Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1917-05-25
MEMORIAL SERVICESIEPISCOPAL COUNCIL
Large Assembly at Intersection of
Prince and Washington Streets
Yesterday Evening.

Confederate Memorial Day wa:
celebrated yesterday according t.
the program of exercises which hat
been prepared and published in thu
Gazette on Tuesday. Each feature
was enacted in an impressive man
ner, and the many gathered arounc
the Confederate Monument mani
tested much interest in all the cere-
monies. The ovation was delivered by
Mr.. j. Randall Cation, and ne was
listened to with close attention.
Shortly after six o'clock the men,
bers of R. E. Lee Camp of Confed-
crate Veterans fell in line at their
building half a square west, and,
preceded by the Indian Guard Band,
the Alexandria Light Infantry and
High School Cadets, marched east
to Washington street, where the
cortege turned south, proceeding as
far as Duke street, at which point
they countermarched to Prince and
Washington streets where the stand
for the speaker had been placed and
where the exercises were to take
place. The Boy Scouts of this city
had taken their position there, and
kept the passageways clear.
In the absence of Commander w.
A. Snoot, Mr.. G. VIM. Ramsay pre-
sided. Rev. DR.. J. w. Duffey, chap
lain of the camp, delivered the in
vocation.
The choir, under the direction of
Miss Blanche Rotchford, sang "The
Star-Spangled Banner" during the
rendition of which the men in the
audience stood with barred heads. The
choir rendered other selections, after
which Mr.. Cation was introduced as
the orator of the occasion. His ad-
dress was an inspiration to all pres
ent. Among other things he said:
"Perhaps never before in the his
tory of these memorable hours, as
here so often we have assembled,
has this eeremonious respect seemed
quite so solemn as now. In the years
of worldwide peace and security,
it is but simple step from the
daily tasks at hand to the flowered
. chancels of our soldier mounds and
monuments. Before these hallowed
shrines stands a reverent nation.
with heart ennobied and mind en-
alted to the memory of her martyred
dead. And, at last. with the even
tide and the final echoing drum-heat
through it's lengthening dusk, there
comes the sober retrospect that
stirs the souls of her people with the
JUNCTION of their priceless heritage.
"But today, even in the presence of
this dwindling band. and in the first
thought of the cause they so right
eously espoused and upheld, we are
urged to look to the future as well
as to the past. The world is aflame
with strife; and among the gods OF
war mighty Moloch wages its
venpeful hate and lust. Across the
path of this ruthless monster now
stands our own beloved land. What
portent of i'll or misfortune, what
omen of good or success there is IN
store we cannot now vaguely see. nor
humanity reckon. But upon that un-
defined line, which from afar binds
the view, we shall some day stand,
clear-visioned, triumphant, and
free. Then. as we can now never
understand. will we know that the
phantom voice which has awakened
our country to this redemption is
hut the abiding echo of that mighty
choral ode forever sung into our
national life and existence by the lips
of the comrades of these men now
forever stilled, and by the lives OF
these men themselves now trembling
to their close.
Thus, this moment which we so
tenderlv indulge, bespeaks not only
the golden harvest that is gone but
the golden harvest to come. For by
these acts of her conservation is the
spirit of a nation rignteously en-
boldened; as if by conjuration, is
so simple sentiment shaped into
the very sinews of her strength
From the memoried sanctuaries Of
her knighted sons, from the vantaget
ground of her epic strifes, from th'
martial boast of her tested arm
come the renewed faith and fervo
of the country that will surely an
safely see her through. Americ
today, hearkening to this vision o
her nobly annaled past. girds he
loins for the struggle, secure i
this measure of her might, sublim