AMERICA’S DEAD.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16505, 5 August 1919, Page 7

AMERICA’S DEAD.

PILGRIMS' OFFERINGS AT BROUKWUUD. •'They have died not for our ease and comfort, but for a hotter America." No tears or heaviness of heart or mourning marked the little service in a Surrey Held. Nature said "no '■—a glorious blue ami gold ami green May day. and man said "no ’ —tins graveside scene shall radiate serenity, a quietly triumphant veneration of tne living for the valiant dead Many people, hundreds, went to Brookwood for this little service in a Surrey tick! to celebrate American commemoration Day, a day of homage set it-ido since the Civil war for all who die for others. The pilgrims who went to Brookwood hearing boxes of flowers and wreaths and tiny Ist arts and .Stripes wore no drab funeral garb. Tnero were slim young Americans in khaki, blue and grey cloaked nursing sisters, brightly gowned women dangling parasols, here- an admiral aftd a generat"*and a staff officer representing tlie Prince of Wales, there three veterans of the Civil War. one coal black, slowly waving national emblems to unci fro. FLAGS AND FLOWERS. Quietly the company moved about between - the graves, planting a lilllo flag at tin 1 head ol eaeii and strewing tlie remainder of the mound with rain-how-coloured bunches. In the centre careful hands piled up the bigger tokens —a floral ottering, the Union Jack, and Stars and Stripes, inscribed "From the English-Speaking Union,’ - a simple all-white ring of lilies from Viscount Northcliffo, a second "from the officers, N.C.O.’s and men of the Aldl-rshot Command.”

Anti when every grave of officer and man had been decorated as since 'G3, a British band played softly, very softly. And then heads were bared while two famous hymns were sung, and all listened silently while Chaplain Anderson spoke of the moral of it all. IVo sentences stood out: ‘‘Who would have dreamt, five years ago, that we should ho standing hero in England to-day keeping Commemoration Dayf” And, “Let ns think,_ too, of those men ot the Imperial forces who also have found a resting place in England here besides our own.” The firing of two volleys, the sounding of the “Last Post,” the soft playiug of two national airs, and this little service in a Surrey field was over. The pilgrims lingered on a little by_ the graves of Anzacs and Smith Africans, of Newfoundlanders and of Englishmen—an English-speaking union of the dead—then turned from this . . . corner of an English field That is for over foreign. The graves wore decorated throughout tho kingdom. Wreaths were placer! on graves at Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Plymouth, Winchester, and at Queenstown, where American victims of the Lusitania arc buried. An American nurse and officer motored from Winchester to East Mellow, near Rwnsev, Hauls, and placed a wreath on Florence Nightingale s 'PICTURESQUE PARIS HOMAGE. “They are. not lying on alien soil, these dead of ours,” said President Wilson, when he stood up and faced an enormous crowd gathered to hear his memorial address beside, the cemetery cut in tho steep hillside of Suresnes, Paris, where so many American soldiers now lie. It was a most impressive scene. On a small platform by the side of tho President were a group of French generals, including Marshal Eoch, and a handful of women chiefly in black. it-, When the President had concluded his speech flowers were laid upon the graves, and the band played Chopin s Funeral March. The ceremony ended with “The Star-Spangled Banner, and a verso of the “Marseillaise I hen, slow and impressive, rang out laps from the sweet, clear bugles, and the immense gathering broke up. WREATHS ON ALT/ GRAVES. The American dead, lying on the battlefields of France and the lulls of Germany, were honoured hy their comradcs in Europe. Wreaths were placed on every grave. . General Pershing was present at the Memorial Day ceremony at tho magnificent Argonne cemetery_ at Bomagnesuv Montfaueon. This is the migcst American cemetery in Europe. It lies on the side ot a gentle hill ]ust outside tho village on ground captured by the 32nd Division. Nino thousand officers and men lie there, and another 20 000 will yet he removed from where they now sleep to tlu fi monument to American. s-'uu'iiina.

A preliminary notice of a. sale of household furniture and effects on account of the trustee of the late David Teed appears in our auction columns. Messrs. Webster Bros, are conducting • the sale on Wednesday, 13th, at the late residence, corner Weymouth and Hine Streets. Wright’s Coal Tar Soap and Woodward’s Gripe Water are obtainable at the Central Pharmacy (between Morey’s and Mollison’s).