New Britain herald., 1919-09-19
LITHUANIAN RAPS
 LEAUE OF NATIONS
Sergeant ZuruS Believes Covenant Mill Hinder Country'S Freedom

The Llthuanians of this city gave hearty welcome to the 1O2d eX- service men of St. Andrews church in the Lithuanian hall at Park street last evening. The affair was one of the best given any group of service men in this city and was largely at tended. Both the dining and dancing halls were filled to their capacity with Lithuanians from this city and nearby towns. The hall was beauti- fully decorated with American and Lithuanian colors, in respect to this country and Lithuania. At the front of the dining hall was a wreath draped in an American and Lithuan- in flags as a tribute to the four local Lithuanians who gave their lives on the battlefields of France for the cause of human rights. All ex-serv- ice men present were donned in their
 full uniforms making the affair look
 like big military event.
 Address of Welcome.
 Rev. E. V. Grillis, pastor of St.
 Andrew church, presided at the
 meeting. He opened the evenings ac-
 tivities, with an address of welcome
 to the eX-service men who have
 proved themselves worthy of every
 bit of praise that this city has given
 them.
 Raps League of Nations.
 Following a short address he intro
 duced First Sergeant Joseph Zurus
 an eX-serviCe man who fought in seV~ eral of the large battles of the war and distinguished himself by his gal lant work Sergeant Zurus delivered a fiery address, touching upon the 1C,,f oE Lithuania has taken during the war He asserted that should the league of nations covenant be adopted as it stands, countries such as Lithuania
 would never be recognized by the world and would never have the free
 dom 0f larger countries During the
 war I1ithuania has been crossed by
 the Allied and Teuton forces over
 nine times and many of the cities and towns have been completely de-
 stroyed and devastated, he stated. Lithuania is as large as Belgium
 Norway, Sweden or Poland and if
 these countries have the privilege of enjoying the freedom of the world
 why shouldn't Lithuania he asked
 In con ncIuson Sergeant Zurus ex-
 plajned how his native land was not
 represented at the peace conference at Paris as it should have been. He urged the local I.ithuanans to back their native land but to remem Der that their first duty was to this coun- try.
 klett Wants Service Club House. Senator George klett, who was the next speaker delivered a short well come home address to the boys, tell ing them how proud this city is of
 the work performed by them during the war. Besides enlargng on what was said by Sergeant Zurus, MT. Klett spoke on the construction of an ex- service mems home, which would be permanent club for the service men of this city. He asserted that the erection of such a home is desired by
 many but few have taken the liberty
 of speaking as tho proposition would
 need the backing of all of the ex- service men in the city. Besides being a club for the World War veterans the c. A. R. veterans would have a permanent home. Senator Klett stated that in years to come the deeds of the New Britain heroes would be
 forgotten unless there is an organi- zation of permanent standing formed, which will keep the service men close together.
 Mayor QuigIey Is Guest. Another guest of the evening was Mayor George A. Quigley, who con- cluded the evenings program with an address in which he related the work of the New Britain boys while in the service of their country, and expressed on the part of the city as whole, the appreciation of the work
 which was done by the Lithuanian service men. When the call came, New Britain's boys nobly threw down their work and went into the thickest of the tighting," he said. The Lithu- anian boys did much as any other service men in the city and their ap- pearanCe in the welcome home parade tomorrow is desired by every family in the city" he added. Tn conclusion the mayor stated that he hoped that the Lithuanian boys would back up the proposition of erection of a per manent ex-service mems home in this city A collection for tobacco for the