every assistance
by the Circle, G. A. R. members and
private citizens.
Out of the 68 original members OF
the local post as it stood in 1884 only
seventeen are active members today
Forty-four are resting in the various
cemeteries of Stevens county, the
majority of them in Morris. The
others have moved away and have beer
called by death. Those who survive
and are here are ]. L. Gould, G. K