The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-07-06
Soldiers Monuments.


pended by many States Of the Union
in the erection of memorial monu-
ments to their soldier dead on various
historic battlefelds, writes Rene
Bache.
The work Is still going on. and the
500 being given by Congress recently
in one lump to pay for suitable ceno.
taphs In honor of regular army organ
izations which fought at Gettysburg.
Meanwhile. the great fighting ground
at Chickamauga, now national park,
is getting to be thickly sprinkled with
works of art in imperishable granite
and bronze, which record the deeds OF
both Union and Confederate troops.
and the same sort Of patriotic enter
prise Is being manifested at Antietam,
at Vicksburg and at the field OF Shilo h.
The finest monuments on any Of our
battlefields are now being put up at
yicksburg. One Of them, erected by
the State Of Illinois at cost of $780,
600, is Of granite and bronze. 1t has
u
IS feet in diameter at the base and IS
feet high, with sort of porch upheld
by columns.
Another, by Iowa, is equally bsauti-
full In its way, consisting Of a half
circle Of columns, with elaborate dec
orations, including tablets.
The fighting ground at vicksburg is
on a bluff, 40 feet above the river,
and its most striking feature topo-
graphically is a ridge on which the
Confederate works and batteries were
situated.
At Antietam, which saw the hardest
days fighting of the Civil War, 10000
men being killed on both sides, all the
States that were represented by troops
are erecting monuments. Not long ago
Ohio dedicated ten such memorials to
her regiments In one bunch on that
field.
Perhaps the most interesting of them
was a huge granite block with a
bronze tablet which represented, In
quasi-pictorial fashion, a boy making
coffee at camp fire. The boy was
William Mckinley, at that time IL
years old, who, finding nothing else so
useful for him to do, spen. his time
during the battle in preparing a great
quantity Of the hot and stimulating
beverage, so that 1t might be ready
for the WORKOUT soldiers after the
fight was over. 1t was typical of his
thoughtfulness for others-a trait dom
inant in his character through life.
The States have spent over $1,000
600 on regimental monuments at Get
tysburg, where the work has been go
ing on for % years. In most instances,
where such a memorial was to be put
up, the State has contributed a certain
amount Of II oney, and the survivors of
the regiment have furnished the bal
ance. Originally the battlefield park
at Gettysburg was controlled by pri-
vate individuals, who lought pieces OF
land and erected shafts or other com
| memorative structures upon them; but
all this property has now passed into
the hands of the government
Search for Treasure.
Major o. N. Wilson, an attorney OF
Independence, is assisting in what
seems the impossible task Of finding
| $4,000 which is believed to have been
deposited in a bank or other place OF
safe keeping by Josiah Garsting, one
of the victims Of Quantrelrs guerrillas
according to the Kansas City Times
The only clews possessed by the attor
neys are the stories of the money he
was supposed to have had and the
name of one man who knew that he
had this money.
Josiah Garsting, a mere boy, was Q
member of Capt. Horace B. Johnson's
company Of cavalry Of the First Mis-
souri, regiment. Johnson was ambush
ed on the Big Blue by Anderson's com
pany Of guerrillas. Johnson escaped
but Garsting is supposed to have beer
killed and his body filed with powder
and blown up. The stories that have
come down say that the boy was hat
ed by the guerrillas. He was known
as the Little Red-Head." He is sait
to have been good-natured and jolly
He was known to have had larg,
amount of money, secured from boun
ties or In gambling, and it is under
stood that he had been advised to pu
it In a bank, though no evidence tina
he had done so has been found.
Garsting's family lived in Ohio a
the time of the war. They now live il
Independence. A brother of Garstin:
is blind and lives in st. Joseph, wher
he earns living with a hand organ
Twice his brother has heard of tn
money that the boy soldier was sup
posed to have had. Once man stop
ped the blind man on the street upol
hearing the name Garsting spoken an,
asked him If he had had a brother Il
the war. This man said that he ha,
been the bunkmate Of Josiah Garstinc
Il was with him when he was killed
Did you ever get any of his money I?
he asked. He gave his name to Garsi
ing, but the blind man has forgotte
it. On another occasion, two year
ago, a man asked the blind man IL b
knew Josiah Garsting, and abused tn
dead soldier. This man, after learnin
that the blind organ grinder was Je
siah Garsting's brother, said that h
had been member OF Anderson
gang, and knew about the killing o
lyorng Garsting. His name Is known