The Washington herald., 1907-07-08

AXE home a complete picture Of the
ruins I'm their mind. took bits Of stone
from tho lintels of the doors until the
original idea of architecture so valuable
70 archaeolOgists has been lost. In Yel-
0wstone Park the government finally had
L take n hand and make il a law that
the iusCrustations from the sides of the
Eeysers be not removed, and that no writ
ing be left on the stones. The walls Of
the Devils Kitchen have been inscribed
with names Of insignificant beings from
all over the United States Every ma
uo1al park. every park inciosing a historic
spot and many other Enclosures through
ont the country bear SignbOards naming
penalty for breaking twigs. pulling
flowers. or removing stones or pebbles as
souvenirs.
Even the sepulchers Of great men are
not spared. Il is said that one reason
that hastened the removal of Washing
toms body from the old TO the newer
tomb at Mount Vernon was that some
one broke into the vault and removed a
skull from one Of the collins. believing
it 70 be that Of the great statesman As
il happened, it was the skull Of some
member Of the Blackburn family, but
the ghouIish act proved the necessity for
further safeguarding the remains of
Washington. Even after they had been
placed I'm the present vault another In
vader climbed over the iron gate, now
the inner gate, and removed a large
portion Of the stone from one Of the
sarcophagi This caused the building OF
the outer gate, with its arched top, that
eGectually excludes adventures. The
tomb Of Robert carter, of Corotoman.
the famous King Carter Of the Kappa
hammock plantations. has been sadly mu-
tilated by relic hunters, and ten years
ago a curio house in Richmond showed,
in all good faith, the alleged skull Of
Powhatan
The body Of Helen Hunt Jackson,
buried, at her request. on the side Of
Cheyenne Canyon. in Colorado. had finally
20 De removed 60 Denver to preserve it
from the deseCration 0f enthusiastic and
admiring pilgrims. Each visitor carried
away a pebble from the grave, believing
il 10 be one Of those that had laid upon
matter Of fact. the orterprising keeper
OF the grounds had to dump many a
wagon load Of gravel on the grave 20
replace the stones removed, and 10 sup
ply Curi0s for coming pilgrims. At the
head OF the canyon there long blOomcd
an odd tree. At a distance IL had the aU-
poarauce Of being rich fin white flowers,
but nearer view showed II o. be a
cedar. whose spikes were thicklv set with
the white cards Of visitors from far and
near. This. Ike the Over-writton and de-
faced walls of the Mammoth Cave. proves
the old adage Of our school days Fools
names. like their faces, are always found
I'm public places
In the early history Of the Luray Cave
la Virginia learned men pointed with
the pride Of the student 70 the skeleton
Of some prehistoric man that was firmly
held and petrifed in the stalactltes. In
some far distant age. mayhap in the
very dawn Of the world, this man had
died. his corpse had been laid in the
rccesses Of the cavern, and the dripping
NJ the lime water throughout countless
centuries had covered it in a half trans
lucent substance until history was rich
in a unique page that few could read.
But the souvenir collector got in his
deadly work. The preservation Of this
treasure as national spectacle was
as nothing 90 his acquisition Of a bit of
It, so, inch by inch, piece by piece, the
great curiosity was borne away until by
1878 it was almost gone. and a few years
later people had forgotten it was ever
there.
The recent l0otins Of the cabin Of the
Duke Of Ahruzzi when his ship was an
caored Off jamestown shows 10 what ex-
tremes crazy souvenir hunters will some
times go. The word crazy is not too
strong % be applied O. people who will
take such liberties when stricken by the
relic-huntiug fever When the present
King of England came to this country
as the Prince Of Wales nearly fifty years
ago, and stopped al the old New York
Hotel. near Washington Square. in Man
haitian. a bevy Of girls hung outside his
rooms. and he was hardly down the cor
rijor before they invaded the apartments
and bottled the water I'm which ne had
washed his princely hands and face. They
also cut UP his towels into convenient
bits and carried them away. When Pader-
cwski first played here some college girls
entered his dressing-room and bottled the
hot water he had dipped his hands in Il
rest them after his concert Who will
dispute the statement that such behavior
is idi1tic? Young people who conduct
H| -.rr
reflect discredit upon their bringing up.
but cause foreigners 10 believe that
Americans are a race OF fools. The
guards who stood day and night on watch
around the cell of jefferson Davis at
Fort Monroe took his pipe, towels, spoons.
knives. and forks 10 send back home 20
wives and sweethearts as souvenirs from
the person OF the nations captive
Hist0riographers must base the au-
thcntc histories Of the land upon the
original documents. manuscripts and per-
sonaI writings Of its great men. yet as a
nation we are as careless in the matter
of preserving such papers as We are
about preserving landmarks and old
When Washington died. the
relative 90 whom he wilied all his manu-
scripts gave bits here and there to
friends Of the late general. and even sold
a large portion to an English collector
Tie latter was repUrchased. however, by
Indignant Boston citizens and preserved
0r the use OF the nation In the Library
e Congress In Washington are several
nutilated letters OF Benjamin Franklin.
cle being cut into "a tailor's pattern. For
ions while the State records Of Ten
u &C lay IA = damp basement in the