St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1917-05-30

Banner" All joined in a salute to the
flag and repeating the oath of alle-
glance. Mrs. Cosgrove, standing by
the flag held aloft by Mrs. Waite, sang
the Star Spangled Banner" accom-
panied by the band. At the close of
this service the house broke into en-
thusiastic applause.
A reading, "The Veterans by Mrs.
Bessie Cummings a powerful tribute
to the men of 81, was received with
much appreciation by the gathering.
At this point the st. Gabriel School
Band played selection which brought
forth an ovation. So loudly were they
applauded that an encore was neces-
sary and the boys gained further dis
tinctive by their rendition of the
"Marseillaise. They were the favor
ties Of the day. Round followed round
of applause. Charles Ross, presiding,
gave as the reason of their ability that
they were Led by OLD Glory which
one of their number bore. Miss Ll-
Gan MaroWitz was next introduced and
in excellent manner read Lincoln's
Gettysburg Speech. She, too, was fa-
vored by the audience.
The speaker of the day, p. M. M.
/ Phelps of Fairhaven, was then intro
| duced by the presiding officer. Mr..
! Phelps began although this my first
visit to st. Johnsbury. during our
present crisis I have learned through
! the press that I am in the midst of
! the citizens of one of the most loyal
and truly American communities
which we have within our good state.''
The speaker. addressing the veter-
+ ans, who were seated at the front of
the hall. said
,"It is true that we all of us cam
not look upon the observance of this
day Just as you do. That would be
impossible. Our thoughts today are
not your thoughts. Memorial day to
You means a vastly greater thing than
it does to us And why should this
not be so? To you it means the sad
realities of the past; while to us, it
means that our imagination must play
an important part in observing this
day as it should be observed. From
| the histry we have read, from the sto-
ries which you have told us, and from
the impressions cleaned in one place
and another are the only means we
have of to realize the hardships which
were endured through the actual con-
E1ct, the obstacles which had to be
overcome, ana the DaCCloS WHICH haO
to be fought, out of all of which the
preservation of our Union was ne-
complished, and this, the grandest and
best of nations was made an establish
ed fact"
The speaker went on to say that we
of today little appreciate that, the
wonderful advantages which we enjoy
are largely due to the efforts of the
soldiers of the Civil War. He said:
I'VE accept them as u matter Of
course" and asked what might have
been the result had the men of '61
not been willing to lay down their
lives as q sacrifice that the Union
might live. Patriotism, according to
the speaker, had led them to make the
sacrifice that won for lis the union of
the states and freed the nation from
the bonds of slavery.
Mr.. Phelps said that the ided of
patriotism is secuted by some as a
foolish sentiment and q passing whim,
only to be treated lightly. But" he
) went on, "let me say here, that this
same spirit of patriotism which is hid
den in the heart of every true Amer
lean is the very same spirit which has
made this country of ours the grand
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