Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-05-30

|ultisH That Jul tStULdblkG iJl ia va
government had reached its final stage
of failure; how your patriotic devo-
ton to your country caused you to re-
spond. Your enlistment may have not
been necessary at the first call but
when the second call came and the
third quickly followed, you babe home.
and wife, and mother and sweetheart
a last lingering farewell and to the
sound of fife and drum you Joined that
phalanx, mightier than the world had
ever before witnessed. and with a re-
sponsive stanza. your answer was:
We are coming, Father Abraham, three
hundred thousand strong
Bravery Is Praised.
Hitherto We had one flag, one army,
one country. Could both causes De
right? You all know the answer. 1t
is found in four years of the bloodiest
battles, the worst sacrifices and sur
fering and the most intense hatred
that human history has ever held. The
soldier of the south loved his flag as
much as you of the north did yours.
The boy in gray fought in the same
American manner as the boy in blue.
You are reminded of that apt response
of that eminent envoy, who went from
this country to England to borrow
money to finance the war and during
certain speech he made in that behalf
was asked why it was that it was TAX
ing so long to make any Roadway
against the south? His reply was:
Because we are fighting Americans
mo one but the old soldier knows
the incidents of that four years on the
battle field and no one but the wife
and mother knows of the trying times
at home, far distant from the loved
ones at the front. Nor could we vain
ly hope to portray those enactlng
scenes. We must leave that picture
with you who caught the inspiration
and rivaled with you fellow comrades
as to who best could do and noblest
die For your country you have SUI
fered much and your American hearts
swell with pride, as you are surely en-
titled to, at the sight of that flag You
followed during those years. You
have seen it in the guidon on the field
of battle, and on the march and in the
camp You saw it at Bull Run when
our forces wavered. You saw it at
Shiloh when you struggled all day
long waiting for reinforcements that
did not reach you until night. You
saw it slowly advance before Vicks-
burg when the whole world was wait
ing and watching that campaign of
that famous general who was destined
to later take charge of the entire
armies Of the north. You saw it each
morning for three successive days
| fiutter and CLINT at the rising of the
| sun at Gettysburg and not until the
end of those three days did the north
I hope that the end of the struggle could
| be in sight, but more than year
must be given to contest before the
remnant of Lees sunburnt, poorly
clad, half starved and weather beaten
| troops were willing to lay down their
arms and concede that henceforth we
must be one nation, one flag, one army
and one brotherhood. and until the last
| one has responded to that mightier
call from above, will the memory of
those times be wildly portrayed in the
faces, sometimes in the tears of today
of the veterans, when they commune
together in such acts as strewing
| flowers on the graves of the dead.
Recalls Pathetic Scene.
"The boys, although grown old, can
still shed tears. l witnessed it IL
years ago today at the town Of Anda-
lusia, where | was trying to assist in
! the exercises of the day. A few of the
| old soldiers lived across the Missis-
sippi river in the township of Buffalo
| and they secured large row boat and
came across to be with the G. A r.
post then at Andalusia, to help place
the flowers that had been gathered and
arranged by the good women of that
place. After the program was finished,
which consisted in appropriate music
and short talks by the younger people,
a few of the old veterans told stirring
incidents that seemed to really take
i them back to the days of the camp
| fire, and when the time came to leave
the comrades on this side of the river
| they were escorted to the land and
when the oars slowly moved the boat
from the shore it seemed that the way
they were being slowly drifted apart
from those along the shore, amid the
tears OF many a veteran standing
there, that 1t was mathematical of
crossing the River of Life, for were
there not many in that boat who scare
ly could hope to join their comrades a
year from that day in the living cere-
monies that they had just taken a part
in?
Tribute to Departed.
Veteran soldiers of the Grand Army
of the Republic, on your brow we
place the laurel wreath of victory.
Your tasks on Memorial day are rap
idly being assumed by the boys of the
Spanish-American war and by your
sons and daughters. If we have failed
to catch the inspiration of duty, then
it is not your fault You have shed
your tears of gratitude that you were
ever permitted to lock step, shoulder
arms, or forward step with such vail
ant men as sleep beneath this sod.
When you are gone, may we not fail
in our duty and with the words of the
poet:
| Soldier rest thy warfare Ger
Sleep the sleep that knows no break
ing;
Dream of battlefelds no more,
Days Of danger, nights of waking"