The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-05-11

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Of the men who 60 there. The ITimpton Home
will accommodate $500 veterans aud there art
1 always large number desiring to be trans
feiTed to this pretty, quiet, seaside Home.
THE SANTA MoEIcA HOME.
The Pacific Branch is located al Santa Mon
! ca. Cal, near Los Angeles. aud provides
! home for about 700 This Home is "A new Ole
/ but it will be one of the most beautiful of sli
in the years to come. 1t is in a subtropiea
| latitude in the midst of a landscape oil incOnl'
| parable grandeur and beauty. 1t is on the
| plateau at the foot of the Sierra Madre Mount
aims, which tower IN calm beauty above il, and
on the west, reaching out to the blue horizon,
is The shimmering silver green Pacific, gemiued
with tiny islands Al Santa Monica will bc
found veterans who are fighting lung and
throat troubles. In that pure, sweet, salt air,
TaTifed and filtered through perpetual sun
shine, fragrant with perfume of orange bios
SONS and freighted with life proonging ozone,
the old fellows feel themselves grow almost
young again, as they lie upon the beach and
recount to each other the tales Of tie days when
the country's honor trembled in the balance
and they saved it.
THE MARION HOME.
The seventh and newest Branch of the Home
is located ut Marion, Ind. It, too is pictur-
csguely located on the Mssissinewa River, a
tributary of the Wabash. The buildings are of
massive stone, with broad verandas, huge, open
fTcplaces, and wide windows. Heating and
cooking is done by means of natural gas. The
Marion Homo can accom- modate only about 500.
These Homes are under tho control of a
Board of Managers consisting of nine citizens
of the United States not members of Congress-
no two of whom can he residents of the same
State, nor residents of any State other than
l., ,,.,i, Co.
war of the rebellion The President of the
United States the Secretary of War and the
Chief Justice are members of the Board, ex-
oflicio.
The Board of Managers of the National
Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers informs
the soldiers and sailors of the United States
that these Homes have been established at the
places mentioned for all such as are unable to
earn living by labor. All the ordinary COM
forts of home are provided; chapels for re-
iigious services, halls for concerts, ETC.; hospi
tails, with experienced surgeons and nurses;
libraries reading rooms, amusement halls.
post and telegraph offices, stores, etc; and that
good behavior insures kind treatment. Sol
diers and sailors are especially informed that
the Home is neither hospital nor almshouse,
but home, where su bsistence, quarters, cloth
ing, religious instruction, employment (where
rossible) and amusements are provided by the
Government of the United States. The pro.
vision is not a charity, bat reward to the brave
and deserving, and is their right, to be forfeited
only by their bad conduct at the Homo or con-
viction OF crime.
Since the founding of the National Homes
about 10000 veterans have found refuge
in them. Their capacity is about $4,000
a year. Of the total number cared for since
the Dayton Home was opened in 1867 50 per
cent. were foreign born. 1t is estimated that
the maximum number of inmates has been
nearly reached While more enter the Homes
each year, it is also sadly true that
MORE ARE MUSTERED OUT OF LIFEs SERVICE.
The men who made bulwarks of their bosoms
when the South turned itself into a battering
ram, are no longer young. Even the kid
has passed his prime and is looking down the
western slope, up which the shadows crawl to
meet him. In the regular course of nature
this ought not to be, but these men used up
the force and vitality of 20 years in their three
10 four years service. and many of them ac
cordng to scriptural measure of length of
years, are existing on borrowed time 1t is
now . years since Grant let the rebel army
AXE its horses aud 20 home to work a thing
hat was as hard for it to face as the surrender
1t ApPomattox. OF the 2.772, 40S Union men
Who entered the service, 3lS,870 were left on
and 1i7. 56S of them 6l unknown
raves Thousands who got out of prison pens
S''~''NN
rounded, disease racked, and despairing,
dragged out a few years Of weary existence,
ind they too passed through the door whose !
portal never outward swings"
OF this great grand army of '6l-5 only |
eeble remnant remains, and the aches and ills |
own IN the blood and grated in their bones |
ire bearing bitter fruit in these years of piping
,eace When these old men were young they !
lad hopes. high aims and ambitions just AS
'ther young men have. The shot on Sumter /
,roke rudely into their dreams. and leaving |
homes. education, each and everything that |
,oes to make life sweet and endnrable, they
Unlisted under the Stars and Stripes and made /
IS fortunes theirs. Those four fatcful years
tie into their lives like cancerous sores and |
eft their poisonous roots to plague them for all |
ime. 1t is TO make up TO them IN some meas
Ire this irreparable loss that these Homes have |
,een created.
1t is true that despite the fact that they have
very comfort on earth that money can buy,
he old fellows are not happy, and the Southern
ympathizers who dominate Congress would be
-ery glad to make club of their complaints to
mock the underpinning from the whole PEN
ion and Home system. just as was done in
england But it is small matter for wonder
hat the old veterans are cranky, querulOns
nd at times ungratefui. Where ambition
lnmhers and hope is dead, what star of
romise can rise to illumine the pathway
Vhlch IeadS through sunless day TO deaths
ternal sleep? The veteran should be cher
shed ani loved for what lie has done for the
Nation and his faults aud foibles forgotten.
He has fought the fight and kept the faith,
nd the flag with Al stars floats above the dome
f the Capitol Of the Nation where his valor
elped to place and keep it. When old Gabriel
ounds reveille on the resurrection morn,
mong the innumerable hosts who will answer
here" at roll-call, the old soldier more than
0nH mn mo nj iad mil ba tL |
rst to answer. and the flag emblazoned on bis |,
cart will pass bim by st. Peter unchallenged.
THE PENSION OFFICE.
'uli Report for the Week Ending April