Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1918-06-03
Following a DOwnpour OF Rain in the
Morning, Sun Came Out and the
Day Was Ideal for Memorial
Celebration.
A LARGE CROWD WAS IN CITY
Or. Effie McCOllum Jones Deliver!
Fine Address at Church, Follow.
ing Parade.

Following a downpour of rain be-
tween and 9 o'clock in the morning,
Thursday was an ideal Memorial Day
in Webster City. The sun came out
and the day was warm and delightful.
A large crowd visited the city and
early in the day the cemetery was al
most coverlet of fowers-those
beautiful tributes of the living to the
memory of the dead to whom this one
day in the year is dedicated.
The parade, in charge of Major ]. w.
Lee and Captain I. N. Beckner, started
from the Wilson house corner prompt
ly at 1870 o'clock and was followed to
the cemetery by large procession in
autos. G. A. R. men, of whom there
were twenty-three in line, marched as
far as the court house, where they took
autos. The band, drum corps, rifle
squad, Boy Scouts, Spanish-American
war veterans and school children
all the way. The band, under
the leadership of Wesley Schaub, was
very good and much favorable COM
ment was heard on it. At the ceme-
terry, the G. A. r. held it's usual ritual
ist;c services. The parade and SER
vices at the cemetery, however, SEEM
ed somewhat lacking without Company
C, which has always participated be-
fore. The boys were missed by every
one.
The rifle squad fired the usual sa-
lutcs at the cemetery. Captain F. E.
Landers read the list of veterans Of the
Civil war and of the present war, who
have died the past year. The. list fol-
lows:
Civil War.
George Y. Boyd John Robinson
Edgar A. Madison Harvey Bosworth
Present War.
James E. Wedding Roland Loban
Returning from the cemetery, the
parade marched to the Methodist
church, where the rest of the days ex-
ercises were held. Mayor R. G. Clark
presided and on the platform with him
sat Rev. L. e. Viets, DR.. Efie McCollum
Jones and Harold Clifton.
The church decorations were con-
fined to an American flag-On the altar,
one at each side of the choir loft, and
a ported plant on the balustrade at
each side of the loft.
Services ut Church.
The services were opened by num-
Der from the glee club, led by Wesley
Schaub. Rev. Viets delivered the in
vocation, after which Harold Clifton,
young son of Mr.. and Mrs. v.
L. Clifton, delivered Lincoln's Gettys-
burg address in clear voice, well
heard all over the church.
Mayor Clark then introduced DR..
Jones, who delivered the address of the
Gay. DR.. Jones is one of the countrys
most talented women and her address
was studied effort, calculated to
make her hearers think, to give them a
clearer realization of the meaning Of
the world war, an insight into the Diff
ference between democracy and autoc-
racy and a better vision of the inscrut-
able working of the hand of God in the
history of nations, the rise OF free gov
ernments and the turning points in
history. 1t was one of the ablest and
most logical addresses of the kind ever
heard in Webster City and covered a
wonderfully wide range Of history
Said the speaker in part:
Not only in our memory, but in the
history of our country this Memorial
Day is unique. For the three years
preceding this one, we have honored
our soldiers, dead and living, with the
shadow of foreign wars falling across
our vision, but we have been together
at home and, at least measurably, at
peace.
Ruled by Tradition.
For one hundred and forty years we
Americans had been guided by the ad-
vice of Washington about avoiding
entangling foreign alliances and we
dwelt behind the Chinese Wall of the
Monroe Doctrine and the fancied
security of our ocean boundaries.
Other nations might arm and drill and
wage war, but this was the twentieth
century and we were safeguarded by
too many sorts of protection to need to
notice what went on across the ocean.
In our present impotence We some
times fail to recognize the effect of six
generations of this sort of tradition.
The psychology of hundred millions
of peaceful people can not be changed
~ u