The National tribune., 1910-07-14
and bearing his signature which were
! texamined with a great deal of interest

ana pedT1lR Ills SlSIlatuTe, WHICH were
texamined with great deal of interest
7 by the guests.
! The Muster-In.
| An unusually interesting portion of
the proceedings was the musttr-in of
a recruit to Manassas Picket Post. of
Phil Kearny Post of Richmond. The
recruit, Comrade Miller K. Reading,
twho served in a New Jersey regiment,
has been living so far out in the coun-
| try that he has not had an opportun-
| ity to join the Grand Army as he much
desired. Col. George c. Round, of
Manassas, who is Sergeant of Manassas
Picket Post, arranged to have him mus
tered in at Bally McElroy, and re-
quest was obtained from the Command
er of Phil Kearny Post, Richmond, to
Commander Johnson, of the Depart
ment of Potomac, to conduct the cere-
monies in conjunction with Comrade
Round. Commander johnson organ
lied a provisional Post in the house in
the octagon room, with himself in the
chair S. V. G. George Ross as Senior
Vice Commander, Col E. ]. Sweet as
Junior Vice Commander, Maj. H. C.
Macarthur as Chaplain, A. A. G. Old
royd as Adjutant, and E. c. Gregg as
Officer of the Guard. Never was the
beautiful ritual of the G. a. r. more
lnlpressively illustrated, and all present
were deeply touched by it. Command
er johnson conducted the ceremonies
and Serg't Round administered the
charge ana pinned on Jne badge. Com
rade Reading wSts rs deeply impressed
as any OF tie others by the beauty
and solennity OF the ceremonies. and
expressed himself So very feelingly.
Lunch was served at O'Clock under
the shadow of ;he marquise canvas
resting between giant cherry and To-
Gust trees on the top of The hill at the
Il ,I,--rr
Itself had been handsomely decorated
with flags. The marquise was draped
with them and flags hung above the
arches at the approach of the long
flight of stone steps leading up the hill
to the scene OF the festivities. From
the 70-foot flag pole Old Glory was fly
ing, and there were also flags here and
there thruout the woods. All these
arrangements had been in theh ands
of Capt. o. II. Oldroyd, Assistant Ad-
jutant-General OF the Department of
the Potomac. While many of the
guests spread their lunch under the
trees by cGe several springs on the
place, or down by the little lake. or
on the banks of the Occoquan, nearly
200 of the guests spread theirs on the
long tables under the marquise, where
coffee and lemonade were served to
all, and were on tap, in fact, all day.
Two New Stars on the Flag.
Just at IL o'clock the Flag which had
been flying at the top of the staff was
lowered by Miss Helen Prescott, at
tired as Miss America. and with the
assistance of Miss Nellie Alling, Mrs.
Ida A Oldroyd and several other
ladies, its folds were held from touch
ing the ground, while little Miss Evelyn
Prescott, representing Arizona and New
Mexico and attired as a little Indian,
affixed two new stars to the Flag and
recited toast to the Flag. The Flag
was then raised to the top of the staff
by Miss Helen Prescott, who recited
Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," and
Miss Emojean Newland sang THE Star
Spangled Banner" The invocation was
then given by Rev. DR.. Bradford, and 48
guns, the same being giant crackers.
we're fred by Mr.. Albert HoughtOn.
Chief of Artillery. The salute TO the
Flag was given by the Dan Williams
Drum Corps.
Return was then made to the mar
quee, where the program OF the after
soon was presented. The Declaration
of Independence was read by Mrs.
Isabel Worrell Ball The chief address
of the afternoon was made by Col.
Charles Lyman, of the Treasury De-
partment, It being a scholarly and en-
tertaining talk on the Constitution and
the Flag. Senior Vice Commander
of the Department of Potomac George
c. Ross made a short speech and sang
two songs, the first Ready for Inspec-
ton in the Morning" and on per-
sistent encore, illinois" Other speak
ers were Comrade A. Lawrence, Col.
Sweet, Capt. Oldroyd and many others.
Mrs. Nina c. Peabody recited a very
pretty toast to Mrs. McElroy, the
hostess, and Miss Newland sang THE
Star SpaHgled Banner" and played the
accompanimcnts and LED the singing of
quite number Of patriotic airs thru |
out the afternoon.
A very interesting incident OF the |
days exercises happened when an in |
vitation was accepted from Capt w. |
II. Whitaker, who was present at the |
Bally McElroy celebration, accompanied |
by his wife and sou, for all the Nc
E!roy guests to walk a half mile thru |
the woods, close to the Occoquan Falls, |
where it was his intention to raise over
his camp a huge flag, which was to fly |
from the top of a 75-foot pole. The |
camp is comprised of city prisoners, |
and they are at work erecting what |
is TO be one of the finest reformatories
in the United States. Capt Whitaker |
wished to make the occasion impressive |
for the men under his charge. The
was accepted. The Flag was
raised amidst cheers, with |
the Misses Prescott appearing In cos- |
tune as at the raising of the Flag at |
Bally McElroy. Capt. Whitaker made
q few brief remarks, and addressing |
the men, spoke to them of the full |
meaning of the day which they, by good |
behavior and right living, might in the
future be able to enjoy to the fullest |
extent. Miss Emojean Newland sang
''Tht Star Spangled Banner" in splen- |
did voice, accompanied by young Mr..
Whitaker on the cOrnet Mrs. Isabel
Worrell Ball by special request "ecited
a toast to the Flag, and the Fev. DIR.
Bradford offered prayer.
1t was a beautiful picture in that
wildly picturesque section spoken of by |
Losing in his history; the Bally Nc
Elroy guests with some invited guests
of Capt Whitaker standing on the side
of the hill under the old pines, while
the inmates of the camp were drawn
up along the banks of the Occoquan
below with the Flag between them. In |
the distance could be seen the little |
cid mill burned so many generations |
ago, its stone walls yet standing, ivy
covered, the ramparts of one of the old |
forts of the civil war plainly outlined |
against the sky on the opposite shore, |
in between the little century-old town |
nesting at the foot of the hill and |
the old water mill working Just as in |
dustriously as it did a century ago.
Tht trip back to the McElroy plan |
tation was taken thru the quarters OF |
the reformatory inmates, where they |
sang a number of songs in a splendid |
voice.