The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-31
THOUSANDS ATTEND
 THE CELEBRATION OF I'M [ MORTAL DAY
Borden Burr Pays Eloquent Tribute to Memory of the HonOred Dead-Roving
 Marine Band Feature

All-Veterans' Memorial Day planned since the close of the world war. is an accomplished fact.
 Lowering skies and occasional hsow- CTS yesterday did not dampen the en-
 thusiasm of the people. for good crowd estimated at 5000 to 5000 gath cred at Capitol Park in the afternoon to witness the memorial exercises.
 Speeches, songs, selections by the Rowing Marine Band, the firing of sa- lutes and the blowing of taps marked
 the celebration of the day.
 Members of the Rainbow division,
 the American Legion, Spanish-Ameri-
 can War Veterans, the Grand Army of
 the Republic. the United Confederate
 guard. detachment of sailors and ma
 rines and number of automobiles took
 part in a parade on the downtown
 streets.
 The parade formed at the corner of
 Sixth avenue and Nineteenth street at
 3:30. Led by the national guard, and
 including automobiles with members
 of the Red Cross and other organiza-
 tions, it moved down Nineteenth street
 to the Louisville and Nashville depot,
 where they were joined by tn Rowing
 Marine Band. who had just arrived in
 the city. The parade returned to Capi-
 to1 Park via Twentieth street, and the
 exercises of the day were given there.
 THOUSANDS GATHER Thousands of people had gathered in tn amphitheatre at the park and the Community Sing was in progress un- der the direction of Hollis E. Davenny The Rowing Marine Band played sev- eral numbers.
 Borden Burr acted as the chairman of the exercises and delivered the chief address of the afternoon. He paid a touching tribute to the dead of not only the three wars which had veterans present at the exercises, but to all six in which the United States has taken part. They had not died in vain, he declared, but the principles for which they fought are tOudy dAVe. Strange as it may seem, the speak CT said, America has never made war. She has never taken part in a war of aggression. But, he said, she has a very strange knack of defending her self
 America is the land where the great est liberty Is given with the least in- Enlargement on the liberties of othe-, stated the speaker. And when one group of people attempt to take privi- leges and powers that are harmful to other people, that group will not be tolerated. For this reason the profi- l teer will be stopped and his activities centralized
 DON'T TREAD ON ME" When the flag was made for the 1 first time and adopted as the symbol of this nation, there was incorporated into it, though invisible, the spirit of the old colonial emblem, the Rattle snake flag. Don't tread on me- is what the Hun found our flag saying" In keeping with the memorial char acter of the day, Hollis F. Davenny y sang, There Is No Death" An unique feature on the programme was a reel | tation by two little French orphans who have found homes in Birming- ham.
 Members of the national guard gath cred in corner of the park after the exercises and fired three salutes to the soldier and sailor dead of the nation. Taps was sounded by the comets of l the Rowing Marine Band. Earlier in the day committees of women and children made trips to the cemeteries in the city and placed flowers on the graves of the soldier dead. At o'clock yesterday morning detachment from the American Legion, United Confederate Veterans and the Grand Army of the Republic were at Capitol Park and stood at att | tention as the flag was raised to half mast