The herald., 1897-04-28

|
there had been strong opposition to the
burial of General Grant in New York,
protests came that the city had not fui-
filed its promises to erect a suitable
! tomb. A growing sentiment that the
remains should have been deposited in
the national cemetery resulted finally
in the introduction of a bill in congress
by which the removal was to have been
made from New York to Washington.
Prominent citizens became alive to the
situation and an organized movement
resulted in the election of General Hor-
ace Porter, who had been Grants CHIEF
of-staff, as president of the Grant Mon
ument association. Frederick d. Tappin,
president of the Gallatn National bank,
was made treasurer. This was in Feb
ruary, 1892 and at the same time the
! legislature amended the charter OF the
association so that 100 citizens took the
place of the former committee of thirty
| three. All officers of the newly organ
| lied association served without compen-
sation, d. o. Mills provided offices free
and the expense of collecting the fund
became nominal. although the work
| because of the immense amount of detail
and the smallness of individual donations
wac enormous.
Then began the memorable campaign
| of sixty days in which time it was pro-
posed to raise the remaining SS50,000.
| The actual work began in the early days
| cf April, 1892, and in a week such had
been the effort that the city fairly rang
| with the name and deeds of the dead
general; school children were writing
prize essays, meetings were being held
and announcements made In churches
| as well as clubs and schools. In order
| that all classes of people should be in
| terested, the association brought its
| cause before the two hundred odd trades
\ and professions represented in the city,
| and was successful In inducing them
| to hold meetings and to appoint COM
mittees for the receiving of subscrip-
tions. Two hundred and ten commit
| tees, number PAST people, were formed;
\ subscription boxes were placed on ele-
waited railroad stations. in stores and
banks, and subscription books opened
| in business offices. AS result of this
stirring up of public feeling, when half
! the allotted sixty days had expired, on
| April 81 the day the corner stone of the
| monument was laid, the Grant Monu-
ment association announced that $202.-
| 500. so had been raised during the month.
| When the campaign closed on May 80,
| 1892, the amount had reached the neces-
sary s350,0O0 Before that year was out
| $404, 900 had been subscribed, which ad
| ded to the earlier subscriptions of $780,
| 600 made a total of s559,O00. The. bal
snces left in the trust companies hage
brought the fund up to 100000.
THE FIRST CEREMONY
Sixteen days after his death the body
~
s, 1885, in the temporary vault in Riv-
erside park. The event was a solemn
and imposing ceremony. From all
points people fiocked into the city by
tens of thousands. AT least half a
million spectators gathered in the
streets to watch the long procession
| escorting the body to the tomb. The
republic had never seen so great a
| funeral cortege as that which assembled
to do honor to the remains of the dead
commander and president
| From peaceful Mount McGregor the
! body had been taken to Albany, where
| it had lain in state at the capital for
day, and was then brought to New
York city, where multitudes looked upon
| the body of the departed hero. On the
| day of the funeral march representa-
l
were present when the palbearers
emerged from the city hall and the cas-
| ket was placed in the funeral car a mag
nificent catafalque. drawn by twenty
| four black horses, with black trappings
and each led by colored groom. The
pallbearers were: General Winfield T.
| Sherman General ]. E. Johnston. the
| southern soldier; General Phil Sheridan,
General Simon B. Buckner of the for
mer Confederate army; George w.
| Childs and Anthony J. Drexel. Admirals
Porter and Worden. Oliver Hoyt and
| George Jones, Generals John A. Logan
| and George S. Boutwell,.
With measured tread and dirge play
| ing, the funeral army started. Fully
| 50 600 men were in line. There were cell
ebrated generals who had fought with
| Grant; Grand Army men who had
served under him; Mexican war veter-
| ans: United States cavalry and infan-
| try; state troops from many states and
civic bodies. 1t was the grandest me-
mortal pageant the world had seen since
| that of 1852 when the Duke of yelling
| ton was buried.
AT the Fifth Avenue hotel President
| Cleveland, former presidents Hayes and
| Arthur, Vice President Hendricks, Sec
retaries Thomas F. Bayard, William c.
| Whitney, Lamar and Manning and other
national and state dignitaries Joined the
procession. The grand marshal of the
| day was General Winfield Scott Han
! cock. 1t was truly reunion of sections
and appropriately sgralized in action
| General Grants wish, Let us have
peace" In the almost endless line were
many southern troops, the City guard of
Atlanta, the Virginia state troop and
| others.
When the catafalque passed the massed
| crowds that occupied almost every avail
able inch of space from the city hall to
| the tomb all heads were barred rever-
emily under the blazing sun of that Sat
| urday morning
Beside the car was a guard Of honor,
which consisted of Battery A, Fifth u. S.
| artillery, Company E. Twelfth infantry
and some of the pallbearers in car
| riages. Then came another line Of SOL
diers, veterans and civic bodies.
| Late in the afternoon the catafalque
reached the small plain brick vault sur
mounted by a gilded cross that shone in
| the sunlight. AT this time the entire
| surrounding area was mass of glisten-
| ing bayonets and nodding plumes SOL
diers on horseback and soldiers on foe.
and battle-worn flags. Standing near
! the spot where the body of General
| Grant was to rest, in addition to the
president, former presidents and the
! cabinet officers WAS q host Of govern