The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-05-26
Seven Veterans of Civil War Answering Last Ro Each %
BIZ JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS

HNd1S memorial days roll call Will
snow that more than three
a fourths OF the Civil Wars Blue
fandi Gray braves have gone beyond.
They tell me at the pension office
fthat our Union veterans are now dying
Foff at the rate of 100 day. AS de.
tdused from the best figures prooura BILE
1.-THE death rate OF our Confederate vet
terans must be about seventy n day.
kThis means a grand total OF moro than
fseven per hour-more than ono every
Eten minutes.
In the vast. cities, of graves to be
fdecorated this year. those of our Civil
tWar soldiers and sailors alono num-
fber 2.Ss5.o0o. If dug side by side they
would constitute a great metropolis or
Ethe dead. more populous than Chicago,
FBerlin or Vienna OF these graves.
Esome 100000 have been dug since
1.-THE surrender OF Appomattox.
! To help lay wreaths upon these mill
Hons OF comrades tombs there will be
ssurvivtns on Memorial day. this year.
tbut about $4,000 Civil War veterans
Ieomo 10000 less than could pay this
Tribute a year awo. And of these ABOUT
100000 are Union and about $4,000 are
Confederate veterans. Tho average ago
fof these survivors Is now past the
,Heventy-yeRr mark, and the veteran
fnrnies at an annual rate which hai
fSono above per cent. During the
tpast spring the death rate of our Union
pensioners alone has risen close 10
1920 IN n single month fMarch). for
lspring In always the hardest month
ron people of advanced years-even
bharder than winter, Midsummer, too.
{exacts a heavy tribute from this class,
t,nore than 300 pensioned survivors
fof the Union Army having answered
ttheir last roll call In August of the
spast year. whereas the monthly aver
kuC of hat he hu 81
tlast autumn was scarcely above $500.
IRON which there was a steady in
icrease through last winter and this
Eapring
How Long VIII They Instr
Diminished by such a death rate.
Show long will our Civil War veterans
tlast? In what year will the last sur
syivor of that bitter struggle be finally
Emusrered out?
By AN ingenious system OF compu-
fation Ma tor- General FredcrlckC. Aims
[worth. who lately retired ms Adjutant-
fGeneral of the army. simo time ago
Inquired out this very point for the as
distance of Congressman concerned
fwith pension legislation. Although the
tectual number of men who saw Civil
kWar service had never been officially
Determined, General Ainsworth concluds
fafter considerable research that p
l2lS.365 individuals were engaged on
Hhe Union side. 2.12s,94S of these be-
ling in the army and S4,417 in the navy.
las 36i,l16 of these died and 121.9S6
ldeserted during the war. there were
H,727,S53 Union veterans alive at the
ltime of the grand review at tho end
tof tho struggle AS our pension sta
liistics have never accounted for any
known proportion of Civil War sur
lvivors. since many veterans, because
tof prosperity or from sentimental mo-
ttives, have never applied for pensions.
There was no accurate guide TO the
fdeath rate OF this class of men. So
lGeneral Ainsworth sought to apply in
Isurance tables for the expectation OF
Nife to the entire class of survivors.
I Their "Expectntion of Life"
Two questions now had to be con-
isidcred by tho General: Would the
shock of battle, the hardships and priv
ations of field camp and prison bring
the Expectation OF life" for these vet
Grams below the average? Or were
these survivors a selected class. which
by the law OF the survival of the fittest