Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 May 1894 — MEMORIAL DAY. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MEMORIAL DAY.

1* la Maw r—avaHy Otiaorved Throughout thaOwntry. Im nearly every town in the Northern Btatae the streets on Memorial Day rearwind to the sound of martial musie, and the surviving veterans inarch together, not now. as they did so many yean ago, to the camp and the battle field, but to that last camping ground where have been lain all that was mortal of so many of their comrades. As they place their floral tributes upon the mounds that are marked by a miniature emblem of the flag under which they marched and fonghLand in defense of which and what it represents s > many of those whose graves they decorate gave up their lives, or received wbunds and disease from which they hidve since suffered and died, they cannot but devote a moment’s thought to the time when they, too, shall answered the last roll sail, and with “lights out” ■hall have sank into their /last slumber, to bo awakened only in the great

hereafter. They devote a thought to the memory of those who do not lie in those graves, near home and among their kindrod, who still cherish their memory, but who, uncofiined and unwere buried in trenches, or in but hastily made graves upon the fields that their sacrifices redeemed to the Union and io Freedom. Per a few years after the observance of this day was begun by the returned soldiers, they were left to perform their sad duties almost alone, unassisted, and scarcely noticed except by the irieods of those around whose graves they gathered, but now it has become a observance, a tribute to the valor and the patriotism not only of the dead but the living, and, while the few remaining comrades are allowed the privilege of placing the flowers of spring upon the graves, the Women’s Relief Corps, many of whom also made their sacrifices for their country In those trying times, are proud to aocempaay and assist them, while the Sons of Veterans and the Daughters of Veterans stand by to show their readiness to continue in the good work of keeping alive the memories of the eolittare and Abe soldiers’ deeds when the tom*, rirt 'far distant, shall come, that ths Grand, Army of the Republic has beeomeso reduced in numbers as to be no longer able to perform their share. In many places the Grand Army posts are eeoerted by the local companies of the State militia, who, if they are not “eager for fray,” and desirous of an opportunity of showing that they,, top, are loyal, courageous and able to!endure hardships, would not be likely to be found wanting in thoee qualities, if there should ever be in their dawor generation a necessity for it. Qumren of the public schools almost uneonscloMly absorb more of the lore of country from the martial music, the waving flags and the inspect shown to taqiveteraasl than from the addresses rs, the .eloquent orators of the day The townspeople turn out in

large numbers, for one day at least forgetting political differences, and most of them convinced that, no matter how many are receiving pensions who are unworthy of them, or fail to handle them wisely, there are none such in the ranks that march by them, or among the loved ones who were left behind by those who lie baneath the flower-decked mounds. Nor is this the only benefit of Memorial Day observances. Not only are the dead soldiers, though they may have passed away more than thirty years ago, thus kept in mind and honored, but all who have loved ones who have gone before them are led to beautify their last resting place, and for a few days at least our cemeteries are bright with flowers, and neatness and order help to make them less repulsive to those who must contemplate being carried there soen, or being called upon so n to follow there the remains of one who can no longer be retained in the earth life by their loving care. The-e demonstrations of respect to the Union soldier, dead or living, are not, however, confined to the States which were loyal during the war of the Rebellion. Nearly every one of the States, perhaps every one, that were in the Southern Confederacy thirty years ago have now posts of the G. A. R., formed of the men who assisted to bring them back into the Union by war in the time of war, and who are now striving to conque- them and to conquor their prejudices by the nobler arts of peace. They gather together upon that day to mark with their flags, their wreaths of evergreen and their bright flowers the graves of those who lie buried there far from

home and from friends, in soil which has been made sacred by their blood and their sufferings and sacrifices.

IN THE WILDERNESS.