The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-26

the real authors of Memorial Day. which ;n many places is called Deco ration Day, the name by which 1t was first known.
 Camps of the United Confederate Veterans are scattered all the way from Maryland to Texas. Local organ nations of the United Daughters of the Confectionery and of the United Sons of Confederate Veterans are sprfnkled over the same wide area Each Memorial Day, whether 1t be May 30 or an earlier date, hundreds of the veterans of the South march to the cemeteries and observe the beautf- full custom of decorating soldiers graves, while the sons and daughters to:n the veterans in their noble task, just as In the North the Sons of vefe- rams and the members of the woman.s Relief Corps participate in the c. A. R. ceremonies at the cemeteries.
 In recent years many efforts have been made to identify and mark the graves of Southern dead who were buried without Identification. This task obviously is highly difficult. While some have been identified with the aid of old records, diagrams of burial places and the like. the majority of the unknown dead must remain af- ways unknown. Recognizing this pa- thetic fact, a few years ago the people Of Winchester, Va, town famous In Civil War annals. erected in the local cemetery. where lie the bodies of many soldiers of both the South and the North. a handsome monument bearing this significant inscription:
 sNone Know Who They Were but All Know What They We're"
 The United States Government has done much .n recent years toward beau tifying Southern cemeteries containing the dust of Northern dead, such as those at sharpsburg (Antietam), Ar lington and South Mountain. The Southern people have done much of this sort of work for their own fallen heroes, funds being raised chiefly by private subscription. In many cene- teries which had been woefully neg lected in the terrible stress of recon struction days . wonderful transform- ation has been wrought. At Atlanta. for instance, around which city was some of the fercest lighting of the war. nearly every one of the thousands of Confederate graves has been marked in some way. Several of the finest memorial monuments in the United States are in the Atlanta cemetery.
 Thousands of unidentified Confeder- ates were buried at Marietta. Ga. At this late day 1t is. of course. impossi- ble to identify them. but all these graves have been marked with blank stones. Each Memorial Day the name less stones are decorated with blos- soms.
 Every year there is a great gathering in the cemetery at Richmond. the capital of the Confederacy. for the dec- oration of the graves of famous gen. erals and of unknown soldiers who fell in the ranks. There is buried gallant "Jeb" Stuart slain on the field of Yel- low Tavern, seven miles distant He was but 31 years of age. and he died . major general, leaving an enduring fame as q great cavalry leader. Gen. George Pickett. who led the splendid but disastrous charge at Gettysburg. perhaps the most famous charge h history. also lies there. Upon a lofty eminence overlooking the James River sleeps Jefferson Davis. soldier, states man and President of the Confederacy. with his devoted wife and the Daugh- ter of the Confectionery" beside him. The latter was Miss Winnie Davis. beloved alike both North and South.
 And on Memorial Day." writes Lam don Knight in a recent magazine ar- tlcle, flowers from the hills Of ver- mont commingie over her grave with l those from the plains of Texas and the 1 land of the setting sun as tribute to her worth and in attestation of re- united country"