The National tribune., 1903-04-23

sympatliies and secure contributions from
the public:
Formation and preservation of sentl
ments of loyalty to the Flag and Union;
Aid TO soldiers in securing their claims
for compensation and pensions from TIL
Government.
Necessarily many of these functions
were performed by a number of dlfferen
agencies and some of them by all, so tina
the recital of the work of the Youn;
Mems Christian Association, the Chris
tian Commission. the Sanitary Commits
sion, etc, will be in some sense repetl
ton.
The leading features and events of thu
prominent organizations will be given. an'
they will serve to illustrate the who'll
subject.
BEGINNING OF THE WAR.
On April u, 1861, telegram was sen
to the Governors of the Northern States
that "The war is commenced. The bat
teries lat Charleston began firing at
O'Clock this morning. Maj. Andersen
from Fort Sumter) replied, and a brisl
cannonading commenced"
This startling intelligence was sooI
heard through the country and the appea
to arms was at once accepted, howeye
much it had been deprecated.
Among the first to respond were thu
Ringgold Light Artillery of Reading, th'
Logan Guards of Lewistown, the Wash
ington Artillery and National Light Infan
try Of Pottsville, and the Allen Rifles Of
Allentown. These companies proceeded
to Harrisburg on April 16 and were joined
on the 18th by a detachment of 40 kegu
lars of Co. ii, 4th U. S. Art. The five
companies were mustered into the service
OF the United States, and with the few
,la Iaf+ 10 bttrp OF M
the morning of April IS, the latter pro
ceeding TO Fort McHenry. The others ar
rived in Baltimore at l o'clock in thu
afternoon and marched across that city
passing through an immense mob of sui
! len and angry men. 1t is an interesting
! fact that of these five companies of sol
diers, only "a men had muskets and there
, was not a single charge of powder. The
men placed percussion caps in their gun.
and by showing a-bold front intimidatet
the crowd who had not then reached thu
decision which led to open violence on the
day following.
At O'Clock on the evening of Apri
is, the head Of the grand column o.
100000 of men who were afterward mus
tered in and marched in their footprint.
arrived in Washington and were quarteret
in the United States Capitol Building
Here they were furnished with arms. am
munition, and equipments, and the work a
once begun of barricading the Capitol witt
barrels of cement and large sheets of boiler
iron.
BEGINNING OF THE WORK OF THE
y. N. c. A.
AS early as March IS, 1861, reso.u
tion was adopted by the Washington
Young Mems Christian Association tc
provide for the distribution of tracts among
he in cit
As soon, therefore. as the Pennsylvania
volunteers arrived in April the Associa
ton provided them with Testaments anG
tracts. appointed special missionary
Rev. o. L. Pitcher, to visit them, invited
them 10 call at the rooms of the Asso
citation, on Pennsylvania Avenue between
Sixth and Seventh Streets. and by mean
of system of districting the city already
established, secured attention to every
camp and, subsequently, every hospita
and depot. special committee was ap
pointed by the Association, consisting Of
Messrs. William J. Rhees, Henry Beard
and Nicholas Dubois, TO take charge OF
the distribution Of secular and religion.
publications. to the army, and this com
mittee engaged heartily in the work ant
continued it during the war.
A supply of newspapers and other pc
ri1dicals from all parts of the country was
rooms through the liberality of the pub
fishers. The exchanges of the Evenin:
Star were freely furnished and paper
were received from the Postmasters O.
the Senate and House of Representatives
Arrangements Were made with tn,
American Tract Societies of Boston ant
New York, the Massachusetts Sabbath
School Society of Boston, the Washing
ton Bible Society. the Methodist Publish
ing House. and others. to supply books
tracts, and papers for the army
large room (No. 81 was granted il
the Post-otiice Department for the deposit
and shipment of literature and was il
charge of Rev. J. w. Alvord, of the Bos
ton Tract Society, and Ir. William ]
Rhees. of tie Washington Young Men,
Christian Association.
THE DEFEAT OF BULL RUN
on Sunday. July 81, caused intense ex
citement through the country and on tn
third morning after, Mr.. Vincent Colye
and SIr. l.. w. Ballard arrived in Wash
ington rs delegates from the New Yorl
Young Mems Christian Association. The,
spent several weeks with others in in
speeding the camps and distributing litera
ture. Mr.. Colyer's labors were notcworth,
and gra.uitous. He gave up his bushes
and devoted himself entirely to the work
Other cities sent members to aid in
work which evidently had grown far be
yond the ability Of the men in Washing
ton to meet.
A resolution was adopted Aug. 10, 1851
by the Association to welcome the coin
mittee of the Young Mems Christian Asso
citation of New York and the Secretary o.