Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1917-10-25


At the conclusion of the parade. Post
master James f. Burke. who had watched
the greater part Of 1t from the bandstand
in City Hall Park. in company with
Colonel Thayer and several other officers
from the Post. announced that on account
Of the inclemency Of the weather. it had
been decided to hold the remainder of the
afternoons exercises In The Strong
theatre There was at once a rush for this
building and a quarter Of an hour later,
hardly a seat could be found on the main
floor Of the theatre. Before the exercises
began. the entire house, with the exception
of the second balcony. was packed, and
many were standing in the aisles, while
a large number, fearing that they would
not be able to obtain seats, went away
rather than stand.
The exercises were opened with patriotic
music by the 10th cavalry band. under the
direction of Band Leader Oscar H.
Hawley. This band, which is composed of
40 frst-class musicians, Is considered one
of the best musical organizations in the
service to-day. The quality of music which
was rendered at the meeting yesterday
fully upheld the reputation of this band.
Many fattering remarks were heard in re-
gard to the band music and the audience
the band in more ways than one.
John NJ. Carroll of the Liberty Loan
campaign committee presided at the meet
ing and introduced as the first speaker
Captain Cogswell of the Post headquarters
troop at Fort Ethan Allen Captain Cogs-
we'll. who was a banker before
going into the service, outlined briefly the
bare facts about the Liberty bond issue as
a safe investment He said that in the al
years that the United States Of America
has been in existence. never has there
been a better security for investment than
the present Liberty Loan. Carrying, as it
does. interest at four per cent. with the
treasury of the United States behind it,
and the privilege attached of converting
the present bonds to bonds bearing a
higher rate Of interest should such bonds
be issued in the future. the second Liberty
Loan Of 1917 stands alone in the field Of
/ safe and highly remunerative investments.
Captain Cogswell told Of the way
! in which the soldiers at the Post had re-
sponded to the call for more Liberty bond
holders. With less than 5000 men at the
Post, nearly half a million dollars has
| been subscribed. The average per man is
about $50.
The speaker then put it straight to the
civilian population, asking them what they
! were going to do about the matter. You
who have not been called upon to leave
your homes; are you going to let the SOL
| diers do 1t all?" he asked. In closing, he
| expressed a belief that such would not be
| the case; that the people Of America would
respond to the call when they became fully
awake to the situation as 1t really is. and
then. he said, there will be such an out
pouring Of money in this country as has
never before equalled.
| Postmaster James E. Burke of this city
was the next speaker called. Mr..
Burke's remarks were short and to the
point. They could not fail to have their
effect. His first words were "Why should
buy bond?" and having asked the ques-
ton, he proceeded to answer 1t. Out of the
| many reason which he said he might give,
| he said that he had chosen five: Q MY
government has sounded the signal cry of
distress and therefore I. as a patriotic
American citizen, find 1t my duty to buy
bond; (0 Because a Liberty bond Is
good investment; (3) Self-preservation Is
the first law Of nature. and to those who
think more Of their money than they do Of
their country and the lives Of the soldiers
of that country. there is the appeal of pro-
lection from what may happen in the
future. (Mr. Burke asked those who had
$1,000 or 81. 900 in the bank. and who had not
bought a Liberty bond, what they would
do II the Kaiser should VIM; az Mr.. Burke
said that three of his former office assist
ants are now wearing the uniform of Uncle
Sam, while one Of them is already In
France. and because there are loved ones
who are waiting for their return and little
/ children all over the country asking their
mothers when daddy" will come back. he
proposed to buy bond and make their
return as soon as possible; G) I'm yonder
park floats Old Glory. with no stains upon
her stars, although the blood Of martyrs
has stained her bars" For al years, said
the speaker the flag has stood for democ-
racy, and II salute thee. Old Glory, as the
flag of my country forever"
For these reasons. said Mr.. Burke. l
have bought a bond, and he held it up
for everybody to see. ut looks good to
me-" he said; 'how does 1t look to you?
In the interests of humanity, in the inter-
ests of democracy, beseech you. you who
have not bought bond. buy one at once.
and you who have bought one. and who
CHAPLAIN O'REILLY ELOQUENT.
are able to do so. buy another"
Chaplain O'Reilly. the chief speaker Of
the afternoon. stirred the large audi
ence to the utmost with his fervid and
patriotic utterances and his straight talk
to what he meant. He talked at the
people and some of them began to realize
2 1t before he was done. Lieutenant
O'Reilly is a splendid figure in a uniform
and he holds his audience by the magnet
ism of his personality as we'll as by the
force Of his words
Opening his address with the statement
that the soldiers at the Post had been
doing the extraordinary thing by taking
out such large subscriptions of Liberty
bonds. he made 1t plain that the civilian
population were not doing anything ex-
traordinary In taking out Liberty bonds,
because they were only doing what 1t is
their duty to do. He said that he had
come not to appeal to the generosity of
the people Of Burlington, but to their
sense Of Justice.
! We are living In great country, the
greatest under the sun, he said. and there
is a binding obligation upon every cti-
zen to give moral and financial support
at least to that country The speaker
said that the boys In uniform had been
more generous than the civilians in this
respect and he quoted exact figures from
the campaign at the fort. proving his
statement and showing Just what each
regiment had done. The total showed
subscriptions amounting to $445.s5O. Since
this statement was drawn up. this amount
has been increased to half million.
While Chaplain O'Reilly was making this
announcement. two soldier boys appeared
on either side Of the stage bearing ban
ners which read as follows: mo German
Army Can Stop Us; Lack of Liberty
Bonds Can" and I'VE Are Doing Our