Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1917-06-21
CITY GETS HANDSOME FLAG
Presented by Elks as Part of
Flag Day Exercises.
Addresses by Exalted Ruler J. r.
stenrns of Burlington Lodge and
Past Exalted Ruler w. r. Byrne
of Albany Lodge.

NO. 3lb. OF the HeneVolent and Protective
Order of Elks and to witness the
presentation by that body to the city of
a large and beautiful flag. which will,
as soon as tho flagstaff arrives, be placed
In the northwest corner of City Hall
Park. near the monument. A group of
veterans of the days of 81, members of
Stannard Post of the G. A. r. were the
guests of honor at the exercises, which
were preceded by parade from the Elks'
rooms on Bank street to the park. The
parade was headed by the First Vermont
Infantry band and NJ company of the
First Vermont. commanded by Captain
William n. Hudson. after which marched
the members of the Burlington Lodge of
Elks.
William T. Byrne of Albany, n. Y,
the orator of the day President Eugene
A. Luck Of the board of aldermen, who
accepted the flag on behalf of the city
other members of the board of aldermen.
Lester II. Greene, past deputy grand
ruler Of Montpelier Lodge. No. e24. of
the order. and the officers of the Burlng-
ton Lodge of Elks were seated in the
bandstand. Following several selections
by the band, the exercises were opened
by a brief address by Representative
Joseph r. Stearns. exalted ruler of Bur-
lington Lodge, No. 9l6, of the Benevolent
and Protective order of Elks.
MR.. sTEARNs' REMARKS.
THE Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks is distinctly American" said Mr..
Stearns. for none but American citizens
may become its members. and it has no
lodges on foreign soil. 1t Is also intensely
patriotic and it is peculiarly appropriate
that it's Flag day exercises this year
should be public. Being democratic, 1t is
heart and soul with the allies in their
fight against autocracy. a fight in which
our arms as well will not be ground until
democracy is gloriously triumphant"
(Applause).
Mr.. Stearns then referred to the ex-
ercises which were being held all over
the United States by the 1850 Elk lodges,
whose membership comprised a half mil
lion American citizens. If all should be
assembled together, he said. it would be
the greatest patriotic assemblage since
the victorious Union armies marched
down Pennsylvania avenue in Washing
ton at the close of the Civil War. The
exalted ruler then introduced Ezra NJ.
Horton, the chaplain of Burlington
Lodge. who read the history of the flag
from the Elk ritual. 1t was particularly
fitting, said Mr.. Stearns, that Mr.. Hor-
ton should do this as he was veteran
of the Spanish-American War a city
official and a member of Burlington
Lodge of Eks.
PRESENTATION OF THE FLAG.
The flag, at the close of Mr.. Horizons
reading of its history was presented to
the city of Burlington by Mr.. Stearns,
on behalf of Burlington Lodge. No. 916
of the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Ell.s. The exalted ruler. in his presen-
IN Inn
war record of Burlington boys when
serving under its folds, and said that
please God. it should never be lowered
in defeat. He foretold the time of the
universal brotherhood of man under the
| fatherhood of God.
All stood uncovered while the band
played verse of 1.-THE Star Spangled
Banner" Eugene A. Luck, president of
the board of aldermen, then accepted the
flag on behalf of the city. in a brief
speech. He regretted the non-arrival
Of the flagstaff. but voiced the fervent
hope that the banner might soon float
to the breeze.
The Elks' tribute to the flag was read
from the ritual of the order by Lester
H. Greene Of Montpelier, past deputy
grand master of Montpelier Lodge. No
s24 of the order. Following a selection
by the band. Mr.. Stearns introduced the
orator of the day, William T. Byrne of
Albany. n. Y, past exalted ruler Of the
Albany lodge of the order.
MIR. BYRNE'S SPEECH.
Vermont's glorious share in the sustain
Ing of right, Of democracy. and of justice,
| and her determination to do so as long
as people survive to love liberty was
| the theme of the foreword of Mr.. Byrne's
address. He pictured the indomita BILE.
glorious and irresistible Ethan Allen,
the noble Seth Warner and the other
Green Mountain boys. Passing on he
spoke of the War of 1912 and then Of Ver-
monts part in the Civil War, when
1900 out of a possible $1,000 men in the
State volunteered to fight for the old
flag. The speaker called brief roll of
Vermont heroic officers in that war,
Wells. Phelps. Brooks and Stannard,
Barney and Stone. He told of Captain
Gould. the first man over the breast
works at Petersburg, Of how the Vermont
ers headed the column because they would
never turn back and how the 10th Ver-
mont saved the day at Gettysburg.
The Civil War was a war of boys, said
Mr. Byrne. The Union army contained
% boys under ten years of age, 225 under
1,151.43s under Is, 2,159,79s under q, and
only 6l2,5l1 of a total of 2.27S.302 men were
more than 81 years of age.
Here the speaker paused and. turning
to the little group of grey-haired vet
Grams. said impressively:
THE midnight of your lives. noble de-
! tenders of our sacred country. is fast
approaching. and the time is not far
| distant when again you will meet those
boys who left you at Antietam, the Will
derness, Gettysburg or Cold Harbor, and
when you have clasped hands and looked
| lovingly into one another's eyes do not
forget that your deeds and heroism have
made an imprint on the minds of those
l'who remain down here below that will
charge your hearts and souls with action
should our country be assaied."
A reverent and fitting tribute to the
women of 81 and also of H. who see
their sons, their husbands or their sweet
hearts march away, was also given by
Mr.. Byrne. He told of Abraham Lincoln's
letter to the glorious Mrs. Bixby of Mass
| achusetts, who gave five sons to the
Union. With trembling voice and elo-
ouent gesture, the speaker also laid a
| wreath upon the bier of Abraham Lin
coin, to whose transcendant qualities
of mind and soul, he declared. we owed
the preservation of the Union.
In conclusion Mr.. Byrne said:
This is the flag of Bunker Hill and
Concord the flag that crossed the Della
ware; broke through the wilderness of
the Alleghanies; entered the Palmetto
groves of the Carolinas and Georgia and
emerging in the everglades of Florida,
gazed back upon territory that was
free Of British dominion. never again to
be subservient to the law, dictaton and
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