The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1906-05-31
Il RfTHE At ARLINGTON
By Martha l.. Schneider.

blowss; the lovely puzple- wisseria
blooms and waves anGisways- and
casss>weird shadows around my feet,
Ike moving ranks of soldiers with
waving plunaes, as 1 sit In the Bergola'
at Ellington and look K out on the
graves of the. Nations dead. Today
all is-peaceful and serene The leaves
OF the, red eeders hum allow, accom-
panlment to the love-songofthe Birds.
while. the oaks-for ther beauty of
which the place is noted mnrmurin,
aminor key. The greensward on my
LETT is.dotted with many rows of listle
tombs> which glitter in the sunlight
like -ssans in the milky way, each ssarr
point of glosy, each CLEAN a. ray, Of
light starting the fires osimemory of
the brave deeds, the heroic efforts Of
those who wore the blue or the gray.
To the right more stately tembs, and
monuments mark the Places of The
noted:warriers.
The lovely hill upon which Arling-
ton is situated rises with a, gentle
slope-from the Potomac river. Up. on
the brow Of the hill, facing the CITY,.
the old historic mansianp stands. as,
beautiful and stately today, as, when
it was first built in 1902
The portieo with it's great Deric
columns was modelled aftsrthe4 temple
of Theseus at Athens. George, Wash,
ington Parke Gusts, son. of; John,
Raras Gusts, whose widowed mother
became Mrs. Martha Washington,
was the builder of Arlington. Upon
theAdeath OF Gusts, Arlington passed
to the children of his only daughter.
Mary Custis Lee, wife-of Robena E.
Lee. When the Civil war came Col.
Robert E. Lee resigned from the.
Federal service, and onaApril. %, 1851
he Left Arlington, and with his family
went to Richmond.
Hardly had they left when the
Federal troops took possessiona and
converted the mansion into a. head
quarters for the army, and the grounds
for a camp, and tn csc subsequently
became q National Cemetery, the
government having paid $4,000 to the:
heirs.
The art of the landscape gardener
has beautified this nost beautiful Of
spots, but it is to nature that we must
give the palm. 1t is as though the
earth, foreseeing that desperate strug-
gle that was to separate, yet cement,
the people of America, .heaved sigh,
and the soft, moist ground arose and
hung above the flowing river, to form
crown in which the Union was to set
her warrior stars, and: bury her noble
dead.
When Lafayette was a guest at
Arlington House, .hs pronounced the
prospect from it's porch one of the
most beautiful he had ever seen.
Below flows the Potomac, from whose
further side rise Georgetown and
Washington, and beyond-in gentle
curves the. eneircling hills of
Maryland, dim and beautiful in the
distance. 81
Calmly flows the. river southwark,
past old Alexandria. Pure white and
green with just a. tint of red, Washing
ton lies in the hollow Of her surround
ing hills like aloxely lily with heart
of fire.
Today all is-peaceful. quiet, solemn,
in the city of the dead. but next week
there will be- heard the sound of
muffied druna, the roll of the mourn
full "Taps."' Memorial day with its
flowers, its sloquenee, its music, its
silent devotion to the dead, will be
with us, and on this festal day of the
honored dead Arlington will be filled
with patriotic hearts who will pay
homage to the dead in commemoration
of the past and remind the younger
generation of the true function of the
day-a reverence for the flag and all
it signifies.
The highest and the lowest in. the
land will join in floral tribute, in
solemn prayer, in spoken praise.
Garlands and wreaths of dollhouse
blooms; simple wild woodbine, dog
wood, and daisies will decorate the
monuments and the lowly grave.
EARLY in the morning the people in
the city will know that cold Glory
is passing along the streets from the
sound of martial music. North, south,
east, west, the little bands of once
sturdy warriors will pass on their way
| to the different cemeteries around the
city. Oh! these now thinned ranks
of veterans, how they totter and tremble
as they walk, blue-clad, faower-laden,
misty-eyed, old and worn, but still
proud and brave and true.
From grave to grave they move,
filled with the memories OF other days.
In imagination they hear the thunder
of the great guns, the rattle and roar
of the infantry fire, through clouds OF