Show PASSING OF THE GRAND ARMY 1 the I 1 of ill hi grand army in its relation to nil lif iff and amolo from its lt traditional niao tation lallon and charitable harl hari table mork ork aai As to nani tho thi citory alf tory blitch had been t in on itha hi fled field I 1 of battle the post rooms Lj ajmo bome mo s of if loyalty A where rev rence reme foi the flag as the he symbol of clio nation has bt b en persistently inculcated and wacie the national idea has be n constantly ex alto alti d I 1 then hen rame came the work ork in the schools of which mention has been mado made and hi r of till all tho the land knows knos I 1 it to la not too ciuc h to say that owing I 1 to the ho far i iia aching hing influence of the grand army ol of the republic more than to anything rise else the flag I 1 Is now universally revered and there la Is no any question in the land either in the north or south that the artier amer lean ican people now constitute a nation day after day as aa tho the of their achievements in ili all the arts of peace is in finding new acknowledgment in ev pry ery quarter of the iho globe there connes comes new evidence that they are a unit the world encompassing power of the future auturo treat areat glor loun loutt invincible but what of the men who won this priceless heri heritage tago in the most dons struggle lile of the age they are passing passing swiftly etoie than ihan ever now anih h annual brings hom hoim tile the tr aRcidy of nt death in life fire mor than I 1 evar now itt annual inual emllia the irim solemn fait that fool all too won boon the grand army ot of the republic with alth all that it am sam will wil bo be nothing but a tion I 1 agures that do not lie give much foot foo I 1 for thought sad intros antros thought in anjil 1861 moie than a million of men were in the military service of the united states to lit so must be added a roll of names bich at that time num ovet three hundred and filfly airty thousand tile the grand army of tile tho lead dead during the four years yeara of the deaper ate conflict altogether men had been enrolled lit in the military ser ger vice abere had bad abtin in en lIll lilloll ool lit in hat bat tie lied died of abounds and other injuries of disease and from causes not lassil led a total donth loll 1011 of 3 this vast arm had part in more than two thousand engagements sands nanda will x no more ahat Is what tho af pf ol of tho th grand army of the mans m ans ana and try to realize too what gentl m ment e s rs round that thought it ibbe lur ash w will i 1 be fresh e vivid leal in the minds of inch cach and every one of those march ing thousands the nui mn mho fought curlit and sul su erd for a glorious BUBO ause the pashing of the grand at aimy my of the re public but notwithstanding this aal decrease it has been suggested that the chip ought to increase year by acar I 1 theio hot a ate aie still living over of the men ito hu were part of that grand army of the me sixties and of that gumbei less than are over 64 yeats old hurt therefore as it may be tile tho grand army may still look jook forward to a glorious futura larom a speech delivered at tho the lait laa national encamp encampment ment of tho the G GAR A IL ta I 1 0 i t IF J aw e U 4 ot I 1 1 lw i ir t 4 J aaa W ki gen Sherl dans grave at arlington many of them of minor importance as aa to the number of men engaged or re suits bulls attained while others were mighty battles which strained all the resources and tested the fullest pow ors era ot of endur endurance of the tha great appos lug ing armies to an extent which must make tile the legend which floated from a banner stretched across the tha front of the capitol while hile the con conqueror conque querol rois s were mere marching arching in by during those two tao memorable days of it the grand spectre alir pence review the only nation nl at debt we never can pay la Is the debt we ove the victorious union soldiers ling down tile the agos ages lofever it waft lout of all this that the grand army my of the republic grow into being lit in 1878 with a membership of only out of till all those hundreds of thou sands of veterans dut but ua its growth was inevitable as inevitable as its decline arid and death in 1890 the tha organization reached tho high water mark with alth au all enrollment ot of since which time it has haa diminished at the rate of two three tour four five six seven yes and even eight thousand a year and more in 1893 the roll had sunk to in that year alone 8 answered their final summons rause pause for a moment ard think what that means over thousand members passing awny away cery lear and the ratio increasing rapidly can your wind mind grasp the floure in ili all their pathetic eight thousand every year and soon boon it may be nine ton ten eleven who shall say how matir many more mora thousands till the roster to in totally effaced frD aced steal on the tha street when the men who ore ire como come to live over again the stirring days of 0 the past go marching by count them if ou can and you will find that there are nearly eight thousand in line it Is an imposing rray array a vust host the tile like of whick la Is rarely reen feen in ono one tenso tense eager body and the i lot let your mind try to grasp the tha thought that before another year has busell lit those marching ekow ako tko IV lot |