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OFF TO THE WAR today one of the serious phases of war was brought home to the people of this city and state today there marched through our streets two batteries of artillery tillery ax numbering men who boarded the train that was to take them towards the place where they may meet the foe in mortal combat these men belong to utah each one of them represents a utah home and in each home that has a vacancy thus created there will be anxiety until the war is over or there will be grief for a son brother or husband who will return no more bravery and patriotism in of the true and enduring kind will no more ignore the truth than it will yield to gloom and when the seriousness of the business that has been witnessed in this city this day is fully confessed it does not follow that there is weakness on the part of either those who go or those who stay the soldier who is bravest to is the one whose face blanches as he calmly confronts the danger which he realizes but does not ignore so that people peoples la ls most patriotic who deliberately furnish the troops their country calls for meantime fully sensing all of danger and of horror that war signifies A full admission of the whole truth at the outset is a protection against th severer forms of grief and despair should the worst come to pass but in the case of our departing soldiers there Is much to cheer and support the fath falth of those they leave behind they are superior men in brain and brawn the foemen flemen they expect to meet are no match at all tor for them they are men who are so susceptible cep tible to training and discipline that they will quickly ripen into veterans of a skillful and intelligent courage the enemy to incapable of developing A few weeks on the training ground will make them equal to many times their own on number of ignorant fatuous and fanatical spaniards this applies under the supposition that they will operate in a campaign involving trying marches hard fighting retreat and pursuit and the usual fortunes of the battlefield but all existing indications point to a perfunctory rather than a damge dangerous rous campaign for the departing utah batteries it is likely that mere garrison duty will consume the bulk of the period of their service they go to the philippines which have already been virtually taken by american fo forces re and which after being garrisoned by Is american azri troops and defended by american batteries are not likely to be the scene of serious efforts by spain to recoup her fast falling fortunes that she can get either men money or ships ship s for an attempt to retake re take the islands certainly seems impossible there is on the islands a mongrel and heterogeneous population that will have to be kept in order but it Is not likely that this task will involve serious fighting hence the scant likelihood of grave danger to the army under general merritt but wax war is a stage on which the scenes are swiftly changed and there can be no confident foretelling what its developments may be come what may the departing soldiers from the youngest of the states will take with them the feir fervent vent prayers and heartfelt blessings of its whole people who will watch and wait for news of them with the deepest love and anxiety and the confident expectation that every one of them will do his full duty and reflect honor on the commonwealth he represents |
