Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-06-02

leaving 1,922,464 living some fifty
years ago. May 11th, 1912, an act of
Congress granted a service pension to
every man who served at least 80
davs in the armed force of the United
States during the Civil War, and it is
believed that no old soldier remains
off the pension list of the present
time. May 1st, 1915 the Pension Of
fee reported 4O1, ,796 Civil war veter-
ans on the pension lists. Rapidly the
ranks are thinning. The Death Roll,
according to official records was in
February 1916, 116 day; in March
lis a day and in April it grew to 118
a day.
Nearly one year ago the fiffieth an
niversary of the Grand Review of the
Great Army of The West in the City
of Washington was celebrated; how
few there were left of that army of
stalwart men, vthe victorious defend
ers of The Union to march again down
Pennsylvania Avenue to commemor-
ate the great event of September 1865.
And how those who did participate in
that Memorial Review have grown old
and feeble, how they have given to
the passing years their strength and
vigorl
Waiting, waiting, while the bugle
Calls in vain to lead them on,
Wherefore has the column halted,
Has its power to thrill them gone;
Hark! the drums and flies are plead
ing
Hear their sad, pathetic strain;
Yet they stand, the call unheeding,
Will they never march again?
Are they resting, waiting orders,
In the blast so bleak and sere;
Have they reached the outposts bord-
ers,
Do they hesitate through fear;
They who bore the brunt of battle,
Fen when courage seemed in vain,
Faced the hail of musket rattle,
Will they never march again?
Time and years have told the story,
Growing old, yes, growing old,
Fifty years since round cold glory"
Rallied they, the years have told;
Cease your calling, brave old bugle,
Drum and fife you plead in vain;
They have reached the outposts bord-
ers,
They will never march again.
Now they camp long side the river,
On the border lands of time;
Rains have fallen, storms have beaten,
Since in strength they sprung to
line;
Fifty years have told the story,
Bugle calls are all in vain;
Peace proclaims their crowning glory,
Yet they'll never march again.
The thinning ranks means a cor
responding increase in the low lying
"tents of green" over which, today the
trembling hands of loyal comrades
place the national emblem and loving
hearts bring flowers, at once tributes
of affection and symbols of the life
beautiful and perfected into which we
believe their souls have entered. They
have marched on to greater victory
the Eternal Victory of Life.
"On Fame's Eternal camping ground
"Their silent tents are spread,
"And Glory guards with solemn round
The Bivouac of the dead"
Their glory may never be taker
from them, it is writ large on the
pages of the Worlds history, it is re.
corded by the broken schackles o1
a race who once the slaves of a natior
are today citizens enjoying equa
rights, privileges and opportunities
with all other citizens, and is engross.
ed on the scroll of time in the record
of fifty years of peace, prosperity anC
progress for this nation.
The deeds of Americas Veteran
Soldiers inspire reverence and compe
the honor which is their due.
What they have done is or should bt
known by every school boy and girl II
this land. That teacher or school thai
fails to instil into the minds of pupils
not merely the bare historical facts
of the Civil War, but as well the deeI
significance of the causes of that wal
and what was accomplished by it, fails
to measure up to the standard of tru'
American education however proticl
ent they may be along literary anC
scientific lines.
Let it never be forgotten as long al
tie Stars and Stripes waves over thi'
land as our National Emblem, $50 ma!
it wave through all time), that tn,
soldiers who fought under "Old Glory
in the sixties fought not for money
not for conquest, not at the behest o
arrogant and conceited demagogue
who usurped the authority, tha
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