The daily gazette., 1878-03-25
Our Washington Letter.
The Neglected Grave ofThomas
JeffersOn-sBetter Late than
Never''-What Mr.. COx's
bill proposes to do
"LO," the (rich) In
dian, i'm q fix.
From our Regular Correspondent

WARRINGTON, ID. g. March %, 1873.
1t was both'a timely and patriotic thing
for Mr. Sunset Cox to do yesterday, to
Introduce bill into the House of Rep
resentatives to erect a monument over
the grave of Thomas Jefferson. While
we are lavishly spending money by tens
of thousands for equestrian statues ON
memorating the services ,of generals and
colon els of our civil war, the OF
"Declaration of independence" lies in
an obscure grave, without decent stone
to mark his ast-resting place. The sonly
bronze statue In existence of Mr.. Jeffer-
son was for many years suffered to stand
unnoticed and uncared for in the grounds
surrounding the White House, exposed
to the rain and winds, aud covered
with verdi girls which had already eaten
into and completely destroyed the In
scriptiOn (Which is the famous "Declara-
tion'') upon bronze parchment he Is rep
resented as holdingin Id 1t
is only within the last year or two that
Congress made an Appropriation to re-
store 1t, and had it removed to the
"Sculpture Hail." or old Hall of Repre-
sentatives, where IL now stands, side bv
side with "immortal George" Yet his
grave was suffered to remain nsgl ected, ,
In the midst of brambles and thistles
at his old and now dismantled home
stead of Monticello. Last summer. ON
my way back to Washington from the
Virginia Watering Places, stopped a +,
Monticello for the purpose of paying
homage end respect at the tomb of the
Greatest American Statesman that ever
lived, and the author of the most famous
Amen can Document ever written; but il
was with difficulty that could find the
place. A crum bling stone, the inscrip-
ton upon which was almost completely
obliterated. was all; and this was sur
rounded by scattered and broken slabs
Of sandstone, marking tho graves of his
relatives. Bydint of hard labor, after
first removing the dirt from the face of
the stone, and tracing the faint outline
Of such of the letters as could not be read
with my fingers, l made out the follow
ing insc ription:
''Here was buried
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
Author ofhe Declaration Of Independence
ofthe State of Virginia.
For Religious Freedom, and the Father
of the University of Virginia"
On the base lof the stone 1 traced the
following:
"Born April 2, 1743, o. S.
Died July 4, 1896"
There is no doubt the House will
pass the bill and make an ap-
for the restoration of the ne
elected grave, which, with the unfinish-
ed Washington Monument, has stosd
for so many years a sad and significent
upon the barge so often
made by monarchists that "Repubhcs
are ungratefulw
Washington is rarelr ever without an
Indian Delegation ofsome sort; and for
the last three weeks our street urchins
have been amusing themselves, when
not engaged ia the more laudable and
lucrative employment of selling news
papers and backing boots by running
alter and crying "How!" TO Mr.. John
d. Benco, a real live wild Indian from
the Indian Territory, with christian and |
name.
His name, however, is not his only diff |
ference from other Indians; still more |
marked popularity of his was, that he |
brought with him real skin trunk con- |
tanning fifteen hundred dollars in gold |
and silver coin. This Is the first time in |
history since Columbus discovered Am
erica, that Indians have been known to |
bring money here; they generally carry |
it away with them. However, yesterday |
evening Mr. Benco, returning from a |
confectioners, where he had been indulg-
ing in ice-cream and hard boiled eggs "a |
favorite Indian refreshment), was left to |
bemoan the loss of his seal skin trunk /
and valuables, which had been stolen
from his room at the "Washington
House" during his absence; and unless
the detectives ferret out the thief and
recover the money Mr.. Benco Will have
to pawn his tomahawk and moccasins,
and may De (but we hope mott his scalps,
to secure the wherewith to return to his
tn be In the Indian Territory.
The recent sudden death of Congress-
man Leonard, Ia Cuba, has caused con-
siderable excitement among his col
leagues in the House of Representatives,
many of whom refuse to accept the
statement that he died of yellow fever,
and assert that he has been the victim of
2 conspiracy and was foully murdered.
The Secretary of State has telegraphed
our consul general at Havana to have
the body sent to New Orleans, from
where 1t will be sent by rail to West
Chester, Pa, and inferred there. 1t is
well known here, that love affair, was
At the bottom of Mr.. Leonards visit to
Cuba; but the exact nature of this is
merely a matter of conjecture. After
The body arrives In the country, Speaker
Randall will appoint congressional
to proceed to New Orleans
and escort the remains from there to the
place of lnterment.
Since the silver bill became a law, L
in Congress have been rather
anne, with the exception, perhaps, of
senator Blaine's attack, first, upon Mr..
NJ Maurice Delrosse, the Belgian Ambassa-
ior in this city, and day or two after, ]
upon Mr.. Schurz, the Secretary of the /
Interior. Neither of these attacks q
we're well-timed or justifiable, and Mr..
stoutest friends regret that he
made them. Altogether, the ex-Speaker
u tne House has not made his mark in