Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 132, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 June 1914 — Page 2

MAY 30 FIFTY YEARS AGO

S THE ranks —piteously thinner ranks this year than they were last —of veterans file through the crowded streets of hundreds of American cities on Memorial day, the minds of those who fought beneath the blue or for the gray will om turn to a May 30 of 51 years ago, I when ashore and afloat men were doing those deeds which will be commemorated by Memorial day. Memorial day was not dreamed of then. North and South were busy with the grim business of war. The land shook with the tramp of armed forces and the rumble of artillery, and America was the scene of some of the mightiest battles which history records. The news which came to the North in. those

stirring days was not all rose-tinted by any means. Lee was threatening the second invasion of the North and the Shenandoah and Cumberland valleys were threatened with becoming seats of war and being ravaged by hostile armies. The little town of Gettysburg had not yet awakened to the fact that it was to be the center of the most colossal struggle of the war, and in Arkansas and Virginia the Union successes had not been all that they might have been.

From the Mississippi campaign came the brightest reports of progress. The eyes of North and South alike were upon Grant and Pemberton at Vicksburg, the almost impregnable stronghold of the Confederacy in the Mississippi valley. Farragut had run past the batteries of New Orleans and Porter was assisting Grant in the reduction of the works around Vicksburg. Newspapers dally printed glowing accounts of the progress of the siege, but the city did not fall. Still it was from Grant that the encouraging, heartening news of the day came. On May 29, the day before the date now set for Memorial day, certain New York newspapers printed dispatches stating that Vicksburg had fallen; that Pemberton had escaped from the city with the loss of his artillery. This report, however, was promptly denied. On the same day authentic accounts and pictures of an engagement at Champion’s Hill, near Vicksburg, were received. About five o'clock in the morning of May 15 General Grant had received information from two men who had been

DAY OF UNION AND LIBERTY

This I* the Time the Nation Should Remember the Debt It Owes to the Veterans. On May 30, 1862, there was no such smiling land as we see this day. Then the booming of the guns alternated with a dead march four years long; today we see an exultant republic, running eagerly forward to meet its fuller and more glorious destiny. And whom shall we thank for this? The venerable men who walk or ride on Memorial day beneath their sacred battle flags, and the men who sleep today beneath the blue of the sky and the stars of the night How great their sacrifice! Some gave literally all they had —even their names. They lie in unmarked trenches, their very place of sepulture forgotten. Their names are lost, and they have gained a name the which neither man nor time can wrest from them —the name of Patriot. . _ .. Their prowess save us peace; Undying be their fame. It is for us of the younger generation) whose eyes opened on a country wrapped in peace, to fill up our hearts as urns with the precious wine of gratitude and offer them, brimming over, to that Grand Army of the Republic which marches in flesh and spirit on Memorial day. Are there shadowy and invisible reunions at Bull Run, and. SpottsylVania, and the Wilderness, and Manassas, and Malvern Hill, and Cold Harbor, and Gettysburg, and Atlanta? Well, might there be when the nation at this time rises on memory’s wings to the heights of

a vicarious heroism. For Memorial day is the day of the living and the dead, the day of comrades whom no sting of death nor lapse of time can separate. It is the day when the Grandy Army militant salutes the Grand Army triumphant. It is the sacramental day of nationality. It is the day we acknowledge each and all our debt to the boys of ’62, who are now the patriarchs of ’l4. It is the day of neither North nor South, nor East nor West, but of Union and Liberty, now and forevgr, one and inseparable.

Left Capital Vulnerable.

One hundred years ago the residents of Washington .were seriously disturbed by rumors that the British were planning an expedition for the capture of their city. Grave as was the danger, the authorities were slow to move. After considerable delay a fleet of gunboats and barges were assembled and placed under the command of the veteran Commodore Barney, who had served with distinction in' the Revolution. But the land defenses were almost totally neglected. Though the government called for 15< 000 troops, the actual defense force about the national capital consisted of but a few hundred militia. In consequence, when the British finally marched on the city in midsummer they encountered little opposition.

Very Old Copper Mine.

If not absolutely the oldest, the Store KopparEerget in Sweden is the oldest copper mine of which any-offi-cial figures can be found. It has been worked continuously for nearly eight hundred years. ________

employed on the Jackson and Vicksburg railroad and who had passed through Pemberton’s army in the night, that the Confederate general was marching east with 80 regiments of infantry and ten batteries, in all about twenty-five thousand men.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER

Child- Learns That Joy Sometimes Finds Deepest Expression In Tears. It was a morning in early spring—the spring of ’65. The orchard was in full bloom and on the -wind was the odor of the blossoming crabapple trees in the woods pasture. I was sitting on the back doorstep eating a bowl of bread and milk and pausing between spoonfuls to note the glory of woods, pasture and blue sky. I was but four years old and the beauty of the world was just dawning on me, when to my ears came, sudden, far-off, dull booms like sudden echoes of thunder. The sky was without a cloud. Again I heard the dull boom. Ah! I had ft! ‘•Mother,’’ I called, "someone’s pounding on the side of Uncle Dave’s barn!” She came to the door and listened. Again, came the dull, thunderous sound. For a moment she listened and then burst out sobbing. "What’s the matter, mother? Does it scare yon? I’m not afraid!” She stooped over and gathered me to her breast “The war is over. The war is over.” was all she could say, but she said it over and over. “The war is over and your father is coming home.” "Why, Fd think you’d laugh instead of cry! I’d think you’d be glad instead of sorry.” Child that I was, I knew not that joy sometimes finds deepest expression In tears. ————- » ' Stoneworkers. in Germany have a I union membership of 76,783.

Grant Immediately recalled Sherman from Jackson and directed him to send one division with an ammunition train to Join his own "force. Within an hour after sending this dispatch Steele’s division was under way. The Union forces moved cautiously, with pickets thrown in advance, -by several roads. Smith’s division on the isouthernmost road was the first to encounter the enemy’s pickets. They were driven in, as were the pickets confronting Osterhaus on the middle road and Hovey on the northernmost road. By the time Grant arrived Hovey’s skirmish had assumed almost the proportions of a battle. Pemberton selected a position on Champion’S Hill to meet the Union forces. General Grant at once realized that the posi-

denlng report of those killed in the engagement Full lists were being published about the Memorial day season. The Union loss at Champion’s Hill was, according to General Grant’s memoirs, 410 killed, 1,844 wounded and 187 missing. Hovey alone lost 1,200 killed, wounded and missing—onethird of his command. It was estimated that the Confederates lost about 3,000 killed and wounded and 3,000 captured in pursuit and battler Loring’s division, which was the right of Pemberton’s line, never got back into Vicksburg, and Pemberton fell back to Big Black river. The most cheerful part of this Memorial day news was the fact that it meant Grant had a firm position between Johnston and Pemberton. Close on the news from Champion’s Hill came dispatches describing a fight at Big Black river.

through the bayous and swamps back of the city. Dispatches printed on May 30 gave rise to considerable anxiety over Grant’s safety. Johnston was not more than fifty miles in his rear with an army about the size of his own, and Pemberton had the advantage of the fortifies-

tions and outworks about Vicksburg. A day or two after May 30, 1863, reports were received in the North of desperate hand to hand fighting outside of Vicksburg and general assaults on the works. Several fortifications fell, but Were retaken by the Confederates. In the end of May the marine divisions under Porter did some excellent work at Hayne’s Bluffs under Grant’s, direction. News of this was printed shortly after the date which is now set apart for Memorial day. There had been much criticism of the administration in the North and the Union arms had come in for their share of popular opprobrium and the news of Grant’s successes in the West was sorely needed. It heartened the trootfs serving in other campaigns and It heartened those at home. ;•/ It was not long before what is now Memorial day that New York, in 1868, received news of the gallant charge of the Eighth Pennsylvania cavalry at Hasel Grove, where "Stonewall” Jackson turned the Union right. Infantry, artillery and cavalry lost heavily in this engagement in Hooker's Chancellorsville campaign.

Gift of Thoughts.

If, Instead of a gem, or even a flower, we could cast the gift of a lovely thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels must give.—George MacDonald.

Making a Virtue of Necessity.

Most of the advocates of walking as a splendid exercise are people too poor to afford motor cars.—Charleston News and Courier,

tion was a strong one. The hill commanded a of the surrounding country and was protected by a ravine and heavy shrubbery. The battle of Cham-, pion’s Hill lasted about four hours, during which time every man of Hovey’s division and McPherson’s two divisions was engaged. General Grant drove Pemberton from his position and the city of Vicksburg was nearer to its doom. Had it not been for neglect on the part of subordinates to promptly obey, General Grant felt that he could have almost completely diso r g a n 1 z e d Pemberton's force. Tempering this bit of hopeful news was the sad-

where the Confederates were again driven from their position, and fled across the stream, burning the bridges. Pontoons were constructed and the Union army continued In pursuit of P e m b es to n. After the engagements at Champion’s Hill and Big Black river the Investment of Vicksburg was as complete as Grant’s limited number of troops could make it. For days the newspapers were filled with the progress of the work of constructing roads

FABLES FOR THE FAIR

THE WOMAN WHO HELPED HER SISTER There was once a Woman who had Bead in a Book that the Best Way to Become Dear to a Man was to Cktok Appetizing Dishes for Him. Therefore'when a Nice Man Called on Her it was Her Custom to Betire to the Dining-room and Compose Delicious Lunches in a Chafing-dish, leaving her Sister to Entertain the Man till her Beturn. Her Sister would not Learn to'Cook, because she did Not Care to. - . One Day the Man invited the Woman to Go to the Theater with him.

THAT EVENING HE FELL IN LOVE WITH THE SISTER.

This she would have Liked to do Very Much, but she Remembered What she had Read, and replied: "I will Tell you Something Better. Take my Sister to the Theater, and when you Come Home! will have a Nice Supper waiting For You.” "Oh, said the Man. That evening he Fell in Love with the Sister, and Some Time Later he asked her to Marry him. “But I Thought it was My Sister you Came to See,” said she; "and besides that I Fear I should Make a Poor Wife. lam Not Practical and I Cannot Cook.” „ "As to that,” replied the Man, "I came at First, it is True, to see Your Sister, but I saw Very Little of her because she Stayed in the Diningroom So Much. So that I Grew to Admire You. And as for your Not Cooking, that is Easily Arranged. Your Sister can Live with Us and Manage All That yery nicely.” This teaches us that you must Catch your Hare before you Cook for Him. .

THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

There was once a Woman who Understood her Fellow Men very Thor* oughly. This Endeared her to Many of Them, but as she was Very Par* ticular in Her Tastes, they Seldom Suited her. Finally, however, she Found a Man who Perfectly Satisfied all her Requirements. She then Brought to Bear upon him All her Information concerning His Sex, which was Great One day the Man’s Sister Called on Her and said, "It is a Good Thing that you are So Strong, for so is He, and He does Not Like Delicate Women.” At this the Woman Smiled. "I should be Very Foolish were I to Act on This Hint,” said. she. "My Knowledge of Men teaches me that Such Men invariably Prefer Womenjof Opposite Disposition from Themselves.” So when he Next Saw her she Told him that she was Terribly Afraid of Mice end Could Not Walk Far. Again His Sister Called on Her and said, "It is-a Good Thing that

"WHEN A WOMAN ADMITS SHE CAN MASTER POLITICS, THEN IT IS ALL UP WITH HER."

► you Understand Politics so Well, for he is Much Interested in it, and says that All Intelligent Women should be, too.” The Woman Smiled Wisely. “I should be More than Foolish were Ito Allow myself to be Deceived by This,” she said. “When a Woman admits that she can Master Politics, then it is All Up with Her. A Man’s last claim to Superiority is Gone, and Lase would be Unendurable to Him without That.” Sp when he next Saw her she Asked him if it were True that Republicans were Better Dressed than Democrats, and why They had to Import their Ballots from Australia. By and by he Stopped Calling, and she Learned to her Horror thaC he had Engaged himself tb a Woman who had Written a Pamphlet on the Currency Question. She herself had Given a great Many Ideas on this Subject to the Other Woman. Thus she Realized that the Man was Peculiar. X This teaches us that Things are Sometimes What They Seem.

His Bringing Up.

"My dear man, how Is It that you have become such a slave to the liquor habit T* ■‘s.' "Twas me parents’ fault, lady. They begun It” “You mean to say your parents formed this habit In your » "Bure, lady. They brung me up on the bottlh" __ __

By JOSEPHINE DODGE DASKAM

Can't Count on Papa.

Teacher—Johnny Sinks, each month you are growing worse with your arithmetic. When you are at home at night why don’t you get your father to help you with your lessons? Johnny—lt won’t do no good, ma’am. All pop knows about ’rithmetlc is th Agger out the bowling scores and the batUn’averages.