The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1890-12-22
A DAY IN SPRINGFIELD.

We arrived in the city about noon,
and the thought of dinner being
upermost in our minds, we set out to
find a restaurant. In looking around
we accidently stumbled upon the
Woman's Exchange. Perhaps some of
you may not understand what that is,
as it was new to us, so / will try and ex-
plain it as 1 remember it. One of the
ladies told us that it was run entirely by
ladies who came there at certain hour,
and served dinner and lunches. under
stand that these ladies pay other women
for the articles of food, giving in ex-
change for the provisions, money or
sometimes clothing. They also have a
counter for fancy work. The work is
brought in by poor people and placed on
the counter and sold by the ladies for
them. 1 understood that this exchange
is connected with the w. G. 7. U.
RIDE TO CEMETRY.
After a good dinner we were directed
to the cemetry. As might be expected,
we got into the wrong street car, and
rode in the opposite direction to which
we wished to go. However we were not
sorry, as we saw more of the city and
great many fine buildings. The car
stops in the center of the city park, and
we walked only few squares and ar
rived at the cemetry, by name Oak
Ridge. The grounds are beautifully laid
out and ornamented. 1t is in this place
that the body of the much lamented
Lincoln Noor 10 ha
gate is seen the vault in which Lincoln
was placed before the monument was
erected.
MONUMENT.
The monument proper, excepting the
groups, occupied on the ground, fitted
with concrete, a space of I19 feet from
north to south, and ~ feet from east to
west. 1t is built of solid masonry of
Quincy grey granite, 80 feet high. The
obelisk from the ground line to the apex
is 9S feet high. There is catacomb,
memorial hall and an inner chamber at
its base. The former contains five'crypts,
two containing the bodies of two
OF Lincoln's children, one in which he
once rested, one where his wife was first
placed and one for his son Robert, who
is still living. On the outside of the |
monument are four bronze groups, rep
resenting the four divisions of the army
viz; The naval, infantry, artillery and
cavalry. One of the drum sticks in the
infantry group has been knocked off, |
and one morning the sword belonging to
the cavalry group was found under |
bridge at some distance from the ceme-
try. The monument is further orna-
mented by very fine statue of Lincoln. |
also executed in bronze.
sARCoPHAGUs.
The secretary of the Guard of Honor |
acts as guide for strangers and he very
entertainingly told us of the attempts to
steal the body of Lincoln. The sar-
cophagus is built of white marble and
rests directly over the body, and is
placed in the center of the catacomb. |
The first time the theft was attempted. |
the corpse was in the crypt, and the rob-
bers took the marble slab from the crypt |
and pulled the casket out about half way
and then left it. 1t is supposed that
they were fearful of being discovered. |
A Guard of Honor was now formed to
guard the body. After that the sar-
cophagus was built and the casket sealed |
in 1t. The second attempt was made by |
four men believe. One man discovered |
the plan and entered in with the vaga-
bonds as accessory, and informed the |
guard of the intention and when the |
theft was to be. The guard hired two
detectives to come up to the monument
and they concealed themselves in the
memorial hall. The plan was that this
man who had discovered the plot to the
guard was to slip out and around to the
hall, which is just back of the catacomb,
when the other men were at work on
the sarcophagus, and thus they could |
easily be arrested. But it is supposed |
that the robbers suspected the man, so
put him safely in corner with lantern |
to hold, and told him if he valued his
life not to attempt to escape or get out.
One OF the detectives concealed himself |
In the inner chamber between the
memorial hall and the atacomb, where
Mrs. Lincoln was buried Immediately |
after her death. From there he could |
hear the thieves at work. The cata-
comb is entered by an iron gate and the
lock was filed away and thus an entrance