Evening star., 1898-11-19
DEAD OF T THE MAINE
Completion of the Fence for Inclos.
ing Their Graves.
MEETING OF The UsV. |. COMMITTEE
Gates and Fewing to Be Shipped
MondayNext.
TIL E WIN Low ROE S

The finishing touches were this morning
put on the handsome wrought iron fence
which is to inclose the graves of twenty
four sailors of the battle ship Maine, killed
in the explosion in Havana harhor, and the
four seamen of the torpedo boat Winslow
who lost their lives In the fighting on Car
denas during the early days of the Cuban
blockade. Tomorrow between the hours OF
10 I'm. and pm. the tall bronze and iron
gates. magnificent in, design and finish. VIII
be on exhibition in front of Jorss' iron
works, at No. 315 18th street northwest,
one block south of Pennsylvania avenue
The gates will be in charge Of a guard to
prevent any possible damage. 1t is suggest
ed by the committee having charge of the
work of protecting the last resting place
of those Of the Maine dead brought to
this country that all who contributed to the
fund which made possible the attainment
of the end now in view shall call at Jorss'
during tomorrow and have a look at the
completed fence. <,...-
The committee from Encampment No.
60, Union Veteran Legion, the order under
whose auspices the fund for the fence and
care of the graves was raised will meet
at O'Clock this afternoon at the iron
works to inspect the minute details of the
workmanship in the gates and the main
body of the fence. This committee consists
of Captain Gideon A. Lyon, chairman;
Major Frank A. Butts, secretary and treas
urer; Colonel M ]. Foote. w. w. Brown
and Colonel Luke Kelly. 1t is expected
that Dr. w. X. Van Reypen. surgeon gen.
eral of the navy, and DR.. Boyd, his assist
ant will meet the committee this after
noon. Drs. Van Reypen and Boyd have
both taken much interest in the work of
remembering the Maine" and have as
ar no 0nyr,f too hi
Secretary Long has also been invited to be
present. II 1t should happen he is unable
to view the work this afternoon he will
probably inspect it tomorrow.
Date of Shipment.
Monday morning the gates will be care
fully boxed and the fence Grated for ship
ment. Tuesday morning a special freight
car of the Southern railway will be side
tracked to receive the wrought work. The
car will be attached to a train leaving some
time during the evening and will go right
through to Key West, the transportation
being furnished gratis by the railway lines.
It Is expected the fence will arrive at Key
West the 2Sth instant where it will be
taken in charge by Mr. A. c. Harper. the
civil engineer to whom has been given the
contract TO level the area to be inclOsed.
mound the graves yandsperform the prelim-
mary work of putting up the fence. Mr..
Harper will proc eed with the work of erect
Ing the fence ard placing the gates in posi-
ton. This work wills require but a few
days and will be practically completed when
Mr.. A. F. Jorss arrives to look after the
final details. Mr.. Jorsswll be accompanied
by Major Butts, and possibly by Captain
Lyon of the Uni6n Veteran Legion COM
mittee, who will sac that everything is sat
tsfactorily accomplished before returning to
Washington. ~,i-
Mr.. P. B. Baker. the undertaken who had
charge of the banal df the Winslow sail
ors, will remove the bodies of these men
from their present resting place in the Key
West cemetery to a place of prominence in
the Mairie plat. By dirsarion of Lieutenant
Bernadou of the Winslow, the work of re-
moval will not take pace until after
rival Of the committee at Key West. thus
precluding the possibility of any mistake
in the reinterment Lieutenant Bernadou
has prepared a diagram. which will be fol-
lowed in detail in the reburying. AS soon
as this work is completed, the monument,
fund for which was raised among the
officers and men of the torpedo boat 1otil!a
will be erected to the memory of the Wins
low dead. 1t is expected that a handsome
granite monument will also be raised to
the Maine sailors. The expense of the re-
out of the fund in the hands Of the Wash
ington committee, as there is no appropria-
ton in the Navy Department available for
the purpose.
The HeadstOnes.
Major Butts called at the Navy Depart
ment Wednesday and was informed
that the specially inscribed headstones for
the graves of the Maine and Winslow sail
ors will not be ready for fully six weeks
yet. They will be furnished through the
quartermaster general of the army, and
will be paid for by the government out of
the Navy Department contingent fund. 1t
is expected the entire work of transform
ing the heretofore neglected plat in the
Key West cemetery into a fitting resting
n he ma rtI rod
will be complete by January l.
Lieut.. John B. Bernadou visited En-
campment No 60 last Saturday evening
and gave the members a graphic account
of the fight at Cardenas in which Ensign
Worth Bagley and four of the boats crew
We're killed. He also thanked the encamp-
ment for the work done in honoring the
graves of his men. 1t was expected the
lieutenant would accompany the commit
tee to Key West to assist in superintend-
ing the work there, but he has been ordered
to California on duty in connection with
the government smokeless powder plant in
course of construction there, and will not
be in the east until some time in December
Commander Gilmore, commandant of the
Key West naval station, and Lieut.. N r.
Usher of the navy, also stationed there,
have been requested TO aid the Washing
ton committee as far as possible.
The fence, as completed, is a handsome
affair The body is five feet in height
While the center of the grand gates will
reach a height of eight feet The design is
repete with naval features, including cut
lasses, capstand, anchors, etc. The eagle
and cannon design in the center of the two
swinging gates is a reproduction of the
devices above the mirrors in the ante-room
of the Office of the Secretary of the Navy.
Anchors ornaments and "U. S. NJ mono
grams, as well as the plates which are
suitably inscribed, are made of FURNISHED
bronze and stand out in relief against the
somber black of the remainder of the
fence.