The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1890-04-24
A QUARTER or A CENTURY.
Tho AaTTelOuS Changes Wrought Since
the Close Of the War.
The Revolution Of the Munitions Of
BaGGIe..The New south and
Changes In the North.


to General Grant. The rebel army Of vir-
ginia was sent home on parole. The two
greatest military leaders Of the day met
face to face-the one victorious and the
other defeated. This rounded quarter Of
century has brought forward q new
generation who know nothing about that
great strife except what they read Of Il in
history or hear from their fathers who
were engaged In the war. Nearly half q
million Of men at once disappeared from
the several armies that had been in the
field. They went back to peaceful oCcu-
pations without o single disturbance.
Hard times" followed. There had been
immense waste. The half million Of men
were no longer on the pay-rolls Of the
government. As long as they were con-
sumers without being producers they had
stimulated the production Of manufac-
tured goods beyond the possible wants Of
the country when on peace basis. Half
million men, more or less, were in q day
added TO the productive forces Of the
country. There was vast national debt.
The southern states had exhausted their
resources, and the northern states were
very much depleted.
The country set about the work of res
toration. The army was reduced To n
few thousand men. The navy, which
had done Rood service. YVES, In mart. nut
out Of commission. The monitors were
laid up and have since been superseded
BY new class Of iron shins. The last
battles hal been fought with wooden
ships when the contest closed between
the Kearsarge and the Alabama. Since
the close of that era there has been n com-
plete revolution in all the munitions Of
war. The monitor has been superseded
at home and abroad by iron and steel
clad ships Of immense size, and these have
been superseded, In part, by swift ships
with less armOr and fewer guns. The
Old.fashioned muzEle.loading cannon has
nearly gone out Of use. The range Of the
breech-lOader has been greatly increased,
the longest range, according to 4 recent
authority, being eleven miles, the ordi-
nary range Of heavy guns being about six
miles. The muzzle-loading musket has
nearly gone out Of use. It Is discarded
everywhere in Europe. and but few are
retained in this country. The Springfield
musket will be retained and stored in
many a garnet as sample OF the small
arms used in one OF the most deadly
struggles oil modern times, Just as the old
queens arm with nint'lock was stored by
the Revolutionary fathers as specimens Of
the weapon with which they prevailed In
that time
The country has been engaged q quar-
ter Of q century 10 repairing the wastes
Of the civil war. A few memorials Of
that great struggle have been preserved.
There are q few battle-stained flags, q few
cannon, and the crippled soldiers are to
some extent sheltered in soldiers homes.
The payroll Of pensioners is still large.
Monuments have been erected on many
battle-felds and in many cemeteries to
the memory Of the men who fell in that
great struggle. The most conspicuous
military leaders on both sides have passed
away The national debt and the col.
lection Of federal revenue are the relics OF
war times But the waste has been more
than made good
The wealth Of the country has vastly
increased since the close Of the war. The
southern states have shared fully in the
new prosperity Of the nation. The indus
trial policy Of that section Of the country
has undergone complete revolution. A
great manufacturing era has dawned
there. Iron, steel and other heavy goods
are now produced In that part Of the
country cheaper than elsewhere. When
the war began the south had few manu-.
featuring resources. II had been selling
all lie raw material. It had few Ioun-
dries. II could not supply clothing to its
soldiers, except by smugvled goods or by
manufacture with hand.looms. Il did
not make leather enough to furnish its
population with shoes, II had no re-