New-York tribune., 1885-07-23
A WARLIKE ISLANDS PEACE.
QUIET LIFE AROUND FORT COLUMBUS.
THE OFFICERS CLUB-A GRAVEYARD AND A
CHAPEL-CAsTLE WILLIAM AND ITS GHOST.

cHAPEL-cAsTLE WILLIAM AND ITS GHOST.
Within sound Of the bells of Trinity re-shot from
the crowded wharves the piles Of brick and mortar and
domes and spires of the twin cities lies another world
On Governors Island those stres of politics and busi
ness which shake the great cities find only feeble and
ssd the y & Of the %e on
island different from those Of tho people Of the
ncghborlng cities If the place as far removed
es the BRIGHT sr The
ment Of the island Is constitutional monarchy Gen.
era Hancock 10 the monarch and the constitution the
army regulations. From the time the morning gun
announces the sunrise until tie sound Of" taps OK
tingushes the lights In the barracks tho inhabitants Of
the island move and act according to certain we'll
defined rules which must on NO account be violat d.
The result Is that while the marts Of peace are hlled
with tumut the homo of h place of serene tran
qulllity.
Oh ,wcr Of Light and shade playing on their pclsbed
surfaces. Bright green and smoothly clipped turf
slopes to the centre Of the Island to Fort
the 9th Artillery presdes over about 100 mea. row
Of wooden houses, occupied by officers attached to
headquarters the east side Of the Island stretches
down to tho little post chapel, where clergyman sup
ported by Trinity Church holds services every Sunday
There is old baston at the southeast corner Of the
island, old that one almost expects to SEQ knight
In armor stalk along tho parapet One enters this
q ysi yellow bricf building. In tho building Is tho
% sa d club y ss. s ys tn. ss paper. Ss
Some Of the privates and many Of the non-commis-
stoned officers married. and they and their families
live in long row of buildings divided into tepements.
situated the bastion. Every morning groups Of
rosy children with their books under their arm, 90
down to the wharf to take the little steamer for New.
York They the children Of the officers and enlisted
men and they 60 over to the CITY to school. 1t Is
amusing to hear these little prste of wars and
carnage and swords and and repeat the stories
told by their fathers winter nigbts by the resd..
There Is scarcely among the boys who does not 10
forward to being Q soldier some day and the gli,s
any plans for the future that do not COM
prehend life at an army post or reservation.
There are few means of amusement on the island.
Sometimes in winter the enlisted men get up minstrel
shows, and whenever enlisted man 10 injured
the officers and their families give entertainments
at which an admission fee is charged. the
proceeds going to the sufferer Governors Island con
ans three divisions II Is the headquarters of the De
partmen OF the East apd the military Division OF the
Artillery, the headquarters of which are at Fort
Hamilton and part OF Is assigned to the ordnance
corps But General Hancork s of course the supreme
ruler His courts the courts martial and bis orders
are obeyed without question On the south side OF the
island. looking down toward the Narrows, is grave
yard where are buried some soldiers who oed in an
epdemis which rayagt the island IN 1852 There
was war over the land in those days. and there
camp of soldiers the island Many of the died
and were buried there Few Of tho dead soldiers were
twenty years old and most OF the ages on the
tombstones are eighteen and nineteen. Poor boys
They the rush of battle but here they keep
eternal truce with death.
cut the glacis to the drawbridgc. which spans dry
moa Before the visitor the sallyport laced with
brown stone and surmounted by trophy carved in the
same material. This trophy, now much broken and
dilapdated. carved by prisoner who long years
ago was confined on the island Passing through the
sallyport, one finds himself in large grassy court
yard surrounded all sides by the verandatronted
quarters OF the officers and married of tbe gar
rson. In this courtyard take place the morning roll
call, the evening parade and the function OF guard
mount The officers quarters which extend twc
sides of the inclosure are divided into tenements of
five or six rooms aud fairly comfortable, though
the lower are dark and damp. The men all sleep
In one large dormitory and take their meals in large
hall. Down on the western shore OF the island
rise the red walls Of Castle William. An antique bar
bican. surmounted by q "pcpper-b"x' turref'
projects ON the lAndward side inside the mouldering
old structure the classmates rise tier tier. Here,
too lot of old bore cannon which only open
their mouths to bech forth salntes when some
foreign man-of-war some high official goes up the
BAY Here are the cells where military prisoners arc
confined and here. nightly. walks the ghost OF soldier
who was executed on the island long years ago.
MANY of the soldiers have the ghost and the
gallery where he walks into the cell in which ho
was confined 1t Is impossible to get soldier to
vent are after dark.
,ary Service Institution an organization established
with view to bringing the u,nal Guard aBd the
Army together. and for the dissemination and
en- courageident OF military intelligence lhe insutu-
ton has collected museum OF relics there which ID
unlike anything else IL this country There Is not an
article that does not tell something OF the National
The war horse which brought Sheridan all the way
from Winchester down to the day !" the flag
which Lock wood bore the Pole arms borne by
Cortezs soldiers when they gathered around HIM ON
that dark Noche triste which nearly put an end
to his career and hundreds Of her objects which
be seen nowhere else there.
There IL n teleg aph Office on Governors Island and
during the day the inhabitants are able to keep in
formed OF what Il going the outside world but at
hight the operator goes home and complete is the
,entres hearing the fong of the bells OF Trinity that
the Island know that the President more. Day
after day and year after year tho same old life runs In
he same old grooves at the Island. Tho sentries in
heir scarlet trimmed uniforms walk with measured
read their posts the buger blows his calls at intervals
ipon his gold hued and scarlet tasseed bugle the mu
arous duties OF the department and divisional head
iuarters carried on the routine duties and daily
lrl OF the garrison performed. an men live and
lie and forgotten In the ace and qustof warike