Rensselaer Democrat, Volume 1, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 May 1898 — Page 6

OUR NATIONAL CEMETERIES

THERE are nearly half a million soldiers’ graves in the cemeteries of the United States. From the Atlantic to the Pacific the nation's heroes are on each 30th of May honored by • loyal and loving people. On that date, from the time the sun rises over the hills of Maine until it sinks to rest beyond the mountains of California the vast extent of •ur land echoes with the bugle call and the booming of cannon. The youth of the ■ation get their best lesson in patriotism when they lay a wreath of flowers on the atone that marks a soldier's grave. It is impossible to state the exact number of soldiers’ graves, as no record has been made of them for several years. When the last record was made there were about 300,000 sleeping in the national cemeteries and probably 75,000 scattered in little graveyards all over the country. The accompanying map gives the figures of the last record made. Of oourse, the number of graves has increased since then. The veterans have become fewer and fewer. They have not fallen as rapidly as they were mowed down before the death-dealing fire of Gettysburg, •or aa they fell in the awful charges of Bull Run, but their ranks have been thinaed by the grim reaper, and for each one that passed away there has arisen another mound to be decorated. National cemeteries, as is, perhaps, well known, are burying places maintained at the expense of the United States Government, and wherein only soldiers are buried. Many of these are near some military post, but by far the larger ones are located in the vicinity of the big battlefields. Some of the heroes were buried aear the spot where they gave up their lives for their country, and numbers were taken to ns near their homes as possible. In the national cemeteries near the battlefields most of the graves are unnamed. Only a number and a tiny stone tell where a hero lies sleeping. When shells and shot mowed men down by the thousand it frequently happened that there were none left to identify the bodies. In most cases it was known to what company certain men had belonged, although each could ■ot be identified individually, and in such eases all are buried in groups and the names of all the men who were missing after the battle are inscribed on a single abaft. There are in all about ninety national cemeteries in the United States and so scattered that each presents an entirely different appearance. Could pictures .of them be viewed one after another they would present it panorama of out country. There would be cemeteries far out an sandy wastes where the sun beats down mercilessly and the dry desert wind carries the hot sand in blinding clouds •ver the shiny stones that mark the graves. There would be cemeteries in mountain wilds and on boundless western prairies. There would be peaceful little spots sheltered ’neath church towers, and vast stretches of beautiful park where thousands lie buried. Millions of people visit these cemeteries on Memorial Day and when night comes each is a perfect bank of flowers. The most easterly of the national ceme- , Series is the one known as Cypress Hills. It is located not far out of the city of Brooklyn, and is a typical Eastern burying place that contains some of the finest moDuments that are placed over soldiers’ graves in the country. The natural aspect of the country at Cypress Hills is somewhat flat, but the cemetery has received no much attention and art has done so much for it that the flatness is not noticeaide. It is a most beautiful spot, where heroes are buried. Woodlawn is the name of the national cemetery of Rew York State. It is a magnificent burying glaee on slightly rolling ground, well kept and planted to all sorts of flowers and evergreens. Over 3,000 are burled here. A ■ttle further to the south the national ooasoteries are very close together. At nUadelphla there Is a beautiful burying fioce, where about 2,500 sleep, and just bathe northeast of town is pretty Beverly.

Only 164 are burled here, but it Is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in tbs country—certainly the most beautiful of its size. In the immediate vicinity there is the Gettysburg cemetery, Antietam, Balls Bluff, Grafton and Winchester. AU these are much alike in general appearance. About 14,000 are buried tn all of them. The shores of the Chesapeake in Virginia are fairly lined with national cemeteries. About 50,000 are buried in this vicinity, and the graveyards are almost exactly alike in appearance. They are not as well kept as some further north, but nature has done so much in the way of luxuriant vegetation that this is hardly noticeable. The most Important of these cemeteries are Fredericksburg, Arlington, Culpepper, Richmond, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Yorktown and Annapolis. Most of tjiem have streams of water running through them that greatly add to their natural beauty. In North Carolina the most important national cemetery is Salisbury. Nearly 13,000 are buried here. This cemetery is located in a spur of a mountain range and is a most beautiful spot. In general appearance it is entirely different from any other national cemetery in the country. From almost any part of it a view extending over miles and miles of country that in war time was the scene of many important battles can be obtained. It is a most impressive place to visit at any time of the year. The other cemeteries in North Carolina are Raleigh, New Berne and Wilmington. About 7,000 are buried in these three. Almost at the southern tip of South Carolina is the most beautiful national cemetery in the country. It is known as Beaufort and about 10,000 are buried there. Although it is in South Carolina, Beaufort might be said to belong to Savannah, Ga. The perfect city of the South is just a few miles away, across the river that divides the two States, and it is from there that the crowds of people come who decorate its graves. Hundreds of the sons of Savannah are buried in Beaufort. For picturesqueness the national cemetery at St. Augustine, Fla., takes first rank. It is on the site of an old Spanish burying place, and many are the quaint graves and tombstones to be seen there. Surrounded by a very old stone wall, within sound of the breakers and filled with tropical plants and dreamy lagoons, it is at once beautiful and interesting. About 1,500 are buried here, and the Decoration Day ceremonies are always of a most impressive nature. The national cemetery of Chalmette, near New Orleans,"is one of the best-known bilryirig places in the country. Thirteen thousand are buried here. Chalmette is located on the shore of a ’bayou and presents somewhat the appearance of a swamp with driveways through it. There are several lakes in it, aud in many instances the graves are very close to the water. Decoration Day is always extensively observed here, but for one reason or another the graves aye decorated with flowers and evergreens the greater part of the year. The largest" national cemetery in the country is at Vicksburg, Mias. About 17,000 are interred here, but the place has rather a depressing effect on one who visits it for the first time, It is so vast and so suggestive of the horrors of death. There is a melancholy aspect to it that it is impossible to shake off. Near by is the cemetery at Natchez, where 3,200 are buried. In the immediate vicinity are the cemeteries of Port Hudson, Baton Rouge and Alexandria. AH through this part of the country Decoration Day Is most extensively observed. In nearly every graveyard there are several soldiers buried, and the sentimental nature of the people causes much attention to be given to the ceremonies. From Andersonville, Ga., and following a sort of curve to Little Rock, Ark., there is a Mne of cemeteries where nearly 100,000 soldiers are buried. These are all very much olikein appearance and are not as well cared for as those In other parte of the country. The principal ones of this group arrVfeoh

phis, Nashville, Chattanooga and Marietta. There is a little group of cemeteries In Kentucky where about 8,000 are buried, but the observances of the day here are always very sad. More old people are seen at these ceremonies than in any other cemetery in the country. They still remember their lost ones, and even at this late day old, white-haired negroes are frequently seen weeping and crying for “young marsa.” A national cemetery that is very little known is Jefferson Barracks, located about eighteen miles below St. Louis, "Mo. Over 11,800 are buried here, and the cemetery is one of the grandest sites in the world. It is about 300 feet above the Mississippi, on the west bank, and commands a view in all directions over the bottom lands. This cemetery is remarkably well kept, although it does not contain as many trees as one feels ought to be there. The national cemeteries of the West are sad places. Most of them are absolutely barren and are distressing in the extreme. The one at San Antonio, Tex., is of this character, although of late years an attempt has been made to improve it. Nearly all the Western cemeteries are small. The national cemetery on the Custer battlefield in Dakota is perhaps the strangest burying place in all the world. It is a most barren spot, containing an enormous marble shaft, with 414 graves grouped around it. The strange thing about thia cemetery is that all those sleeping there were killed on the same day. The national cemetery of San Francisco is located at the Presidio. About 350 are interred here. It is not generally known, but the United States maintains a "national cemetery at the City of Mexico. Of course the 6,184 buried there are the victims of the Mexican war.

The First Celebrations.

The dnte of the first celebration of Memorial Day in the various States is as follows: Alabama, April 26, 1866; Arkansas, May 30, 1865; California, May 30, 1880; Colorado, May 30, 1877; Connecticut, May 30, 1876; Delaware, May 30, 1867; Florida, April 26, 1870; Georgia.* April 26, 1866; Illinois, May 30, 1873; Indiana, May 30, 1867; lowa, May 30, 1868; Kansas, May 30, 1866; Kentucky (Confederate), May 10, 1867; Kentucky (Union), May 30, 1868; Louisiana (Confederate), April 6, 1875; Louisiana (Union), April 8, 1878; Maine, May 30, 1867; Maryland (Confederate), June 7, 1866; Maryland (Union), June 5, 1866; Massachusetts, May 30, 1881; Minnesota (at Minneapolis), May 30, 1869; Minnesota (regular), May 30, 1870; Mississippi, May 1, 1867; Missouri, May 30, 1868; Nebraska, May 30, 1868; Nevada, May 30, 1869; New Hampshire, May 30, 1868; .New Jersey, May 30, 1868; New York, May 30, 1868; North Carolina (Greensboro), May 5, 1866; North Carolina (Raleigh), May 10,1806; Ohio, May 30, 1868; Oregon, May 30, 1875; Pennsylvania, May 30, 1868; Rhode Island, May 30, 1868; South Carolina, July 3, 1866; Tennessee, May 30, 1868; Texas, May 30, 1871; Vermont, May 30, 1869; Virginia (Union), May 31, 1866; Virginia (Confederate), June 11, 1866; "West Virginia, May 30, 1878; Wisconsin, May 30, 1873.

The Committee.

“We’re a Decoration Day committee,” began Lilly. ” “And we want some of your flowers,” sald’Milly. “To trim the school house,” said Tilly. Miss Eunice laughed heartily. Then she looked sober. "See here, my dears,” she said, kindly, “I think it .isn’t a nice way for little girls to beg, if it is only for flowers. “Beside, when you get the flowers so easily, you hardly care for them. A little girl/isked me once for a sweet red rose, and what do you think? She ate it before she got to the gate!” * "Oh, but we wouldn’t do that, Miss Eunice!” said Mil?/.

"You wouldn’t love them as If you had grown them yourselves,” persisted Miss Eunice. “Now I*ll tell you what I’ll do for you; I will give each of you some plants, so that you can raise your own flowers for next Decoration Day.” “Oh, that will be nice! Lovely 1 Splendid!” said Lilly, Tilly and Milly all at once. “But what shall we do for to-morrow?” asked the little girls. “I have promised all my flowers for tomorrow,” said Miss Eunice, “but I will show you a garden that does not belong to anybody, where you can get for tha pickingall the flowers you want.” So the three little sunbonnets bobbed merrily along behind Miss Eunice, as she led the way to the woods end fields. “This is the garden I meant,” she said, looking around. And sure enough, there were whole flocks of milk-white daisies, and troops of bloodroot and trillluma. Lilly, Tilly and Milly ran to gather them with a shout.' “Take care, my dears!” said Miss Eunice, as the children up the violets by the roots. “Pick the flowers and leave the plants.” “I thought you said these were nobody’s flowers?” said little Tilly. “To be sure,” said Miss Eunice, "but they are too pretty to be spoiled. Leave them to grow, and other little girls will find them here waiting to surprise them. So the lovely wild flowers z will keep a great many Decoration Days.”

HEAR THE DRUMS MARCH BY.

ARAR, Sarah, Sar- , ah, hear tha drums L. inarch by! gferpH Th! s Is Decoration Day;—hurry and be spry! wJYttA Wheel me to the w!ndow, girl; fling It Fl °P en high! ’ JTTUi Crippled of the body HvLilW now, and blinded PyjUK* of the eye, SpjYY; Sarah, let me listen “ ’ while the ..drums march by. ’

Hear ’em; how they roll! I can feel ’em In my soul. Hear the beat—beat—o’ the boots on tbs street; Hear the sweet flfo cut the air like a knife: Hear the tones grand of the words of command; Hear the walls nigh shout back their reply! Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, hear the drums dance by! Blind as a bat, I can see ’em, for all that; Old Colonel J., stately an’ gray, Riding slow and solemn at the head of the column; There’s Major L., sober now and well; Old Lengthy Bragg, still a-bearlng of the » flag; There’s old Strong, that I tented with so long; There’s the whole crowd, hearty and proud. Hey! boys, say! can't you glance up this way? Here's an old comrade, crippled now, an* gray! This Is too mneh. Girt, throw me my crutchl I can see—l can walk—l can march—l could fly! No, I won’t sit still an* see the boys march by! Oh!—I fall and I flinch; I can't go an Inch! No use to flutter, no use to try. Where’s my strength? Hunt down at the front; There’s where I left It. No need to sigh; All the milk’s spilt; there’s no use to cry. Plague o’ these tears, and the moans In my ears! Part of a war is to suffer and to die. I must sit still, and let the drums march by. Part of a war Is to suffer and to die— Suffer and to die—suffer and to—Why, Of all the crowd I just yelled at so loud. There’s hardly a one but Is killed, dead and gone! All the old regiment, excepting only I, March out of sight In the country of ths night. That was a specter band marched past so grand. All the boys are a-tentlng In the sky. Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, hear the drums moan by! —Will Carleton.

“His Face to the Foe.”

“Slain in Battle.” “He fell with his face to the foe.” These wete the messages that were flashed over the wires and sent to the waiting ones at home by brave and thoughtful comradefl. Those who lived through those trying times need not be reminded^how sdcred is thq trust committed to ISur chargS. They know what the day means In all its Jompfehen•riy4*an3 broad significance, and it needs no burst oi martial music, no flourish of trumpets or beating of drums to tell the story. They know the history of those trying days, and the most eloquent efforts of Oratory cannot make it more clear or more dear to them._

The Field Flowers.

Yea, bring the fairest roses. Carnations white and red. And pansies, royal blossoms, To deck each soldier’s bed; Bnt bring the dainty field flowers, too— Daisies, and violets white and blue. ,—r . The largest bridge ever built is the fanrwms one (be Firth of Forth.

GLADSTONE IS DEAD.

ENGLAND’S "GRAND OLD MAN” PASSES AWAY. His Demise Had Been Long Expected* Owing to His Years and BufferingDeath Was Faced with Fortitude and Welcomed as a Friend. Nation Mourns Him. William Ewart Gladstone, England’s greatest statesman of this century, died at Hawarden castle at 5 o’clock Thursday morning. It fe a simple story, this record of the closing hours of a life which, more than any other, perhaps, has influenced the lives of his fellow countrymen during two generations. The pain, which, though

WILLIAM EWAUT GLAPBTOXF.

intermittent, was most cruelly severe for the last nine months, had gradually subsided for three or four weeks past. This was due. not so much to thp use of morphine, which was employed more or less since January, as to the fact that the nerves themselves had mercifully exhausted their capacity for suffering. Drugs were used sparingly during the last ten days, the,result being that Mr. Gladstone was conscious and clear in mind, except for brief spells of delirium, due chiefly to weakness. Gladstone well knew on Tuesday that his hour had come, and plainly the thought brought him sweet content. He was conscious most of the time, but almost beyond the power of speech or motion. His great mind was still active, and still versatile. He surprised the watchers at midday by murmuring a prayer in the French language, with which he was perfectly familiar, but seldom used in the ordinary affairs of life. His vital force continued to diminish, and during the afternoon his pulse became almost imperceptible. His breathing was but of the faintest, and his extremities became cold through the feeble action of the heart, yet there was a slight rally about sundown, and the night was passed in natural sleep. During Wednesday there was a slow flickering of vital flame, and there were only occasional intervals of semiconsciousness until the end came, at 5 o’clock Thursday morning.

DEATH IN A STORM.

Life and Property Lost by Tornado in lowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Storms of wind, hail and ruin ravaged widespread sections of the Northwest. lu Eastern lowa cyclones brought death and disaster to scattered communities, and in Illinois, Wisconsin and in Southern Kansas cyclones and high winds leveled frame buildings, killed some stock and damaged crops. In all the afflicted sections wires were blown down and early details of the disaster were meager. Almost all the vast territory mentioned was rain soaked and wind blown. The cyclones moved the usual narrow’ paths of from eighty rods to eighty feet in wjdth, and swept for a distance of twenty miles or less. The cyclone passed north of Clinton, lowa, between the towns of Charlotte and Riggs, at 4 o’clock in the afternowi, doing an immense amount of damage and killing ten people, as far as reported. The storm, after leaving Tipton, passed between Clarence and Stanwood, swept south through Lost Nation and Elwood, running north near Delmar, touched the lower end of Jackson County, and, crossing the Mississippi at South Sabula, lowa, struck Illinois between Savanna and Thompson. Trees were uprooted and buildings wiped out. The storm passed two miles southeast of Riggs, on the Milwaukee Railway, and ruined everything in its path from southwest to northeast. In the vicinity of Cedar Rapids the cyclone first appeared one mile south of Stanwood at 3:20 o’clock in the afternoon. Great damage was done to property in the vicinity of Tipton, Charlotte, Quigley, Clarence, Elk River, north of Wheatland, and near Maquoketa. It is estimated that not less than twenty-five people have been killed, while the number of injured will not be less than fifty. Many saved their lives by fleeing to cellars. The cyclone which struck Preston, lowa, destroyed most of the buildings in the town and killed Charles Floy, his wife and three children. The bodies of two of the children have not been found. In Ringgold County, southwest of Des Moines, the buildings of J. A. Miller, east of Blockton, were swept away, and Miller aud his daughter were injured. The latter had both legs broken. At Maloy the schoolhouse and Chicago Great Western depot were wrecked. Two cyclones from southwest struck the village of Stillman Valley, til., the larger going north, doing but little damage. The smaller one stryck the southwest side, passing across the town, leveling ten houses, one church and several barns and damaging a dozen houses, one church, a creamery and the Great Western depot. M. Nelson, his wife and two children, and one Johnson are reported killed, and about twenty persons are more or less Injured, none fatally. In Joliet the wind and rain storm swept through the city and blew down the big tabernacle where Evangelist Williams has been holding revival meetings. A cyclone passed seven miles north of Sheffield, 111., going in a northeastern direction. It first struck the earth near F. W. farm, and destroyed everything in its path for railed. Several persons are reported killed. Paw Paw, 111., reports that a cyclone passed four miles north of the town. Several people were injured, and Mrs. Frank Chichester was killed.

Notes of Current Events.

The effort to make sugar from beets dates back to 1747. Hawaii begs to’remind the President khat it to still there and is stig willing. 4

Our American Policy.

The policy of thia country regarding foiw eign complications seems likely to remain conservative. The Monroe doctrine will be sustained, but patience and prudence in official quarters will restrain public opinion. The wisest and most prudent course for the rheumatic and the malarious is to use Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters.

Largest Grain Elevator.

It Is said that the grain elevator recently built in Buffalo Is the largest In the world. Gross earnings of the Chicago Great Western Railway for the first week of May show an increase of $26,515.9? over corresponding week last year. The respective amounts were $107,397.24 and SBO,881.27. The increase on the fiscal year to date is $591,302.78. 7 It Is impossible to live pieasumbly without living prudently and honorably and justly, or to live prudently and honorably and justly without living pleasurably.—Epicurus.

Coughing Leads to Consumption.

Kemp’s Balsam will stop the cough at once. Go to your druggist to-day and get a sample bottle free. Sold in 25 and SO cent bottles. Go at one*; delays are dangerous. When one will pot, two cannot, quarrel. •

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