Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1906-01-17
CALDWELL WRITES AGAIN.
An Interesting Letter Describing Mt.
Vernon, Arlington and Other Historic
Points Near Washington.

Washington, d. g., Jan. -, 1906.
Editor Public Opinion: The colored
people in this city are very much in
evidence. A friend of mine in the
Census Bureau tells me that there are
something over one hundred thousand
of them, about one-third of the entire
population.
The old fashioned One-horse dump
carts are used here almost exclusively
for all kinds of dirty work such as
excavating, gathering refuse from the
streets, hauling coal, etc. We noticed
the same in Philadelphia All the
telegraph, telephone and street car
wires are carried in conduits under
ground no poles or wires in sight
anywhere all street car lines have
slot in the center of the track the
same as the old cable line on State
Street, Chicago, used to have, but
these are not cable lines We happened
TO choose such lovely day to go to
Mt. Vernon, sixteen miles down the
Potomac on the Virginia side. We
took the electric cars, seventy-five
cents round trip, which included
side trip to Arlington, crossed the
! Potomac on the old Long Bridge
made famous during the Civil War by
the thousands upon thousands Of
troops that passed over it, going to
the war that nev1 returned; bridge
that was lined with wagon trains day
and night for five long years, carving
supplies TO the great army: bridge
on which crossed hundreds of
ambulances bringing the wounded
tenderly from many battle field.
could but feel sad as it all came back
to me so wildly. Our trip took us
! through the quaint old town of Alex
andria, where the cars stop half an
hour for excurSionists to see the places
of interest. | was quite interested in
I seeing the old Marshall House, where
! Col. Ellsworth was shot early in the
! war, while i'll the act of pulling down
rebel flag from a pole on the roof,
| The building is now used as an old
! junk shop. The old sign marshall
House" is still On the front of the old
weather beaten building. Our guide
| tried to make us believe the flag pole
now on the roof was the old original,
and>that after | handed him quarter.
Mt. Vernon las been visited by so
/ many of our DEBORAH people, and has
4 been written up SO many times, that
there is nothing new to tell. We were
very much pleased to find the grounds
and buildings so well taken care of
by the Ladies Association that have
the management. There is a charge
1 of twenty-five cents admission which
goes toward keeping it up There
were forty or more of our party, and
of course some one had TO tell the old
chestnut story about man that was
found weeping beside the ice house
thinking it was Washington tomb.
How can | describe Arlington better
than to say that think in the very
near future it will be the most beauti-
full cemetery in all the world. Nature
has done so much for it, located as it
| is on high ground overlooking the
Potomac and the National Capital.
! We got carriage az the station, and
a gentleman with his wife that we
met on the train went with us for
drive through the grounds. The old
Rober K. Lee mansion, built in 1902,
with its broad portico, and its great
Doric columns, stands in about the
center of the cemetery. Nearby
STANDS the Temple of Fame, an
open circular colorado with low
domed roof. The cOrnice bears the
udHi6S VI NdSIDugUOH, LluCOlu, GranU
and Farragut, and on the columns
are those of Thomas, Meade, Nc
Pherson, Sedgwick, Reynold S,
Humphreys, Garfield and Mansfield.
About these are clustered tho graves
of the distinguished dead, the great
commanders of the army and navy.
One large track covering great many
acres is where the large army of the
rank and file lie sleeping. The known
dead have stone at each grave. the
same as the ones in our Decorai,
cemetery that are furnished by the
government. the unknown have a
square stone marked Unknown -
one large plat is for the colored troops,
one small one for the victims of the
Maine, one for the Spanish war
veterans. and still another for the
Confederates. We fingered about the
grounds, loath to leave until the
snndown gun at the nearby fort
ification, Fort Never reminded
us it was time to take our car, and
return to the city and our home
temporarily.
| YOnrS Qyar