Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-15
TAFT EXTOLS HEROES
lSpeakS at Dedication of Shaft
to Prison Ship Martyrs.
BELATED TRIBUTE IS PAID
Memorial Column to Revolutionary
Victims Is Unveiled.
WRIGHT MAKES PRESENTATION
Gov. Hughes Accepts for New York.
Ceremonies at Grave Of $1,000
Americans in Brooklyn.

| cannon doomed, awakening patrlOtlC
memories of those sailor and soldier he
roes who died in British prison ships in
| the revolutionary war, the prison ship
martyrs monument, at Fort Greene Park,
| Brooklyn, was dedicated with impress
i've ceremonies today in the presence
of President-elect Taft, Secretary of War
Wright, Gov Hughes and thousands of
people who thronged the knoll on which
the tall Doric column stands.
1t was the first time that Mr.. Taft has
| taken part in public ceremony since his
election to the Office of President. When
the smiling President-elect was espied
alighting from his carriage near the en-
trance of the park there was a wave
of cheers thAt could be heard for blocks.
| Mr.. Taft made the grafton of the oc-
casion. After the ceremonies he left i'm
mediately for Washington. where he will
meet President Roosevelt tomorrow.
| The monument, a plain Shaft in the
| form of a Doric column surmounted by
a funeral urn, stands on a steep knoll
beneath which lie inferred the bones OF
| $1,000 American prisoners who persisted
| from fever and starvation in the rotten
| hulks of the Jersey and other English
prison ships which lay in Wallabout bay
during the war of the Revolution
| " I1SuG 1ICSCAIS u4OuAO44oAs
Secretary of War Wright, on behalf OF
the nation, presented the monument to
the Empire state. on behalf of which 1t
was accepted by Gov. Charles E. Hughes.
The granite shaft was unveiled by Miss
Esther King Norton, granddaughter of
| Gen. Horatio c. King.
| At her signal an immense American
flag, it's starry folds enveloping the cap
l tic rod
bars enwrapping the column. edged SLOW
lily down the monument, revealing IL IN
all its simple magniticence. The throng
rose to its feet, and amid silence only
broken by the playing of Handlers Lar
CO." by the Marine Band, STOOD silehtiS'
with barred heads.
| Previous to the unveiling there was a
| parade of 10000 soldiers and members OF
civic organizations. A gentle snow, Whicn
| later turned to rain, fell throughout the
| ceremony.
Upon his arrival Mr.. Taft was taken
to the Brooklyn Club. There he had
luncheon with Gov. Hughes and lie"
| invited guests.
After luncheon the official party took
| carriages Under the escort of a cavai-
cade Of mounted troops it moved toward
| the park Mr.. Taft and Gov. Hughes
| we're cheered Justify as they threaded
| their way to the fag-bedecked platform
where the ceremonies took place near the
/ monument. -
| After a prayer by Rev. Parkes CadmaI
of the Central Congregational Church and
| the reading of poem by Thomas Walsn
| Mr.. Taft was introduced by stephen V
] White, master of ceremonies. The next
| President was given a SalVo Oh applause
| as he arose to speak.
AS the snow was falling heaVlly, M
| provoked laugh by saying he Wouit
/ put his hat on. His address was listened
| to with careful attention. His voice, re
/ tx- m
| campaign carried far to the confines o.
| the assembled multitude.
Taft Glorifies Martyrs.
Mr.. Taft said in part:
I'VE are met today to pay a nation:
debt. long since recognized but mos
tardily provided for. The monumen
which we dedicate commentaries thu
sacrifice for their country of the live:
of upward of 10000 Americans who wer'
| hurried, more than 10 years ago. int
what seemed for year to be an in
i glorious oblivion.
Their identity and personality have no
been preserved. We who assemble il
grateful recollection of their patriotic
| seif-sacrifice are compelled to refer t
them as the unknown dead.
THE chief prison ship was the Jersey
!, There were other old hulks used a
prison ships before the Jersey. notabl
| the w llIpy anu rope. mere were sup
called hospital ships which were sup
posed to offer refuge for the sick of tn
: regular prison ships.
, I'm ali of them. however. there wer
the neglect and cruelty that led to
Il large percentage of deaths among tn
prisoners. But the details in respect t
!, them can be gathered only from fugitiv
letters of the victims, and not from of
fetal sources.
The British commanders senerall
Il oil ton n 1,nh no n
| the American prisoners from time t
| time. With the close of the war and tn
absence of any comprehensive investiga
ton and report in respect to them, w
are left to piece out the evidence as bes
we may. and to explain the shocking per
centage of the dead who were gathere
: each day and given hasty and insult
| ficient burial.
1--WE have more information in respec
| to the Jersey hulk than in regard to an
other and enough to confirm in tn
strongest way the outrageous and in
| defensible cruelty with which the Ameri
can prisoners were treated, resulting il
the death of a large proportion of then
under conditions and environments s.
{ frightfui and distressing as to make tn
/ fate of the prisoners far worse than II
II after their capture. they had been shO
down regularly in files, or strung up a
the yardarm as vicious Indicators.
: Not Fermentation, But Neglect.
Il do not wish to be understood a
. charging that these conditions were du
to the premeditations of the English com
manders-in-chief or to the set purpose
of any one in authority having to do will
the fate of the unfortunate men who's
bravery and self-sacrifice this monumen
records Such a charge would make tn,
British commanders human monsters.
The conditions were the result of neg
lect not design. The lot of a prisoner
of war at all times and under all circum
stances is always of constant and in.
evitable hardship.
| In the middle ages and, indeed, dowr
to the advent of Napoleon. death was
perhaps the least of the horrors which