New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-10-07
YORKTOWN'S ANNIVERSARY
PROMISE OF A GRAND CELEBRATION.


ro>'s AND RoCHAAiBEAU's HEADQUARTERS a
AcTIoNs-CAN THE CROWDS BE ACCo1"o
n.TRn F-FoRT MONROE AND THE ANi4Ll
SCHOOL. ,. rp,p,-yEJ
YopKrnvy. Va. Oct. 5.-Ten daFS iut,a
,si9i,.. little hamlet promises to Dur'' ou' ~ e
blaze al Centennial glory Inc i"nI rs -. o,,.rv
1871 are expected to be p'ousS rao+ --iu she
pilgrim that comes 4. tboayh on a
- mare than anything eise, u'o"s" rr.,
- ,caIo is the jubilee beid al AoIh.0"" -
-, ,,oors ago upon the occasion VI '''i"'
,,,a,,or,ble visit 10 the place we 'le !"
oreot celebration, which snpsrnci'HS -
s. of fps. and feathers, oratory, PaIaurS'
freworlls and gazing crowdS-cIo"uS 'i
&C.,, From all accounts, they ma" .
e. of,ir here in 1924. and in 1851 there is
iitt1. NOR. to he done than to initiate ana improve
mon II Our national celebrations run pretty
I'll olile differing in degree of intensity an"
d,,,tio,, according to the length OF the coili'''
purse. ,-,..,, ,,,o,, the Nation
l,st naturally moderate the expression Oh 80,
si,so an the occasion, and uDd"uD'ohI =.
had evnectcd To be pTescn, viii nave nun
a. Il ,vos known that the late President 'ooN "
RI. i,tr.st in the Centennial. and his presence
,rorid have helped greatly 10 impress Us SIs'i"-
cameo upon the present generation ol A!n'ii'"N'
,vh,cb j. perhaps given too little TO d"eihhe upon
the source of advantages already secuIe"' an"
Too EAGER TO grab for such rs IL happens
not to have. Mr.. Garfield, moreover
was ore of the fttest men that c"ulo nave ''o"
lected TO represent the Nation at large ~ .uo ar
niversorv for not only was he OF genuine ~ 'i"'
arv stock, but We had come to LOOK upon M"
I'm. and UNNECESSARILY more Sc since his oealn'
firm a
tions-tle type of the true and hoped-o' anu.
CT, ,,o, as he Justify the Revolution OF 40 III
on, ,,, eyes and in the estimation OF the EhgiIs"-
- . thousand fold more than the cry OF rlSh's
raised by our ancestors IL,
II had been arranged that had MI "'liielu lI'o''
Int was not sufficiently Tecov raa 10 DC Nv A'i
town. Secretary Blaine shonld represent MN anu
do1;ver an address in his stead. As MI. BalnFS
grandfather was the COmmisSary-Oeneral Oh "i-
cbases in 1871, and proved himself very actlVe III
s,,nnlvng the allied army during the siege inc pro-
nr,ety OF the arrangement was Obvious apart uo''
The circumstance of his official poSluoh' n'
now President Arthur will appear as 'le
.oor bo,d ,,non the OCCASION and its dignity Will
be sustained. In 1924 the highest Government
fnnctionsry present was Mr.. Calhoun, then Secre-
tary Of War; This year the Government HSei
attends which is privilege, it is hoped, II VIII
fIl,, onnreciate as the affair Of Yorktown helped
amazingly TO rive 1t footing. 1t may be noticed
that this is the first time that the Nation as such
and in lis official capacity, has organized ana is car
yyino tbrou gh popular celebration. This not only
,rves il character which has attached to no "tL'r
anniversary but it insures the success OF Whatever
Is undertaken.
Asto the urograrame and the state of the prepa-
,ations, the country is already fam liar with the
main details The original programme ureea ny
The Centennial Association fortunately ieH hToug'
as il could not help doing by its own weight.
Exercises were to open promptly on the oth ana
continue till the DIST That has been cnt down
ard as il o1lIs now, it is likely to command niue
attention and the entire interest will centre on the
four DAVIS of festivity arranged by the Congress
s;onal Commission representing the National
authorities On Tuesday the 18th, the cornerstone
nf the monument viii be laid by the Masonic order,
which will turn out in imposing force; on the l9th
Mr.. Winthrop's Grafton, Mr.. Haynes ole ahd MT.
Homes Psalm will be the features preceded by
President Arthur's address; on the 2Uth. grahu
review of the troops on Temple Farm III the rear oil
the line of the first parallel of 1871, under MAJOR
General Uancock's command; aud on the 21St
naval review at Hampton Roads. The sde-shows
will be fireworks salutes, receptions and parades.
To one point scarcely any attention has been
called bun to very many who viii come NJ VIII oe
n matter OF much interest. Among other duties,
the United States Engineer in charge Colonel VIII
lam F. Craghl proposes the resurrection, by
means Of sign posts, of the Old Revolutionary land
marks Here is one of our gTandeSt historical
folds with nearly all its historical traces wiped Out.
The ancient lines" Lafayette spoke OF them
when last here, are no more. What The
visitor VIII find Immediately around the
town-huge crnmbEug earthwOrks-are the
Confederate defences built by Magruder in
1872 They stand subs antially on the site OF
the old British lines, and one will look III VAN ior
the latter as seen and sketched by Losing some
thirty-fve years ago Here and there the old resi-
dents can point out few mounds, just inside OF Ma
Cruders which are all that remains of Cornwa'llss
COOP One such may be the site OF the pro-
posed monument But of the American and French
works of 1871 the eye detect nothing; they
were hardly visible fifteen years after and
for the good reason that Washington ordered
them all to be levelled by the very
tro DIS which threw them up. He had
taken Yorktown and proposed to leave the French
in occupation there through the winter. Should
the fortune of The war shift again and some
British force appear to besiege the French in turn
it was at least to have the pleasure of building it's
own siege works. When pea came the town made
an effort to get rid of the British defences by petit
tioning the Virginia Legislature to pay for the
work, whereupon the latter petitoned Congress 10
do the paying. Congress does not seem to have
taken kindly to the happy suggestion and there the
works have stood through the century hike grim
reporters of the ruin they brought upon their dc
Tenders.
But by way of compensation for the absence of
the genuine relics. the sites of the French and
American encampments and approaches and all the
works on both sides be indicated with striking
accuracy No field Of the Revolutionary War
so carefully surveyed and mapped out at the time
Us this around Yorktown. American. French, Brit
ish and German engineer artillery officers all pre-
served its features-its physognomy, one might
say-and we have it to-day like rare old picture.
How far the nresent enpnneers will be able mark