Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-17
A MORTUARY CHAPEL
One Needed in. Arlington
National { Cemetery.
INDORSED BY CLERGY
ALL DENOMINATIONS HAVE URG-
ED THE BILLS PASSAGE.
They Also Indorse the Chaplain Bill,
Which Was Recommended by Sec
retaries Root and Taft.


clergy IN every sSeCtlOn OF the country.
These are the bills which provide for the
erection of a mortuary chapel at Arlington
cemetery and the increase In the rank OF
chaplains in the army. There is absolutely
no difference of opinion among the min
listers with regard to the ACCESSIBILITY OF
| making these two bills parts Of the statutes
of the United States. From every section
of the country. from Catholic and Protest
! ant Jew and Gentle alike, letters have
come to the members of Congress and adj
dressed to the committees having the bills
| in charge urging the immediate passage.
| The bill relating to. the chaplains was pre-
scented to Congress last year. and that re-
| iating to the mortuary chapel was intro
duced this session.
Need Of Mortuary Chapel.
The need of a mortuary chapel at Airing
| ton has long been felt. but the transporta-
| ton Of the remains of soldiers killed in ac-
| ton or who have died from disease in the
| Philippines brings the matter to the at
| tention Of the people of the country with
greater force. The cemetery at Arlington,
as every one knows. was part of the Gusts
estate, which was In the possession Of Gen.
Robert E. Lee at the time of the outbreak
| of the civil war. The property was con-
| fiscated by the United States government
and was later dedicated as national ceme-
| terry for the reception of the remains of the
soldier dead.
Every man who has ever served in the
army or navy regular volunteer has
the right to select a site for his last rest
ing place at Arlington and SO the question
Of making improvements at the national
cemetery is of interest to every man who
| has ever served his country in its military
operations. With the absorption of the Philip
pines and the use of American troops to
maintain order In the islands, the problem Of
the transportation of the remains of soldiers
who have died or been killed in action in
the orient became a very difficult one to
solve. The relatives and friends of the
dead men all wanted their bodies returned
to the United States. and in almost every
instance, If the dead mans wishes could
have been consulted the officers in charge
were sure he would, want to be buried on
his native soil. too At first there was
great difficulty in preparing the bodies for
shipment and in taking charge of the work.
The bodies of the men killed in Cuba were
the first to be exhrMed and brought here.
The work of experimenting this was left
to army chaplain. who performed his
task SO we'll that he was sent to the Phil
irpines, and there so systematiZed the
transportation of the dead that full-fedged
burial corps was organized in the army of
experienced undertakes. and the collecting
and transfer of the bodies of dead soldiers
became one of the Important branches of
the work of the ARMY in the Philippines 1t
was absolutely out Of the question for the
military authorities 10 transport the bodies
as soon as the men died Or their remains
were brought to the nearest shipping point.
Special arrangements must be made for
their transportation, and 1t did not seem
feasible to put a few or the collins on each
OF the transports. ss.--',ssfs
SO 1t came to be the custom to wait until
hundred or more bodies were brought
to the shipping point andothen load them on
a transport for shipment to the United
States. On the arrival OF the transport
a NaU York mr. no To-
tives of the dead men being notified pre-
viously the bodies were either claimed by
these relatives or were turned over to the
United States for interment at Arlington.
I'm this manner a very large proportion of
/ the remains eventually found their way
to the National cemetery.
The Question Of Superintendent.
The boxes containing the bodies would be
shipped to this city on special cars and
would be Immediately taken to the National
cemetery. The number of bodies received
here under such shipments has averaged
about fifty each time Now the question
that arose in the mind of the superinten-
dent of the cemetery and those who had
charge OF the funerals was and still Is,
what could be done with the bodies during
the interim between their arrival at the
cemetery and their burial. Accommodations
for the reception of five or six or even ten
bodies could be found around the cemetery,
but the matter of dispoSing of from forty
to fifty brought the officials face to face
with very serious question. 1t was mani
testify impossible to bury them all imme-
diately. Arrangements were made for fun
eral services, wholesale funerals, they have
been called when the entire number Of
dead would be buried at once with one SER
vice. This disposed of the question of hold
ing services. but the matter Of caring for
the dead during; the time they remained
at the cemetery before the services was the
serious part of the situation. The graves
Tor the reception of the boxes could not
be dug before their arrival as there was no
telling when they would arrive and NO
chances could be taken in digging graves
and leaving them exposed to the weather.
Ihere was absolutely no place at Airing
ton where the bodies could be stored and
sometimes it was necessary to wait AT least
Ten days Or two weeks before the weather
would permit the digging Of the graves
ana the holding of funeral service The
bodies were received and were taken care
of as best they could be. The method of
their storage is not regarded as reflection
on the officials in charge Of the cemetery
as they could obtain no other way OF dis
posing of them. The boxes. in most cases
were piled up under a shed and covarad
over with canvas. '@or the wagons contain
ing them were backed under the shed and
the boxes were left on the wagons until
they could be transferred to the graves
To Accommodate Relatives.
Then after the graves had been dug and
the boxes placed in readiness for burial a
serious question waD presented. The mat
ter OF wholesaieefuneral being settled, the
difficulty was to eaecbmmodate the relatives
and friends of thefdeiad who would natural
~ attend the services. On q cold. damn
DAY In the city the heights OF Arlington ara
colder and more damp and uncomfortable
ministers say that more cases of pneu-
MONA have been; terminated by funeral
services at Arlington than at any other
place IN or about sfWashington Persons
attending the services stand for fifteen or
t tmen ~. minutes With heads barred during
.ne reading of the Service, and grip and
pneumonia follow sassa matter of course
EVER since this statesbf affairs has existed
the oInciais In chargeiof the cemetery have
9 9een endeavoring to. secure some means for
uolhg away with the danger This took
Ine form of the' bfif which is now before
congress Tor thes construction of a mortu-
airy chapei at Arlington.
III. IN the chapel 1t ais. proposed to build there
wan ue an especially constructed Chamber
where pooles can be stored until the graves
are are ready Tor them. The chamber will he
punt Tor the purpose and will be appron,i
a.eiy decorated and designed. The other
part Oh the chapel will be arranged for sery
ices, SO that the