The National tribune., 1882-04-22
The Baltimore Encamnnent-

columns the prospects for a large repre-
sentation of the Grand Army at the Grand
Encampment in Baltimore next June, are
decidedly brilliant, and there seems to be
every reason for believing that the recep-
tion of the Veterans by the people of the
Monumental City will he in accordance with
all the old-time traditions of Maryland hos
pitality. The City Council, as already noted,
has made special appropriation for their
trade organizations have signiied their in
tention to take part officially in the demon
strations to be made in their honor, and the
committees of private citizens which have
been formed to arrange the details of the
Eucampment are composed of the leading
business men of the port. We may be sure
that nothing will be left undone to make
the occasion one of the most delightful in
the history of Grand Array gatherings, and
that the first Grand Encampment ever held
in Southern city will not be the last.
Our Veterans will find much to interest
them in the metropolis of Maryland. From
the green slopes of Fort McHenry the Wis
itor can see the spot where rode at anchor
the British man-of-war in which the pris-
oner Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner"
but the smoke of battle no longer hangs over
the glistening waters of the Patapsco. Lofty
elevators on either bank now guard the en-
trance to the harbors, and a forest of ship
ping meets the eye where once the oak and
the maple spread their ambrosial shade along
the silent shore. Yet there is a good deal
still that is picturesque about the surround
ings of the port. The Patapsco thrusts its
arm, crooked at the elbow, far into the CEN
tre of the town, and loses itself finally in
broad basin where the countless steamboats,
that churn the waters of the bay are tied up
about its circumference like prize cattle at
country fair. Upon one side rises pre-
cipitous bluff called Federal Hill, and it was
from this elevation that General Butler, in
the early days of the Rebellion, trained his
guns upon the city. But the Veterans will
find no trace of the Notifications. The cum
ming hand of the landscape gardener has
converted the sandy bluff into green hill
side, and beautiful park crowns the sum-
nit. The stranger will find it lovely spot
from which to get birds-eye view of the
city and harbor. But wherever you go in
Baltimore you will find hills, for engineering
science has not done much in the way of
improving the natural topography of the
city. At the summit of one of the ridges
you will see q noble shaft of marble tower
ing two hundred feet toward the skies, and
surmounted by statue of heroic size. That
is the Washington monument, compared
with which the unfinished pile at the Ma
tiOnal Capital will always be mere mon
strosity. Hard by, in the most fashionable
residence quarter, stands the famous Pea
body Library Building, the most beautiful in
It's interior decorations in the country. The
Johns Hopkins University and the Johns
Hopkins Hospital, located in opposite sec
tions of the city, will be sure to awaken the
admiration of the visitors. They will be
shown, too, the spot upon which is about to
be erected the magnificent public library
building, for which one million dollars has
Just been presented to the city by Enoch
Pratt, staunch Union man in the days that
tried mems souls, and now, as then, the firm
friend of the soldier.
But we cannot pretend to enumerate the
attractions of the Monumental City. 1t pos
sesses in Druid Hill Park one of the most
charming pleasure grounds in the world,
and the neighboring waters of the Chesa-
peake Bay are 4 source of endless delight to
excursionists If our Veterans do not drain
the cup of pleasure to the dregs at their Ma
tional Encampment, it will not be for lack
of opportunity.