107 
IS MEMORIAL 
"To perpetually reach the heart of 
the public — even one day in the j^ear 
— is a big job,” writes a thoughtful 
cemetery superintendent, and perhaps 
that is why the spirit of Memorial 
Day has changed — if it has changed. 
From some ciuestions addressed to 
cemetery superintendents who natural- 
ly note the observance of the day 
more closely than other citizens, we 
learn that the spirit of the day has 
changed; that it has not changed: that 
it is declining in popularity; that it 
is not declining; that the day of 
mourning is declining, the day of hon- 
or, not; that it is becoming more and 
more a popular "decoration” day for 
all graves; that human nature in the 
cemetery crowds has not changed 
much in a generation; that they are 
all on pleasure bent; that a better 
class of people visit the grounds; that 
they are more quiet and orderly; that 
floral decorations are more liberal. 
On the latter point there was a gen- 
eral unanimity that floral decorations 
are more profuse and better han- 
dled; that flags and emblems placed 
by the societies are of a better char- 
acter. Another practice that seems to 
be general is the participation of the 
school children in the exercises of the 
day. 
While answers to the questions re- 
vealed considerable difference in ex- 
pressed opinion, the facts on which 
they were based were not so widely 
at variance and tended to indicate that 
the difference was more in the point 
of view; in the personal attitude to- 
ward the day and as to what consti- 
tutes its proper observance. 
It has ever been the course of hu- 
man nature that the original purpose 
of the great national holidays should 
be lost sight of, though their observ- 
ance be just as zealously celebrated. 
Perhaps few ever think of the signifi- 
cance of Christmas, but who shall 
say that the spirit of giving and of 
good-will: of unselfishness and fellow- 
feeling is not in harmony with the 
spirit of Him in whose honor the 
day was instituted. Many would 
doubtless have to take recourse to the 
encyclopedia jf appealed to at Easter 
or St. Valentine’s Day to explain the 
origin of those days or the cere- 
monies that accompany them. Inde- 
pendence Day, which should be our 
grandest national memory, has degen- 
erated into a particularly insane form 
of Roman holiday. The only sugges- 
tion of its origin is that, as a day of 
carnage in our large cities, it does 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
DELEGATION FROM WOMAN’S 
RELIEF CORPS. DECORAT- 
ING SOLDIERS’ GRAVES. 
more damage to human life than some 
of the battles in the Revolution it 
commemorates. Its record is found 
chiefly in the statistics of the police 
and fire departments. 
Memorial Day had its origin in Gen- 
eral Orders No. 11 of the G. A. R., 
issued May 5, 1863, by General John 
A. Logan, then commander-in-chief 
of that organization. The following 
quotation from that historic document 
is the best official statement of the 
day's meaning: 
“The 80th day of May, 1863, is desig:- 
nated for the purpose of strewing with flow- 
ers or otherwise decorating the graves of 
comrades who died in defense of their coun- 
try during the late rebellion, and whose 
bodies now He in almost every city, village 
and hamlet in the land. In this observ- 
ance no form of ceremon 5 '’ is prescribed, but 
Posts and comrades will in their own way 
arrange such fitting services and testimon- 
ials of respect as circumstances may per- 
mit. We are organized, comrades, as our 
regulations tell us. for the purpose, among 
other things, ‘of preserving end strength- 
ening those kind and fraternal feelings 
which have bound together the soldiers, 
sailors and m.arines who united to suppress 
the late rebellion.’ 
“Let us, then, at the time appointed, 
gather around their sacred remains and 
garland the passionless mounds above them 
with the choicest flowers of Springtime; let 
us raise above them the dear old Flag they 
saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn 
presf^nce renew our pledges to aid and as- 
si.st those whom they have left among u.s, a 
TYPICAL DECORATION DAY CROWD 
DAY PASSING? 
sacred charge upon a Nation’s gratitude — 
the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and or- 
phan. 
“It is the purpose of the Commander-in- 
chief to inaugurate this observance with the 
hope that it will be kept up from year to 
year while a survivor ,of the war remains 
to honor the memory of his departed com- 
rades.’’ 
In its first years a day of mourning 
and of sad remembrance, its observ- 
ance was given over almost entirely 
to commemorating the soldier dead, 
and these exercises are still the dis- 
tinctive feature of the day. Gathered 
about the soldier plot, to be found in 
nearly every cemetery, the veterans 
and their friends listen to patrioic ad- 
dresses, place the official markers, 
flowers and flags and wander through 
the grounds to decorate scattered 
graves of other comrades. As time 
thins the ranks of the veterans and 
those who knew them personally, the 
day naturally becomes less an occa- 
sion of mourning and more one of 
memory and of honor. But memory, 
too, becomes dim, and honor to the 
brave and the great with each suc- 
ceeding year is left more and more 
,to the historian. But the observance 
of the day shows no sign of passing 
away entirelJ^ Commander Logan’s 
hope, expressed above, that it should 
be officially celebrated “while a sur- 
vivor of the war remains,” will doubt- 
less be more than realized. And when 
no survivor remains, it seems fair to 
prophesjf that the day will still retain 
its place as a general private Decora- 
tion Day. Indeed this aspect of the 
occasion is already more prominent 
than the purely “memorial’’ exercises. 
One cemetery superintendent says 
that so many flowers are used for 
private decoration that it is often dif- 
ficult to get enough for soldiers' 
graves. In Hartford, Conn., the 
schools are closed a half-day before, to 
allow the children to gather wild flow- 
ers. Another correspondent writes 
that the "Grandsons” commenced tak- 
ing active part last year. Several 
think the memorial spirit just as 
strong as in former years, and another 
suggests that the amusement parks, 
picnics, shows and other circus diver- 
sions becoming so rapidly prevalent 
have drawn the rougher element of 
the crowds to them, leaving the cem- 
etery to the more decorous and 
thoughtful. And the broader use as 
a general Decoration Day is not to be 
regarded as a desecration. It draws 
the lot holders and others to the 
cemetery, makes them more familiar 
with its beauties, more reverent to 
its meaning: it helps to -make them 
