The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-06-03
MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCE
GRAVES OF THE FEDERAL DEAD
DECORATED THROUGHOUT
THE COUNTRY.
THE CEREMONIES At WASHINGTON
The National Cemetery at Arlington
the Scene of Imposing Exercises.
In Parts of the South Con-
federates Took Part.

Washington, May 31.-Memorial day
was generally observed in Washington
The senate adjourned over for the day
and the house held only fifteen min
ute session. All the departments and
| the business houses were closed, and the
day was given up to patriotic observa
| ton and tributes to the heroic dead
| The bronze statues of the nations herOe,
on land and sea in the government res
ervations and parks were shrOuded in
| the flags under which they fought
At 10 o'clock there was an impressive
parade of the Grand Army of the Re-
public and other patriotic organizations,
which at II o'clock broke up, the several
posts holding memorial exercises in the
various cemeteries.
The most imposing ceremonies, of
course, were held at the national Gene
terry at Arlington, on the Virginia side
of the Potomac. opposite Washington,
which, before the war, was the magniti-
cent estate of Robert Il. Lee, the confed-
crate chieftain. This beautiful prop
erty had been sold little over a century
ago to John Alexander for SIX hogsheadS
of tobacco, and was inherited by Lee
from John Parke Curtis, the son of
Martha Washington by her first husband,
who served rs an aide on WashingtOn's
staff. 1t was purchased by the govern
ment from the Lee heirs in 1888 for
$150,000, after having been held as a
national cemetery since the close of the
war. Here bivOuac almost 5000 of the
nations dead, 2000 whose identity will
never be known, being buried in single
grave Among the most famous of the
heroes buried beneath these spreading
oaks and elms were Gen. Sheridan, the
great cavalry leader; Admiral Porter.
the hero of Mobile; Brig. Gen. Henry and
Gen. Ricketts,.
The exercises at Arlington today were
made particularly memorable by the
presence of President Mckinley. They
began at ~ o'clock with national sa-
lutte of twenty-one guns from the light
battery, Fourth artillery, United States
army. The beautiful ceremony of strew-
ing flowers on the graves followed. The
marine band, the Grand Army of the
Republic and other organizations, which
had formed in front of the old Lee man
sion, marched to the tomb of the un
known dead. where the band played a
dirge while the massive monument was
being decorated After this the process
sion separated
The crowd then gathered in the pa
vilOn, Thomas s. Hopkins, department
commander, called the assembly to or
der and the Rev. w. III. Black invoked
the divine blessing. The choirs sang,
and then Representative Dolliver of Iowa
delivered the Grafton of the day. This
Grafton was followed by music and a
poem delivered by Thomas Calver, Hon.
Webster Davis. assistant secretary of the
interior, following with an Grafton, and
the exercises concluded with Beethoven's
"Funeral March of the Dead Hero"
played by the marine band.
Special services were held afterward
over the tomb of Admiral Porter, at
which Gen. Walker presided.
At the soldiers home cemetery the
services were conducted by Henry Will
son Post No. II, Grand Army of the Re-
public.
Services were held at the tomb of Gen.
John A. Logan under the direction of the
substitute committee. composed of the
Logan guard of honor and committee
from The Legion of Loyal Women.
The exercises at the Congregational
cemetery were conducted by Tarragut
Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
Similar services were held at st. Eliza
beth's, at Oak Hill, Holy Road and all
other cemeteries in and about Washing
ton where the Union dead found resting
places. A large majority of the members
of the Union Veterans League left for
Winchester, Va, early this morning to
participate in the exercises of Memorial
day there.
A noticeable feature of, the exercises
here today was the great inrOads the
past few years have made in the ranks
of the veterans. In several instances
the bands outnumbered the post they
were cscOrting,