The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-05-29

C0NCLE SAM expends considerably
more than 100000 a year, over
- and above his outlay for pensions,
ls{SSgiSi in providing for the comfort of
- defenders of the flag who through
old age or i'll health have become dsqUali-
fed for work As refugees for these old sol
diers, who are no longer self-supporting,
the most grateful of earthly governments
maintains ten national homes and bears
the major portion of the expense of con-
Quoting thirty State homes where the Ma
tons faithful servants of years gone by
may find rest and shelter
The government Ravens, ten in number.
are known collectively as the National
Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and
the different homes which so to make up
this great institution are designated as
branches" For instance the Central
Branch is located at Dayton, o., the North
western Branch at Milwaukee, the Eastern
Branch in Maine, the Southern Branch at
Hampton, Va, and the Pacific Branch at
Los Angeles. Cal. Then there is the Marion
National Military Home in Grant county,
Indiana; the National Home at Danville,
H., for which Speaker Cannon, of the
House, worked so energetically; the Noun
tain Home at Johnson City, Tenn, and the
Battle Mountain Sanitarium at Hot Springs
S. ID.
The history of the great soldiers homes
in America practically dates from the close
of the civil war. Soldier retreats were tenn
porarily established in most Northern
States at the close of the war for imme-
date use upon the disbanding of the ar
mics and Congress in 1865 passed an act for
the establishment of a National Soldiers
Home. 1t was to be known as a home
to distinguish it from the asylums founded
by charitable and legislative policy. The
men who intrusted with the task
of establishing the novel institution made
close study of similar institutions abroad,
notably the Military Asylum at Chelsea,
England, and the Hotel des Invalides at
Paris-the latter covering sixteen acres
and designed to accommodate 5000 soldiers
but nowhere did they gain many hints or
suggestions that were practical of embodi-
ment in the plans for the American insti-
tuition and were thus forced to depend sole
ly upon their own ideas of carrying out the
unique project.
The national home, or rather homes, are
under the direction of a board of man.
ayers of which the President of the United
States, the chief justice and the secretary
of war are members. From the outset
these shelters have been open to ''all
United States soldiers of any who are
incapable of earning a living, whether the
incapacity has resulted from their service
or not" AS has been noted, branches of
the home are located in all sections of the
country 1t was intended originally that
each home should serve a Mecca for
the veterans of the particular section in
which it is located, but as it has turned
out the assignment of old soldiers has
been governed in a greater degree by the
relative facilities of the different branches
and the climatic conditions needful for
semi-invalid soldiers than by geographical
conditions.
KEEN RIVALRY.
In almost every instance there has been
keen rivalry between different cities to
secure the location within their precincts
of any proposed new branch of the ma
tional home, and often liberal donations