, 1886-11-25
eArrLsrlslp OF egVgN PINES.

sale of Bogus RelIcs-A Sharp Guide.
1t would be hard for any one who had
not gone over the ground of one of the
hottest battles ever fought to believe
that twenty-four years nfterward the
bones of the slain lie half-hidden by
leaves and brush by the score, and yet
such Is the case. The theatre of the
great, but indecisive struggle at Seven
Pines has been turned into a place
where n few men can reach financial
profit by guiding visitors to the spot
where skulls protrude from the ground,
and where all that remains of many
brave lads who are numbered among the
missing lie. 1t is difficult to escape the
guides, but it pays the visitor to make
his own way over the field of battle.
He does not follow the beaten path in
which those who gain money by eXhib-
ting the bones of the boys who died
amid the roar of annon and the rattle
Of musketry take their victims, and he
gains for himself positive information
Of the actual condition of things.
A correspondent in company with
several companions, slipped away from
these guides and were Mortified at what
they found. Under the leaves and twigs,
and among the thick brush of oak and
pines, which had sprung up during
the last twenty years, the bones of many
brave men were found They had an
swered to the order to charge the bat
teries which stood on the other side of
the plowed field and laid down their
lives ere the outer intrenchment was
taken. As night fell on the 30th of
May, 1862, many of the boys failed to
answer the r~oll-call and were placed
among the missing. 1t was n partly cul-
tivated field then. Now pines twenty
feet in height cover the bloody ground,
and ever stand on the breastworks from
behind which the cannons bclched
forth death, and where the
marks of the wheels of the artil-
lery are still visible. The bones of many
of the fallen still lie there, although the
flag which flies from the staff i'll the
Seven Pines cemetery is within sight.
Whether these bones were clothed in the
blue or the gray is unknown, but many
men are ready to testify that whoever
was intrusted with the duty of collect
ing those bones has failed in his trust.
The reason for the failure is manifest.
The fact that the bones still lie there
attract many people to the field of earn
age, and every one that falls into the
clutches of the guides must pay his toll.
A party of twenty-one, which included
several men from Philadelphia and
vicinity, had to pay S5.2j for walking
behind n guide for an hour. This same
guide owns 200 acres of the land upon
pNli.I tI. Inttla tung f.,,,lt II. bacon
by purchasing one acre, for which he
paid 81. The same price was paid for
the remainder of the ground which he
has bought, and every cent of the money
was eXtorted from visitors to the battle
field. He was ordered by the govern
mcnt to pick up all the bones, disinter
the buried soldiers and See that they
were removed to the cemetery Just
across the road. Instead of doing so he
has placed the skulls and other bones of
the dead in various places and guides
the visitors by beaten paths to these
spots. He never takes them through
the thicket. Another dodge of this man
is to find II battered musket-ball on the
ground and sell it to the visitor for 50
cents il he can, and for 10 cents if he
Inv I'm Whom tLo 1;s;tnr - nat Ionlinl,
md miclcI nm rh.n ho IL Ioolir~ II
bo,hrrs ,ho mon hownyer when tho
the party he is guiding is large, and
,f,.r,oon ,bn ao,ion -, soan and ,ol;c
%selliur for tb,t DIV v,s ,t yerv Low.
cbb
This battlefield reIic crovo 10 carried to
a great lcnptb More halls and hurst
bombs have been sold rcnrosauted as
hnving hean nickad nm ON tba hloodv
ground of Seven Pines than thore vero
nsed in fine seven DAYS hattlc R,ttered
b~avorcts rusty rifles bross buckles and
buttons all tind readv snIo Whom tho
supplv rms ont thc rnlic SELLERS oat in
some more. If is believed that tbev Inv
nm old bovonets md h,ry ,ho,n in flo
rround for n ve,r Tbov coma ont ,,s,y
and 1ittIe b,tterinc and hendin~ makes
thr cron "a good ms tho o,ioiroI
Ten cents is charcoal for looti,c nt a
room in which Con McCIellon did not
make his ~hcodnu,rtors duriro tho b,ttlo
No CHARGE is made for Iooking ,t fine
bullnt holes in the old house, Int If tLo
""ii, ~ Nv 81 ""' ol
n.," r.. - TI
I,a,. ,.ftL - -.
go ,rat IN "S :"
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