and, therefore, the discharge may not be final; keep the old gun, then, in good order; see that the powder horn and bullet pouch are supplied, and caution your patriotic mothers or wives to be at all times prepared to furnish you a few days' cooked rations so that if your services are called for (which may God in his infinite goodness forbid) you may again prove yourselves 'minute men' and again protect our loved homes. "Invoking God's choicest blessing upon yourself and all who are dear to you. "I am very truly yours, DAVID TOD, Governor." April 22, 1911, the survivors of the Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry gathered in Cincinnati to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their enlistment. The Enquirer said: "Eleven hundred and fifty-five of Cincinnati's sturdy sons, most of them natives of Germany who had previously seen military service in the fatherland, were mustered into service April 22, 1861, in response to President Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand volunteers. Saturday night, just a half century after they began service under the stars and stripes, the survivors of this regiment, the Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, gathered to celebrate that event at Memorial Hall. There are now but ninety survivors. "Among the leaders of the volunteers were August Willich, Gustav Tafel, Robert L. McCook and Judge J. B. Stallo. The staff officers chosen after the regiment was mustered into service were Robert L. McCook, colonel; Karl Sondershoff, lieutenant-colonel; Frank Link, major; Charles Krause, surgeon; Rudolph Wirth, assistant surgeon; August Willich, adjutant; Joseph Graeff, quartermaster. "This regiment saw three years' heavy service, and during that time 481 of its members were killed, died of sickness and accidents or were permanently disabled. June 7, 1864, 674 men were mustered out, and since that time 584 have died. The present officers of the survivors' association are: President, Frank E. Kaiser; vice-president, George F. Feid; corresponding secretary, Fred Wendel; financial secretary and treasurer, Joseph Pische; librarian, Gerhard Ferber; color sergeant, Peter Miller." Memorial Day, 1911, fifty years after, was naturally of special significance. The Times-Star account will convey its pathos to the reader: "A living panorama of the Then and the Now marched through the streets of Cincinnati Tuesday to the music of bands. The Then was fifty years ago. The Now is to-day. The former day was represented by torn battle-flags, and the present by the bent and white-haired veterans who carried them. "The Memorial Day parade had a special meaning this year. It was fifty years ago that Sumter was fired upon. A young man who was twenty years of age then is seventy to-day. A man born on that eventful day is a half century old to-day. These thoughts came vividly to mind Tuesday when the memory of those who wore the blue and perished on the battlefield, or who have been laid under the sod since the dove of peace was substituted for the screaming eagle marched through the streets to remind the republic of its obligations. There were younger veterans present, too, younger men who have fought in other wars of more recent memory. There were children from the public schools, youths who have learned their lessons of patriotism from the deeds of their elders, and whose minds are still fresh, and less given to forgetfulness than those who were older. There were the citizen-soldiers of to-day marching with those who had borne the brunt of battle. "Each year the line of veterans grows a little thinner, a little whiter. It will not be long before the Memorial parade will not be a parade of survivors, but a parade of their descendants. There will be additional mounds of green in the cemeteries before another year has passed over those who have gone to battle for their country; yet those who marched on Tuesday will be as jealously looked after as those whom they themselves honored." “And yet," said the circular calling the Sixth together again fifty years later, "they were a hard lot to kill, and it required an extra quantity of lead to do it. In the battle of Stone River, Comrade Davis, of Company B, was shot through the lungs by a 58-caliber minnie ball, which went clear through his body and killed another man. How about Davis? We buried him a month ago, aged seventyfour years, and when the death angel took him he was on his feet.” "MINGLE OUR TEARS." The call for the reunion read: "Come and mingle our tears, when, in respectful silence, our battered and torn battle-flags are tenderly unfurled and our thoughts go way back to the times when so many of our brave comrades shed their blood and gave up their lives under those flags." The officers of the Sixth Regiment association are: George W. Cormany, president; W. A. Clark, secretary; Charles B. Russell, treasurer; B. P. Critchell, Thomas Burnett, and A. B. Clement, reunion committee. CHAPTER II. CINCINNATI AND THE CENSUS. SCHOOLS ADDRESS READ BEFORE THE LITERARY CLUB OF CINCINNATI "UNCLE SAM" TAKES BY RALPH R. CALDWELL, OF CINCINNATI. This address on "Cincinnati and the Census," written by Mr. Caldwell, was read before the Literary Club of Cincinnati, Saturday evening, January 14, 1911; and was also read by him before the City Club of Cincinnati, on Saturday, January 21st. The facts and argument therein set forth are considered of such force and far-reaching importance for the welfare of Cincinnati, and so deserving to be read and considered by the electorate of Cincinnati, that members of the two organizations named have individually constituted themselves a committee to publish the address and give it the widest possible circulation, with the consent of the author. With the approaching of each new year, custom has ordained that each of us should spend a few hours in reflection over the happenings of the year, over the many things undone which we ought to have done, and more particularly over things we have done which we ought not to have done. This is the personal stock-taking period. When we look over the inventory we remember Mark Twain's remark, "Man is the only animals that blushes or needs to." Uncle Sam, through greater experience, has arranged that his periods of penitence shall come at longer intervals. He takes stock, through the census, but once in ten years, and judging from the complacency with which the members of his household, namely the cities, receive and forget the lessons shown by the national ledger, we conclude that their consciences are even more elastic or callous than our own. It is because the census just completed presents a special lesson to Cincinnati that I direct your attention to some of its most significant features. Its revelations, if taken to heart, will do for our city that which years of shouting about Cincinnati's honor and glory have not accomplished. In the race of the American cities Cincinnati has been a laggard, due to the fact that it has run the race handicapped and out of condition. The census returns so far received for the States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri show a startling desertion of the farm for the city. This movement is conspicuous in Ohio. Thirty-eight counties out of eighty-eight These invariably are the rural communities. show an actual loss in population. Counties containing cities have compensated for the loss in farming localities. Cities of Ohio have all gained, but while Youngstown was growing 76.2 per cent., Canton 63.7 per cent., Cleveland 46.9 per cent., Columbus 44.6 per cent., Dayton 36.6 per cent., and Toledo 27.8 per cent., Cincinnati brought up the rear with but 11.5 per cent. gain. Its showing with reference to cities in other states is equally deplorable. At the time of writing this paper the census bureau had published the returns of forty-four cities of the country having a population of 100,000 or more. Of all this list, Cincinnati's rate of growth during the last ten years is fourth from the last. Baltimore (9.7 per cent.), Louisville (9.4 per cent.), and Albany, N. Y., (6.5 per cent.), made a worse showing than our city. Baltimore's position is to be explained by the great fire it experienced but recently. Nor can we take comfort in the statement that Cincinnati's showing is due to the fact that its neighboring cities and villages, really part of it, have grown at its expense. Including all of Hamilton county, Newport, and Covington as one community, the result is equally distressing, showing a gain of but 13.2 per cent., compared to 11.5 per cent. for Cincinnati alone. During the same interval, Cuyahoga county, in which is located Cleveland and its suburbs, has grown 45 per cent. The publication of the foregoing facts comes with great reluctance, in view of the certainty that they shall be received in certain sources with the charge of "knocking our fair city," hurting business, etc. An individual suffering from consumption would hardly seek means of recovery by keeping the situation secret from his doctor. Consumption is classed as a wasting disease. In view of the courthouse janitorship revelations we can safely say that Cincinnati is suffering from a wasting disease, from a consumption which is exhausting its resources, and daily leaves it weaker and weaker, less able to take its part in the great struggle of the cities. If Cincinnati is to recover, it is time that it tells its troubles, without reservation, to a doctor. In this instance the only doctor that can do good is the voting public. A writer in one of the great periodicals in reviewing the census returns had the following to say about Cincinnati: "There can be little doubt that the declining importance of the water route on which Cincinnati is situated is one explanation of the failure of that city to keep pace in growth with Cleveland. It may not be without significance either, that Cincinnati is one of the worst boss-ridden cities of the country, offering a marked contrast in that respect to Cleveland, which has much better municipal government, and gives evidence of considerable political independence. |