Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1899 — OBSERVANCE OF MEMORIAL DAY [ARTICLE]

OBSERVANCE OF MEMORIAL DAY

Graves of American Soldiers Everywhere Are Decorated. The Memorial Bay services at the Arlington national cemetery at Washington were made especially notable by the presence of the President of the United States and moat of the members of his cabinet. The crowd was larger than at any other observance in recent years, owing, doubtless, to the interest taken in Memorial Day exercises on account of the newly made graves of soldiers of the SpanishAmeriean war. Memorial Day was observed at the national cemetery at Chattanooga, where nearly 15,000 Union soldiers lie buried, by joint exercises, under the auspices of the G. A. R. and soldiers of the SpanishAmerican war. A large number of the latter who died at Ohickamauga are buried in the national cemetery. At Knoxville, Tenn., impressive exercises were held in honor of the nation’s dead. The national cemetery, containing 2,198 known and 1,048 unknown dead, was filled by patriotic people from over the centra! South. Each grave received a floral tribute, several ex-Confederates assisting in the distribution. Defenders of the Union from thirty States lie within the ten-acre inclosure, which also includes a score of victims of the Spanish war. Memorial Day was very generally observed throughont Nebraska, and especially at Omaha. The exercises there were more elaborate than anything of the kind for years. The effect of events transpiring since last Memorial Day was plainly apparent in the unußual interest manifested in the exercises. All business was suspended in Manila in honor of the day set aside to decorate the graves of American soldiers. Services for the dead were held in Paco cemetery in the morning, and in the afternoon at Battery Knoll cemetery. Great crowds from Manila attended both services. The American soldiers, bearing wreaths of green and white, marched to the cemeteries with the regimental bands playing slow mnsic. Following the soldiers came marines and sailors from the American warships. Gen. Otis and staff, Captain Barker in temporary command of the squadron, and the members of the United States Philippines commission, occupied positions near the speakers at both services. Nearly all the English and Spanish residents of Manila participated in the ceremonies.

Soldiers of our two last wars joined in making the New York Memorial Day parade the largest and most impressive that the city has seen for many years. The day was observed at Havana in a notable manner. In the morning a committee of women were taken to the wreck of the battleship Maine, where they strung the skeleton of the unfortunate craft with ropes of lanrel and wreaths of flowers. Exercises took place at the Quemados and Colon cemeteries. The day was also observed at Santiago. The remaining graves of American soldiers at Lao Guimas and sailors at Guantanamo were appropriately decorated. Prominent Cubans displayed interest, and many are desirous of having the day officially recognized as a holiday for the decoration of the graves of the Cuban dead. A large throng gathered in the cemetery of Picpus, at Paris, to assist in the annual decoration by Americans of the tomb of Lafayette. Interest in the occasion was enhanced by a speech from former President Benjamin Harrison. Ten thousand men, including 2,000 soldiers and sailors of the Spanish-American war, marched in Chicago’s Memorial Day parade. The column was headed by members of the G. A. R., followed by men who fotpght in the recent war, the Illinois National Guard, and semi-military and civic organizations.