The New York herald., 1869-05-31
WASHINGTON.


WASHINGTON, Nay 30. 1865.
An Outrage at tho Decoration Cerenesies In
Ariington.
The action OF . lieutenant and small guard OF ma
rines at Arlington yesterday. In preventing people
from throwing MOWERS over the graves OF the Con.
federate dead, u the subject Of much talk here
to-day, and the general sentiment s oondemnatory.
IL turns out Jnat the Of1oers OF the
Grand Army Of the Republic were not
altogether responsible for what occurred. They
merely arranged to nave the marines there so a. TO
prevent people from making mistakes. but mistakes
were made on the wrong side. The marines mis-.
understood what they were placed there for, and
thought It was part OF their duty to insult people
who happened to throw flowers on the graves OF the
Confederate dead. The lieutenant in command,
whose name is given as Shirley, put Of
which l am not certain was particularly
offensive in his manner. Seeing lady throw
small bouquet on of these graves this lieutenant
rushed to the spot picked up the flowers and, throw
ing them on the ground at hts feet, commenced
stamping on them In such manner as to attract
abouth him crowd OF wondering spectators In very
few minutes. Some of the iO0kers-on learn
ing the cause OF the lieutenant's rage. CON-
menced to murmur disapprobaTion, when
the lieutenant shouted out "D-n you get
away from here, every one Of you. or I'll make you.
Guards come up here and dlsperse this crowd"
The lieutenant accompanied these words with
angry gestures, and swinging his arms about as If
he intended to pitch generally into the crowd HIS
guards answered his call, but the crowd dispersed
without waiting to he bayonetted. An ex-Union
volunteer writing to the washington Herald gives
the following account OF wnat he saw
While marching with the thrOng along the CEN
tral walk OF the cemetery. accompanied by several
children whom had supplied with flowers, no
tlCeQ crowd and aOu0d several
gathered about small plat In the grounds to the
tight nEht Of the walk Just to the north Of the
to to the dead o We s Tsturaed. ssn the the crowd crowd
sergeant assisted at intervals by two officers were
pacing up and down. not on the walks or between
the graves but literally across tne graves Of some
evidently not knowing that they were Con
ing any special feeling, quietly placed their offerings
upon the graves. They were az once accosted BY
the guards who compelled them to take them up.
Several gentlemen were treated In like manner
! saw one Union soldier who was forced to take
back the offering he had made to peace and for
giveness. An ex-UniOn officer, well known to
me, was ordered to receive back q few roses
that he had. without knowledge Of the
these soldiers. AstOnished mystihed and disgusted
asked one Of the guards the source OF the orders
lie told me that they came frOm the superintendent
OF the cemetery, whose name do not know.
The people demand to know from whence
these orders came, that the responsibility
may be placed where 1t should rest. They demand
to know whether subordinate shape thus the
policy of government. or whether the head OF the
government and the army has sanctioned this act
and thus explains and interprets his 0racuar "Let
US have peace" They demand to know for what
purpose were these dead Confederates buried there
and how long they are to remain. Was 1t
that they should be thus insuted. aud are they
to remain there as long our nation lives to be on
every anniversary literally trOdden under foot by
the uniformed representatives OF the government,
pointed Out as an example that we Will wreak yen-
geance ever upon the bodies OF dead enemies. The
course pursued az Arlington Is In strong contrast
with that which prevailed in Alexandria yesterday.
There all the graves were honored alike flowers
having: been strewn upon Confederate sad Union
dead without distinction.
The Storm Of Saturday Might.
The storm which prevailed here last night and
early this morning was OF the thar has
occurred for many years. The rain fell In perfect
torrents for hours, aud tho lightning kept flashing
almost without jntermssion during the whole time,
the wind all the time blowing with unusual severity
for this season OF the year. two story brick house,
corner Of Second and streets, blown down.
and the roof and chimney OF large four story dwell
ling, corner OF M and North Capitol streets. were
S"iAtcu O Vi hity iSCh A iuihuy hhu JUST
moved out OF the latter house, which was empty at
the time or the casualty. The three story brick
house, half finished, corner OF seventh and O
streets, also had its roof blown or. Tac
roof was carried right over a street car that
happened to be passing at the time. Though
the roof fell close to the car, strange to relate
nobody was injured. On Seventh street. near the
old Schutzen Park, part OF the $ e cond precinct
police station house destroyed by the fury OF the
wind. Further up, near the Howard University. four
houses were injured and one OF them entirely de-
stroyed. by the last mentioned accident four men
were injured and OF them quite badly. This
building was the property OF a Mr.. Bailey. Sew
era fences were prostraed, trees uprooted signs
blown away, and such like damage occurred in
various parts of the city