The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-10-28

around to the headquarters building.
which is built of white granite and mar
bic and around which are dozens of the
old soldiers sitting upon benches or ly-
ing full length upon the grass. Hero
and there little guide flags like these
on golf course mark the ground. and
men were at work cutting and raking
the grass. Everything has clean. new
look, and it really seems to be impossible
to muss things up at all.
The buildings are, all grouped here in
a bunch; barracks, headquarters, officers
cottages and water tower. 1 suppose
this Is to save space The t1eater
is a beautiful square building. made of
white marble, and performance Is
given twice week all through the win
ter. Inside l found an old fellow clean
ing up and he Seemed quite anxious to
tell me all about life at the home
From what he said I gathered the i'm
preston that it must be pleasant.
I next inspected the barracks. Here
the men live just as they do at army
posts all over the country Each one
has his little iron bed, with its blue-gray
blanket, and the canvas mattress under
this, white and clean. Wide yerandas
run all the way around the barracks.
both being painted yellow They are
larger and better lighted, otherwise they
are the same as those at any army
far the prettiest in every way upon these
grounds.
The first story, west end, is used for a
dining room Long tables reach from
one end of it to the other, and great
brass coffee tanks and soup tanks stand
in one corner. The food is put on the
table by the cooks and then the head of
the table puts each mans rations upon
his plate. The bugle then sounds the
dinner CALI and the old soldiers file
in and take their places at table. 1t is
a beautiful sight to see these white-hair-
ed old men come marching in like a
lot of eager school boys and drop into
places and eat in a hearty and heaIthfuI
manner.
LITTLE RED CHAPEL.
Leaving the buildings we took the west
walk and went winding over the hills
toward the woods on the left. This is
considered by many to be the finest part
of the grounds. We had not gone far
before we come to chapel of red stone
standing quite alone among the pine
trees. It is a pretty little building with
vines growing all over it and the sunlight
playing upon its stained glass windows
A little way from it's doorstep, back in
the shadows of the trees, is a graveyard
monument, stained by many rains until it
is black and green in spots. Upon it
is this inscription: Henry Wilson,
the Soldiers Friend, Vice President of
the United States, Nov. %, 1875. Erected
by the Enlisted Men of the Army" 1t
was lonesome enough place for u
grave and it looked unkempt and deserted
Two old soldiers came by as we were
standing beside it, and 1 asked one of
them If this was the grave of Vice Presi-
dent Wilson.
TT used to be- said the man, ''but
I think they took him up and put him
in Arlington four or five years ago"
But amt sure" he added, and then
he shouted at his friend who~had gone
little way up the path: us Wilson
in there, Smith,
'Is who in there?" shouted back
Smith
Wilson," shouted the first.
NO. said Smith, Wilson never was
in there"
Eyes, he was" said the first
mo, he WASH ~. maintained Smith.
.'Where was he then and where is he
now?" asked the first.
ST don't know where he isl said
Smith, "but he never was in there.
Some old soldiers put up that story, be
cause he was the soldiers friend"
WHY THEIR FRIEND
"In what way was he the soldiers
friend, [ asked. is
T ooh, passing bills in congress like Lo-
gan, said Smith. .-,4
That was as near as we came to find
ing out where Wilson was buried.
Keeping on down the road we came to
place where men were at work build
ing a huge stable where all live stock
and wagons are to be kept in the flu
ture. This will be one of-the decided i'm
provements, as now the stables are al
together nearer the living apartments
than they should be.
Although no part of the soldiers
home grounds are Wild, there are some
parts of them that are given up to- the
gray squirrels and the birds, the only
Wild things ever seen here. The ground
beneath the trees is kept clean of all
underground, and only the rich green
grass is allowed to grow undisturbed.
If you are not careful these winding
roads will lose you with ease. All you
have to do is to keep right on and adj
mire the flower beds and the hanging
vines. and when you stop and look about
you discover that you are lost. But If
is such a beautiful place that you are
almost glad that YOU are lost, and you
drop down upon a fallen log and count
the miles you have walked and wonder
where you are.