Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1913-05-28

szs @A MORTAL DAY this year will wit,
III RA ness the perfecting Of the nations
sat MIN II plans for honoring her military
S go. dead. It will see' the final fruitng
S# NS1VN1 aof as national: on cial sympathy with
81 SSSGV the Sbereayed who have lost sons;
!, brothers and sweethearts IN their
3 country service III witness the final results
Of the nation 8 attempts to do all things possible
FOR those bereav ed and for the memory Of the
4 dead. Al a3 Big task. and the manner Of tts
mplishment iss the story OF tribute paid 10
Hohe the nobiest sentiments that has ever been
lodged IN the breasts OF q people M RE-
"a that attempt. since 1900. for tnstan the
@United States government has supplied free Of
charge 100000 headstones to mark the graves OF
soldiers and sailors who have done her service
To the cemeteries % the great cities. TO those
Ssof the quiet hamlet to those the borderlands
of civilization, these n headstones have gone
B This Memorial day they offer themselves to =
scattered altitude as hitting places for the be-
sstoWal Of floral wreaths. The unmarked graves
throughsthe efforts OF the government. are grow
Ing fewer S8fs
IN the national cemeteries alone there are the
remains OF, 900 unknown heroes who have met
death ii the defense Of their country, and who
must, because Of the loss OF their identity. be
denied individual recognition Yet the nation has
exhausted every resource Inv attempting to ind
the names Of these heroic dead The very fulfil
Ity Of these deaths, from the standpoint OF the
credit received the men as indy duals. calls
forth sentimental Of their service
that overshadows that accorded the men with the
abandonment monuments The unknown are being
8reinterred u IN sacred ground, their graves are
4 being kept green aud great monuments are being
/ erected to: them. effectively. ~ I'm
@ livery effort Is being made to prevent the re-
currence IN the future Of the tragedy of the un;
q known grave. At the war department army
regulations have been and put into execu-
tion that are rigid that IN the future II will
Impossible for the soldier who fights for his
fail Of fdentin wherever he may fall
Above all this, the government has developed
system OF careful and generous disposition Of
the remains Of the dead soldier Or sailor that
offers the greatest possible recompense to the
aEgrieved and the best possible chance for the
perpetuation Of the memory OF the gloriously2
dead. for the remains OF any man who dies In
the service. wherever his end may come are /;
transported to any other spot on the globe that
be esignated by his family and there given bur-
fal with military honors. All this is at the ex
pense Of the government for the glory gof the
dead and the consolation OF his family
TS Finally. the government is marking the graves
and placing monuments over the remains OF the
Confederate soldiers who died In the northern
prisons and hospitals during the Civil war. s3ss
Wherever any man dies for whom It can be
shown that he ever served in the nited States
army OF navy, the Federal government stands
ready to furnish for his grave teadstoneg of
marble neatly inscribed with his name and indi
eating hisan1ihtary service. The government has
u largescontract with a shrm In Massachusetts, to
furnish these headstones Under the contract
20 900 such headstones we're delivered last year.
An average OF 900 year have been 30 sdeliv-
cred for the last score of years Since this pol
icy OF marking the graves Of the military dead
was inaugurated In 1873 there have probably
4 been 500 900 stones that have gone forth and
which are today standing over the graves OF
men who once fought for their country The ma
tion Is willing and anxious to continue their dis
h tribution Of monuments free of charge, with
freight paid TO any point. tits hoped that event
pally every grave Of every soldier viii be marked
with stoneSthat will survive forever, NH n.
The graves of all soldiers and sailors who are
buried In national cemeteries are SO marked
when the identity OF the individual is known.
4 ThereSare some 80 such cemeteries with q total
of 900 men buried In them But OF this great
aggregate Of assembled dead Of the military there
are 1874 900 buried beneath the slab OF the "un
known u There are acres Sand acres of these
white headstones that mark the graves Of soldiers
whose identity was never established At Fred
er1cksburg, Va there is another IL, 900 graves Of
men whose mothers never knew where they rest
ed There are 5000 Of them at Memphis; 1000
Gat Salisbury. NJ c.; 5000 at Richmond; 1000 at
Nashville and similar and smaller numbers scat
tered over the country as whole. At the great
est Of the national cemeteries, that at Arlington
opposite Washngto q. e., there Is g single great
monument that marks the burying place Of 2,111
unknown soldiers whose remains were gathered
Il from the battlehelds OF Virginia.
But the unknown population OF the national
tcreasing. SS:s! 4 R 81
Today when a. manais inspected for active duty
\ metal tag Of identin caton Is q part Of his
"a "