Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-05-27


lance. or from their roadside graves. or from
hospital burial plats. Since 1868 thirteen ad-
Gltional national cemeteries have been estab-
hshed, with IA, 459 more graves, making to date
eighty-three in all. with an aggregate sleeping
population. by actual count of $50 500. Five Of
these contain the remains of soldiers other than
those engaged in the war for the Union-one
being located near the City of Mexico and four
others being used solely as attachments to from
tier military posts in the west. One Of these is
of exceptionally sad interest-that on the Gus
ter battlefield in Montana, where now lie the
bones of 91S regulars. over 800 of whom were
massacred in 1876 by Sitting Bull and his ram
pant Sioux. In recent years, by provision Of
law. the interment of any honorabiy discharged
Union soldier may be secured in a national
cemetery upon application to the proper au-
thorities- But such interments nowadays are
not numerous. and comparatively few Of the
national cemeteries receive additional inter-
ments at this date. On the other hand the
friends of the deceased are constantly having
bodies removed from the national cemeteries
to private burial places, SO that the total num-
Der of graves under the care of the government
changes but little from year to year.
KEPT IN SUPERB CONDITION.
All of these national cemeteries, it is a
pleasure to know, are beautifully laid out and
maintained in superb condition. They have
many features in common. Most Of them are
situated OH hillsides or upon uneven ground.
where the best landscape effects are produced
In almost all Of them the graves are ranged
in mathematical rows, circular and rectangular
The mounds are smoothly sodded and kept
trim and neat. with a simple but handsome
tablet, marble or granite. placed at the head of
each. The grassy lawns between are carefully
cut, the walks and paths are rolled and graveled,
and shade trees, with here and there a rustic
seat beneath them. besides flowers and a pro-
fusion of ornamental shrubbery, are planted
throughout the surrounding grounds. The in
closures a rule are well walled in with granite
or other enduring masonry. All the ceme-
teries are provided with attractive administra-
ton buildings and many contain imposing
monuments. erected both to individuals and to
the dead soldiers collectively. In all these
cemeteries one is struck by the peculiar fitness
and aptness of O'Hara's inspired elegiac lines,
inscribed repeatedly on the gateways and tombs:
''on Fame'- eternal camping ground.
And Glo-y guards. with solemn round.
he biyOuac C the dead"
Mother earth has been kind and God has
thrown mantle of smiling beauty over these
story of the civil war is recorded there in dis
tant outline We can vet muse and mediate in
those places without bitterness.
ARLINGTON THE MOST BEAUTIFUL
The most beautiful of all the national ceme-
teries and the greatest regards the number of
identified dead is that on Arlington Heights,
near Washington. 1t contains 1856 inter-
ments-l2. 2l6 known and 4 $40 unknown. Its
loo ttlon. overlooking the Potomac and directly
facing the capital. Is perhaps the finest in the
world. Interments of soldiers were first made
In 1t on May l3. 1864, and the first soldier
placed beneath its sod was a confederate. Be-
fore that time most OF the interments in and
about Washington were made in the Soldiers
Home cemetery. northeast of the CITY. Eight
thousand soldiers who had died in the innu-
meraole hospitals around the capital had been
buried there. Further room was becoming
scarce and Quarter master General Meigs,
gaEciHg over the magnifce 1t Arlington estate
one evening in company with President Lin
coin. suddenly conceived the idea OF devotIng
II to the needs of the hour. and the order was
soon thereafter given by Secretary Stanton.
Mr.. Edward Clarke. the present architect of
the Capitol, personally surveyed the lines and
laid out the plats in which the first interments
were made.
The property was owned by Gen. Robert E.
Lee aud his wife, the latter having inherited it