The Washington herald., 1910-07-07

soldiers, expecting to be rewarded for
their friendllness with nuts.
Flag Haif-masted.
There are many hagstaffs about the
grounds, too, from which Old Glory
filings out the blood-red stripes to the
breeze. and these add TO the harmony
OF the color scheme. They were half
masted yesterday until late in day. for
among the company Of veterans one had
passed away AT intervals from the lit
tie chapel the solemn bell tolled. and
soon a little procession came out and
took up its line of march, following a
hearse. fag-draped, to the cemetery of
the home. which Is of TO the south
There are two burial places there whose
gates front each other; one is Rock
Creek Cemetery. the other the national
cemetery for the regular army dead
From the windows Of the dormitories
the old soldiers can look out upon the
grassy mounds and the tombstones there
among the trees. One wonders If as they
rise in the morning and look out over
the world they speculate as 10 how soon
they, too, shall lie in the shadows of the
trees.
Last year there were seventy-.wo
deaths. for many OF those men are old
and worn; a majority of them saw
service in the civil war, some OF them
served also in the Mexican war. There
are four inmates who served in the
Indian wars; nine who served in Mex
leo; $50 who were disabled in the war
with Spain. the rest are from the reg
ular establishment or from the civil
war, and they cover practically every
white nationality on the face of the
earth. The gate-keeper at the south
ern gate, a trim little snow white
house with a beautifully kept garden,
is not only a veteran of the civil war,
but he was an English soldier first.
and wears the medal he won for duty
at Balaklava in the war OF the Crlmea-
COmmandant Is Veteran.
And over the destinies Of the SOL
diers' Home rules Gen. Young. himself
a white haired veteran Of much serv-
ice. He entered the regular army as
a private in 1861 and in the same year
won the captaincy OF the Fourth
tAAAi-s ~ anna "a az anu a. carly as
1865 was made breyet brigadier gen.
eral for gallant and meritorious
service in the campaign ending with
the surrender of the insurgent army
under Gen. Robert E. Lee" In 1866
he entered the army again as cap
tain OF cavalry. was mentioned
twice in dispatches and won promo
ton for distinguished service at Sui
phur Springs and afterward at Amelia
Spring. Va.
In Cuba during the Spanish war he
commanded the Second Army Corps, and
when that war was over ne went to the
Philippines as brigadier general, and was
later made governor of Northwestern
LuzOn. Returning TO this country, he
was made commander of the Department
of California until he was detached to be-
come president of the War College in
Washington, which he held until he was
made Chief OF the General Stan, until
the time came for his retirement by law.
The hero of many a battle apd man
who has seen more hard service than
most. he could not have found a more
congenial task than the duty that is now
his as governor of the Soldiers Home.
He has beautiful home on the grounds.
environed by beauty and filled with relics
of his world wanderings About him
everywhere are reminders Of the profess
sion which has been his life work. and as
it has been with him years, so IL is now;
it is the buglers reveille that awakes him
in the morning. and at night. when the
birds and squirrels have disappeared and
the dormitories where the veterans rest
are silent, it is to the music Of Lights
Out that he falls asleep.