Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-11-14
MARTYR. Of tho prison ship.

New York, NOV. l4.-AIter HloTe lhan
O. century Of agitation by individuals
and organizations, bones representing
approximately $1,000 martyrs" of the
revolutionary war, who died on the
rrison ship Jersey and other lesser
vessels in wallabout Bay, Brooklyn,
lie at last in q fttingly marked burial
r4lace, for which the government, New
York state and hundreds of individuals
made contributions. An imposing
Doric column of granite, 270 feet high,
surmounted by funeral urn, and flag
stan. rises above the tomb at Fort
Greene park, Brooklyn, and its dedi-
cation today Is marked by remark
able military parade of nearly 10000
soldiers and marines, and memorable
addresses by President-elect William
Fl. Taft and Governor Charles e.
Hughes.
Big Military Parade.
The procession Of naval and mill
tary organizations, said to be one of
the largest i'll the history of Brooklyn,
the tremendous outpouring of the peo-
r:le from all over Greater New York,
crowding dersely the line Of march,
and at Fort Greene Park massed by
tens of thousands, presented an inspir-
fmg spectacle. Major General Charles
r. Roe, commanding the national guard
Of the state, was grand marshal OF
the parade, which comprised four dt-
visions-troops attached to division
Headquarters, First and Second brigade
HEADQUARTERS and the naval militia In
these were included two squadrons OF
cavalry, three batteries Of field artil-
lery. two organizations Of the state sig
nal corps, one field hospital corps, three
coast artillery regiments, headed by
General David E. Austen; the Seventh,
Twelfth, Fourteenth, Twenty-third,
F'orty-seventh,. Sixty first and Seventy
second infantry regiments Of the ma
tional guard; fourth division of the G.
A. R., veterans associations and pa
triotic societies, squadrons Of mounted
police and many military and other
bands.
The vicissitudes Of the remains of the
sailors and soldiers who died of fever
and starvation, and rotted in the foul
hulks of the British prison ships long
anchored in Wallabout bay, which thev
Irolluted, have been many, and have
caused more than one outburst of pub
lie indignation. 1t was in 1892. at
Brooklyn town meeting, that definite
steps were first urged to properly bury
the remains. Nothing was done, how
ever, until 1908, when the Tammany
society secured funds for temporary
wooden tomb, which was constructed
on Hudson street. To this the bodies.
dug from the trenches along the Walla-
bout banks where they had been hast
ily inferred, were removed.
With passing years the structure fell
into decay, the bones became exposed
and children played with them. Public
feeling became aroused, and in 1875
the city Of Brooklyn removed all that
could be collected, several loads of
them, to tomb at Fort Greene park,
under the stairs of the entrance, where
they had been until work had begun
on the present handsome memorial
which the late Stanford White designed
and which represents about 100000.
10 these bones were added. four years
ego, after public service at Plymouth
church. many more, filling about eight
coffins, which had been unearthed in
construction Of warehouses at the
Brooklyn navy yard. All the remains
are now encased in metallic coffins in
the specious tomb which is approached
by stately flight Of several hundred
steps.
Frightful Chapter in History.
Tha experiences of the prison ship
Martyrs" constitute one of the most
frightful chapters in American history
Eleven thousand sailors and soldiers
died in the Jersey" alone. a ship con-
structed to accom- modate only 400 men.
into which more than thousand pris-
oners were usually crushed. Many We're
Kept there for years. A survivor. Cap
tain Thomas Dring. vividly depicted