Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1939-06-01
Decoration Day Was
Fittingly Observed

|
Decoration day in Morgan count!
as a whole, was more fittingly OBJ
served this year than it has been fo
some years past. Sunday, memoria
services were held in the McCon
nelsville> M. E. church in the fore
noon Rev. Tennell preached goot
Memorial day sermon, and thu
music was of patriotic nature
Members of the American LegiOI
and of the Ladies' Auxiliary attend
ed in a body.
Sunday afternoon Memorial ser
vices were held at the Deerfiel6
church and at Deavertown., s. V
| Steward Of Woodsfield made splen.
| did address at Deerfield, and Nal
conta Post band furnished instru
Tennell of the local M. E. church
was the speaker, and the Crooks.
vile high school band furnished spe-
cial music.
In The Twin Cities
The Decoration exercises Tuesday
forenoon in the twin cities were car
ried out much the same as in prev
lous years. Patriotic organizations
assembled at the American Legion
hall at $50 a. M, and marched to
Malta, headed by the band, and
! there were joined by pupils from the
Malta grades and marched to the
Malta cemetery, where exercises
were held with the following pro-
gram: Singing of America, band ac-
companying; prayer, Rev. C. B.
F'risbie; selection by band; Lin
coins Gettysburg address, by Miss
Marjorie Sheridan; address, Rev.
Frisbie; salute to the dead; taps
national anthem; benediction, Rev.
Frisbie. With the new improve
ments, landscaping, etc., and an
abundance Of flowers, Malta ceme-
terry never looked more beautiful.
Returning from Malta to the pub
hc square, the procession was joined
by the grade pupils from McCon-
nelsville schools, some high school
students and teachers Marching to
the cemetery the exercises were car
| ried out with " l.. Jaynes, Ameri-
! can Legion Post commander, in
charge. The services included, sing
ing of America, led by the band
prayer, Rev. Tennell; Nearer My
God To Thee" by the band; address,
by Atty G.. o. McGonagle Mr.. Nc
Gonagle never spoke better, or more
appropriately. He stated Decoration
| day to him should be the great Ma.
| ional Sabbath, free from the fea-
lures of gay holiday. Such oc-
casion, he stated, should teach our
boys and girls the rich heritage
| they enjoy, and spoke of the sacri-
| flee our soldiers made in handing il
| down. briefly tracing the history oi
our nation, through it's various wars
1 to the present time. Coming dowr
to the Civil war and the World wal
he said citizens of Ohio should b,
proud of the part our state had
stating that in the Civil wal
while the quota of our state was
3O6, 1922, we furnished 319,659 men
and he called attention to the fact
| that in the World war the state ex-
ceeded it's quota in the liberty loan
drives, and in every one that was
| called for-and Morgan county was
right at the top in all of it's quotas.
The speaker said we have a united
country, and Decoration day is the
day that should stir the blood of ev-
| cry patriotic American
| Our constitution, he said, is the
greatest document ever struck of
by human hands, and it has taken
! blood and war to preserve it. The
events, the speaker stated, leading
up to the World war. and during
that war are fresh in the minds of
| many, and said he observed that as
the soldiers of that war grow older,
the feeling of comradship increase.
In conclusion, Mr.. McGonagle re-
marked he is glad the American Le-
gion has caught the torch from the
hands of the Civil war soldiers, and
are carrying on Decoration day,
which he hoped would ever be set
aside and preserved as the great
national sacred holiday At the con-
clusion of the address Mrs. Lew
wella Mcdonald of the w. r. c. de-
posted flowers in memory of the
soldiers of all wars The services
concluded with the firing squads
salute, tops, and the band played
the National Anthem, and Rev. L.
S. Wees pronounced the benediction.
Because of the fact that Decora-
tion day was near the middle of the
week, not so many from away were
present as on some years. Many
visited the cemetery the week end.
However our city of the dead never
presented nicer appearance with
the many flowers and flags.
After the services at the ceme-
terry the band played a concert at
Rocky Glen sanatorium, and later
in the afternoon the band, Legion
members and members of Co. L.,
166th Infantry, went to Stockport
and Pennsville to have a part in the
services at those places.
Because of the WPA project, in
locating the soldiers graves of the
county, many soldiers last resting
places were marked this year and
decorated with flowers, that had not
been for many years.
AS has been their custom for sew
eral years, the Ladies' Auxiliary
made 65 wreaths, one for every
World war soldiers grave in the