Recognizing Our Debt
To American Soldiers
Once every year the American people acknowledge a sacred indebt
edness to the soldiers who gave their lives in order that their coun
try might in later years enjoy the blessing of greater security, greater
freedom and greater prosperity.
It is never expected that such an obligation can be met in full meas
ure. but we make the nearest possible approach to that end when we
follow with one mind and purpose the living comrades of the soldier
dead.
The ceremonies of Memorial Day are never remote in their appeal.
There always has been, and there is today, a very direct and personal
contact between those who receive and those who give the nation’s
tribute. All the patriotic services of the day take their spirit from the
thoughts of the living veterans who fought in the same battles and
who knew better than anyone else can possibly know how a brave man
can die for his country. —
It is the prayer of the nation that the day may come when gen
erations wholly inexperienced in war may at last observe Memorial day
as the symbol of the soldier’s enduring triumph. No American sol
dier has died for the sake of war. All have made their sacrifice for
the sake of peace—not the peace of the moment for their own enjoy
ment, but the peace to be purchased for their countrymen at IfCrgc.
If the American of the future is to see perpetual peace,- there
should be an even greater and more earnest disposition to honor the
memory of American soldiers. An attitude of indifference toward
Memorial day might well be regarded as one of the first signs of a
declining civilization. Even the cruel wear of war is less a tragedy than
the merciless rust of social decay. So long as the United States ex
pects to be a great and prosperous nation, it must be a virile and
heroic nation. There need be no fear for its future if Memorial day
is everlastingly maintained as evidence that the American people re
member and understand the price which their soldiers have paid for
the blessings of peace.
MEMORIAL DAY.
Sixty years and more have slipped
away since the last shot was fired
in the war between the states. With
those passing days has come a holy
peace to the nation, an under
standing and an accommodation
that helps America pursue her des
tiny with confident zeal. Only a
few of the many millions of young
men who marched in the ranks
from '61 to ’65 yet linger. Feeble
and wasted with the lack of time,
they await the call that will sum
mon them to Join the grand assem
bly on the other shore. Honor is
theirs, and quiet rest in their clos
ing hours. And it should be so.
Animosity and bitterness, born of
the dispute that found i‘s issue and
answer in bloody strife, have van
ished. We think now not of the
cause but of the devoted valor of
the men who fought. Recognizing
that it was Americans, freemen,
struggling for what they regarded as
right. Paying, as Abraham Lincoln '
voiced, “tile last full measure of ■
devotion in support of their views.
Time’s never-failing ancndyne has
soothed the fever of the wounds.
Other interests and enterprises oc
cupy the time of the people, other
issues claim the boards for discus
sion. And a united country presses
forward along the road appointed
for the nation, moving always to
more magnificent heights of great
ness.
It was cut of that war the beau
tiful custom of Memorial Day was
born. We pay our tribute to the
soldier, the man who faced the dan- j
ger and sustained the vicissitudes |
of war, from 1775 to 1919. All these
are honored for their valor, their
devotion, and their readiness to
serve. For “a grateful nation re
members its dead,” and no longer
looks at the uniform the dead man
wore.
“Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the Judgment Day—
Under the roses the Blue,
Under the liliies the Gray.”
A DAY DEDICATED
TO MEMORIES
West ol' the Blue Ridge and north
of the Ohio they call it Decoration
Day. East of these blue hills it is
Memorial Day. East of them or
west of them it is a day, regardless
of its pleasure-hunting holiday
crowds, that has a shadow of solem
nity over it.
Dedicated to memories, it offers to
the soldier dead of the nation some
enduring touch of immortality. He
who rests under the green mound
may be forgotten of men. His war
fare is over. His battles may be no
more than a dimming date or a far
off echo of unhappier days. Wind
and rain may have worn his name
from his gravestone even as Time
has wiped his memory from the
minds of the living.
Yet he is merged with all his sol
dier comrades in the memory of
his country. He is a part oi a great
past coming down through Bunker
Hill and Brandywine. Lundy’s Lane
and Chapultepec, Gettysburg and
Shiloh, San Juan Hiil and Manila
Bay to the wheat fields of Scissons,
to St. Mihiei and the Woods of the
Argonno For old battles, half for
gotten. blend with those over which
still hovers the fcg of fighting.
Memorial Day began in the North
In memory of those who perished on
Southern battlefields. Now it be
longs to the dead of all our wars. \
The graves It strews with flowers
have written into our soil the rec
ord of tl c fears that were faced and
the work that was done In molding
a free people. ,
It is so easy to forget these dead
when the guns are silent. New
srnss covers a shell-torn field no
faster than the story of thetr sacrl
lices fades from the memory of the
living. Life flows on over them,
but the conscience of the Nation
demands they shall not be forgot
ten. These camps of the dead are
Pity V\ > ted <>n Du,-.
Gordon Cragl in the Dial.
A leprnd was created around th* I
late Eleonora Duse by persons not
Quite In their senses I think I must
have ablated at this In my youth.
People around me were ever so
ready to cry out, 1 Pcor. po.*r wo
man’ on every occasion that her
name sit mentioned: Indred th**v
were rather too apt to do so atawi
-very woman I dare say I t'o * *>k
up the puse of one wlut felt qul:e
sorry.
It became % legend her sorrow,
'ud this legend about Duse be
ln* a "poor soman' gather " t force
until ah JSrgo; d »is gioarm*
I I
too full of meaning to America for
them to be ignored.
For yonder may rest a soldier of
the Revolution. Without him the
Declaration of Independence might
have been so many empty words.
There may rest a veteran who
marched with Taylor or crossed the
plains with Doniphan's men. With
out him there might have been few
er stars in the flag..
Or here sleeps one who fought at
Chancellorsville or Chickamauga.
Because of him, the Union remains
one, free and indivisible.
There are others who knew El
Caney or who saw Cervera’s ships
hunted down at Santiago. Because
of them, Cuba is no longer a re
proach to the western world.
There are graves of those who,
after *h« Vesle and the Marne,
looked no more upon the sun for
ever. Because of them, a menace
against the freedom and peace of
the world has gone and the nations
can gather at Geneva and talk of
disarmament.
Until the day of universal dis
arming and from generation unto
generation thereafter the memory
of all these should be kept as green
as the grass which covers them.
They may be counted as martyrs to
the beast in humanity, and while
others may have failed, they did
not fail. They gave what was asked
and they ate home from the wars.
The time may come when war
fare will be infrequent and almost
unknown. That time is not yet. Un
til then mankind must keep and
cherish the soldier’s faith. When
he passes he must not be forgotten
or his sacrifices be ignored. This
realization far down in the Nation's
heart gives to Memorial Day its
deeper significance.
It is more than a day of flowers
and bands, of solemn words and
holiday crowds. It is a time dedi
cated to memories of things that
have been, of things accomplished
and of things endured.
1HK Liirus GllEEN TENTS
Only yesterday, as time goes, file
upon file of grizzled but sturdy men
who had worn the blue in the crit
ical Sixties marched miles through
flag-flung, cheer-echoing streets in
the annual Memorial day parades.
Today the relatively few surviv
ors of that proud ble army, such
of them as are able to get out at
all, ride in carefully driven automo
biles over the same pavements that
only recently resounded to the timed
thump of their marching feet. And
each year that band of aged heroes
dwindle’.
That there will be surviving vet
erans of the Civil war for years to
come, no one doubts. The pension
bureau last year still had on its
rolls 17 veterans of the Mexican
war. a war now four score years
in the past, to say nothing of 21
widows of men who fought against
the British in the War of 1812.
That there are still alive some
thing l.ke 125,000 Union soldiers of
the Civil war. though the man who
was 20 the year of Gettysburg is
now 83. and even the lad who was
but 18 in the closing year of the
war is now 77.
We would that these 125,000
could go on living, that the Grand
Armv of the Republic, which still
musters 56,000 men, could continue
functioning forever. But we know
that this cannot be. that the time
must come—though it may be long
In the coming—when there will be
no Grand Armv of the Re 'die.
Today the Grand Army of its kin
dred organization keeps green the
graves or the Bovs In Blue, scattered
the length and breadth of the land
they fought to save The rest of ms
ewe to tomorrow the solemn duty
of k-eplrg marked. In order and In
violate, these little green tents for
all time to come, for veari and vw
after the last Grand Army post ha1
had Its final roll rail. In the lime
to come, let us net forget that duty
“Oh, the noor woman-—oh. the poor
deer creature*** whenever she w**
mentioned: adding “that brute
d'Annumtlo!"
What d'Annuntio had to do with
it was no? r!»sr ?o me at the time
nor has it t*ne# beocine anv clearer
To ludgo (ram tht walling ohorua.
8-guora Ouse had me* but one man
In hef llf» ar.d h* wvs eill**d d’An*
nuiWto, whereat we know that Mlg
nota Data* had met hundred*
• •
Q Win invented painting In otla*
R. A 0
A Jan V »n K\h of the Pten.UI
school lm b«»»n (eneraljy credited
with th* inv’Mlon >r at le«Mi with
the flral startle*, f painting lit a*'
Ex-Film Actress Weds
Katherine McDonald, former
screen star, who has become
the wife of Christian R.
Holmes, Montecito, California,
millionaire. Holmes is a
nephew of Max l'leischmann,
yeast manufacturer, and i* the
owner of the Featherhill
Ranch, one of the show places
of the Pacific Coast. The new
Mrs. Holmes was known as
“The American Beauty” dur
ing the days of her screen
•prominence.
ilnlai national Illuatratad Nawn)
i
Bremen’s Daddy
Prof. Hugo Junkers, designer
and builder of the now famous
transatlantic flight plane, is
now in New York with the trio
of gallant fliers who made the
epoch making flight in the
Bremen.
tlnternatlnna) Newsreel)
Stoneham Held Liable
Charles A. Stoneham. owner
of the New York Ciiautl, is
held liable in two test eases,
according to a decision anded
down by tbe Appella'c Divi
sion of the Supreme < "'irt ol
New York. Tbe court ■ h.irac
tcrirrd tbe brokerage I < isiucss
former!* rnndurted bv Stone
ham “A hold and d> berate
conspiracy, fraudulentlv to con
vert on a large scale M Suits
amounting to over $1 ^W.UOO
"re nemlmg
FOUR LOST; TWO SCORE SAVED IN BOAT CRASH '
This photo shows the upper structure of the
ill-fated U. S. dredge “Navesink” after it wa3
sunk in a collision in New York harbor. Many
vessels rushed to aid the crew, who were
forced to take to the water and by quick actfoa'
were able to save more than forty of the
dredge’s crew of forty-seven. It is feared thati
four lives were lost
(International Nawaraal)
ARLEN MARRIED TO COUNTESS
Begins Atlanta Term
H- —^ »
MICHAEL ARLEN
Countess Meroati became Mrs.
Kouyoutujian, Michael Arlcn’s
real name, in a civil ceremony
at Cannes, France. The couple,
who announced their engage
ment several months ago, plan
to take a trip around the world
and live cn a South Sea Island
for some time before coming
back to civilization.
(International Illustrated News)
Lindbergh s Teacher
l
i-—--1
Lieut. Commander P. V. H.
Weems of Washington, D. C.,
has been assigned by the Navy
Department to tutor Col.
Charles A. Lindbergh in cer
tain phases of navigation in
preparation for his (Jrecnland
lceland-Ireland flight.
(Irt«r«aUoMl
After G!ojc Record
» ■ ' —■ .— ■■■*! .. ^
John Henry Mear*, of Ne»v
York, former record holder for
circling the rIoI>€, i* preparing
for anoi'c r attempt in rrg-in
the tn!* an t hoj»e» to make the
In*, iu .e * than 2J day*.
I ■ ' ■ .. i i
"** "" " 1 '■ ■—it -. ir ,rnr.
MRS. MICHAEL ARLEN
P pMKr’K. %:.*k v:-:-.
V*i* ■■ ■■ »»■ mmwiii
Colonel Thomas W. Miller, for
mer alien property custodian,
as he appeared at New York,
enroute to Federal penitentiary
at Atlanta, Ga. He was tried
twice on conspiracy charges
and now starts an eighteen
month sentence.
(International Newireel)
SAY PRINCE STARTLES EXPERTS
f— ■ ,m> m I !■■■■■- —■■—II . ■
Mv wordt What arc we coming to? Imagine wearing »»»•*»«•
at the ra»M. Tint * ju»t *hat the Prince ol Wale* h.ia done
when he tmle in a race recently, bhorle with golf ti'idiir.ga *rt
the world of fashion all agog, but then the Prince u note* lofy
♦clung the ra.e tm atviei.
