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Show The Day of Memories Memorial customs, introduced at the close of the Civil war, in compliance with plans made by Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan, will be ob-Borvert ob-Borvert this vear in thousands of cities, villages and hamlets, the surviving veterans still taking a leading part In the exercises. It is they who have made Jhe arrangements for the ceremonies; they will go early to the cemeteries ceme-teries and place blossoms upon the graves of their brother soldiers; they will constitute a pathetic and inspiring feature of the parade. Some day they will not be here to plan and execute for Memorial day. Some day they all will have gone into camp on the plaiSs and In the cities or the dead. Some day a grateful public will look in vain for any of them In the parade. Then, what? Will the day and Its beautiful, beauti-ful, patriotic customs that were so dear to them, cease to be remembered and observed? Were that question submitted to the people today It is certain that the votes against remembrance and observance would be too few tor enumeration. The soldiers have led the way; they have shown the people how to plan and execute for a successful suc-cessful observance of the day. There have been not a few but thousands of deeply Interested participants. par-ticipants. All of the patriotic societies that have grown out of the Civil war are among them, and their members are numbered by the tens of thousands. thou-sands. Then there are the societies which have come into existence as a rsult of the revolutionary war, the war of 1812, the war with Mexico, the Spanish-American war and the Philippine Insurrection. Insur-rection. And these are not all. Millions of men and women who have come from the schools, and other millions of hoys and girls now In the schools, would forbid a suspension of Memorial day observances. Pass the word along the thinning ranks of every veteran parade in the country they served so well that the custom initiated by them and their sleeping sleep-ing associates shall not be abandoned; that It ehall be handed on from generation to generation. |