Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-18
VETERANS GATHERING
Scores of Them Arrive at the National
Capital Every Hour.
ALL THE BARRACKS ARE FILLED,
And the Railroad Tracks Are Crowded With
Carloads of Vets.
A CONFUSION OF THE REAL OLD-TIMERs
frRoM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT. I

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1T.-All last night
and all day to-day the Grand Army legions
have been coming in, and local guides have
been plotting drum and horn bands and
post after post of the veterans to their re-
spective quarters. Some are sent to private
houses that have been fitted for
them, some to the school buildings
about whose occupation there has
been so much said, but the great bulk of
the arriving hosts are sent to the free quar-
ters at the barracks or to the tents in the
Monument Grounds, the White Lot, the
Smithsonian grounds, or Garfield Park, and
other places that now have all the appear
ance of being occupied by troops In active
service, instead of by decimsted remnants
of a vast army which fought through the
great tour-years war which was on in all its
maj esty and horror 80 years ago.
For thousands of these veterans it is
their first visit since the great review in
'65, and to a great number it is the first
since the thrilling days OF the first guns,
when the Confederates were at the doors Of
the Capitol and when the first regiments
were hurried hither to assist the handful of
original defenders to prevent the rebels
from crossing Long bridge and capturing
the seat OF government.
A Confusion of Veterans Arrives.
There was confusion of veterans to-day
in the arriving multitudes from dearly
every State which furnished Union SOL
der Many bore in their faces evidence of
thrift and even of the possession of wealth,
but the great majority showed that tho
years that have passed since the war have
not relieved them wholly of that
%oH ioh IL
less arduous than the life
In camp at the front was 80 years
ago. The uniforms of some were of ele-
CANT cloth and of the neatest fitting; of
more 1t was of cheaper make, and showed
signs of much usage, while not q few
seemed to be wearing the only suits of the
kind they have had since the organization
of the Grand Army, and still others were
sporting what appeared to be the same field
stained toggery, which had been about their
only wardrobe when they were mustered
out of the ranks.
The most picturesque arrivals were some
who had come prepared for roughing it in
the barracks or the tents, and who carried
their luggage with them in very slender
bags or baskets, having long ago become &C
customed to throw away on the march al
that was not absolutely necessary.
A Week of Jostling and Crowding.
Every moment this evening the beating
the citizens on the streets, the present van
guard of colored youths of both sexes,
swarming like bees about the bands, an
nounced the arrival of new posts The
railroads are glutted with trains and are in
state of confusion as to time, and
are running wholly upon telegraphic
orders. Days ago the roads ceased bringing
freight into the city, and sent all their
freight cars away, that space might be had
on the sidings and in the yards for the hun
dreds of passenger coaches which will be
brought in before Monday morning The
groceries and commission houses and mar
kets are piled full, but 1t will be surprising
if the city is not bare of food before the
end of the encampment
No city in the country is so accustomed to
used to feeding a multitude. But it is ap-
parent that the crowd on this occasion will
exceed anything that has ever been wit
messed here before, and the astonishing
feature will be that of successfully trans
porting and lodging and feeding, without
more than the usual mishsps, and without
more than the customary number Of bedless
and foodless No encampment has ever
gathered together multitude to compare
with that which is here and on the way.
1t will be week of crowding and jostling
and crush and noise, the like of which has
not been seen here since the close of the
war, and the old soldiers and the other Wis
itors will play to an accompaniment Of
hangers-on in the way of imitation veter-
ans in rags, street fakirs and other camp
followers innumerable and indescribable,
A number of posts from Eastern and
Central Pennsylvania have arrived this
evening, but the only one from the West to
report to headquarters is Post 162 of Allie
gheny, officered by Messrs Holyland and
Nichols. During tonight and tomorrow
all the posts from the West will come in.