Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1922-06-16
ELKS HELD FLAG
DAY EXERC RClSES
JUDGE BALDWIN OF MINNEAPO-
LIS DELIVERED FINE PATRI-
OTTO ADDRESS 49,

Flag Day was properly observed by
the Little Falls Elks lodge Wednesday
evening with public exercises at the
high school auditorium, which were at
tended by a small crowd. Hon. Matthias
Baldwin, municipal judge in Minneapo-
lis and past exalted ruler of the Min
neapolis Elks lodge, was the principal
speaker and he gave fine address on
the significance Of flag day and of alle-
glance to the flag.
The services opened with a selection
by Falk's orchestra and invocation by
Rev. Bacon. Exalted Ruler H. b.
Smoots conducted the ritual service, as
sisted by the other officers of the Elks
lodge. The history Of the American
flag was given by DR.. S. R. Fortier and
Rev. A. G. Bacon read the Elks "Tri-
butte to the Flag.' Miss Elvira Ruth
gave reading "a Tribute to the
Flag written by Lawrence Hodgson
of st. Paul, "Larry Ho.' Two musical
numbers, were 'interspersed, a selection
by trio composed Of Richard Meyers,
Chester Tanner and Carroll Brown and
a selection by the Falk orchestra.
Judge Baldwin first spoke on the sig
nifcance of Flag Day, pointing out that
with the Elks the observance of this
day is part Of the services, part OF
the ritual and part of the members
obligations. We observe this day, the
judge said, because we want it to re-
main true; to strengthen our hope IN
this country and to strengthen the
hopes of others who come to these eN-
.ercises, not only by what is said, but
oarpo4uotInr Tho ,,on,orv Of those
who defended the flag in time Of danger
and who now sleep beneath the sod @,
in the sea; and to insure the perma-
ncnce Of our flag. The judge said that
sometimes it seems harder for us to de-
fend the flag than it was for those who
have gonecbefore. All things must die
and nations seem to be much the same.
The lesson which we are to learn from
this is to look back on the pages OF
history and find what happened to the
great countries of the past. Men have
dug down and found records of nations
that were great, who were as greatly
advanced as this nation is. Every one
of them in turn were taken from the
face Of the earth. Not one of these
great nations perished from without
before it had been weakened from
within. There is a force that the train
ing Of soldiers cannot overcome. Ma
tions are much like men-they get sick.
A mans hand may be torn to bits and
the surgeon can take it off and save
the man but if the poison from the
hand gets into the blood, he cannot
reach it and the man dies. And so it
is with nations. The enemy which we
can sec, which is localized, we may be
able to drive back, but the enemy that
We cannot find is the enemy that Is in
our own hearts and which seeks to de-
stroy our government by lending ear
to those Who seek only their own sci
fish purposes. These are the only enc
mics that can take the lustre from the
stars in our flag.
Going back to the Revolutionary war
and then looking down the line through
the War Of 1872, the Mexican war, the
Civil war, the Spanish American war
and the late World war to the present
we see the flag stand through it all,
possessed with a soul and life that
gives complacence to all under it.
The flag speaks to us of duty and it
seems to take on the spirit Of its en-
vironment. It has been seen some
times on the street, nelu CneIe Uecduse
it had to be, alongside of a red flag, but
dropping with shame. It has been seen
in the hands Of the little children
where it seemed to speak message Of
hope and of promise. 1t was seen in
the long columns Of boys who went tc
defend the country in the late war and
there it seemed to tug and strain
proud of it's mission. 1t was seen six
ty years ago, carried by the boys in
blue, now old men, who saved the ma
tion from the internal enemy, slavery
That flag seems to call to us in times
of peace as we'll as in war to defend it
Thus far it has weathered all storms
and the danger Of its destruction is not
from without but from within, from
the poison that comes from the hands
Of the selfish. Let us seek not its
destruction but its survival on and Oh
indefinitely, not only for the people OF
this land but out until it's benefcence
reaches all the people Of the world.
The exercises closed with the singing
of America by the audience and a