The Colorado statesman., 1913-05-24
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equipment. When men go into the field Of active
service each wears about his neck a piece of
tape and hung upon that tape there is metal
tag which contains his name, the branch of the
service to which he belongs and his particular
regiment and company. This tag is made OF
aluminium and the lettering is stamped into 1t.
1t is practically indestructible If man is killed
In battle he may always be identified.
When the identity of the individual has been
established the department will communicate
with his relatives. If they desire his remains,
these will be prepared for transportation to the
old home. They will be brought back to his own
people to be buried they wish. Ali expenses
will be borne by the federal government. If the
relatives of the dead soldier or sailor prefer
that he be buried in national cemetery they
may so order, and the orders will be carried out
to the letter
There the men who have died in the Philip
pines, for instance None of these left to rest
in this foreign, tropic land. All eventually
sent back to the states Relatives informed
of their coming They may order the disposition
of the remains as they see fit. In case there is
no call for the remains of the Philippine vet
eran, his body is inferred in the national ceme-
terry at San Francisco and duly marked.
During the Civil war there were great numbers
of Confederate soldiers taken prisoners and held
in northern prisons Many of these died in these
prisons, and many others, suffering from wound5
and disease, died in the hospitals of the Union
forces Two years ago the federal government
appropriated 100000 to mark the graves of
these Confederate soldiers That money is now
being expended The task is practically
pleted The Confederate dead thus being
honored in the land from which their enc
mics IN the monster conflict.
AT many of the prisons the dead Confederates
were buried separately, and their graves were
marked with their names. In these cases the
graves are being permanently marked with head
stones OF a design different from those used for
the Union troops. but in way less imposing.
There is the cemetery at Elmira, N. Y. for
instance. The resting place of the Confederate
dead at that point is no less beautiful well
cared for than any of the national ceme-
teries
But in most instances it was found that the
dead had been buried in trenches, most
of the dead on both sides in that Here 1t
is impossible to identify the individual remains
but the of all the men buried in given
trenches are to be found in the records Of the
prison. In such imposing monument
is erected over the spot and the names of al; the
dead resting there inscribed upon it. Such
monument has been erected at Camp Douglas
Chicago, and upon 1t are names of 4,275 Confed
crates. At Point Lookout the remains of
$500 prisoners who died. and their resting place
has been marked by similar monument The
same course is being followed at Finrs Point
N. j.; at Alton, Ill., at Camp Norton Ind. and at
Camp Chase Columbus, o. All such burying
grounds were marked by Jan 1. 1912 and the
commission appointed for that purpose disbanded.
The federal government has taken action
toward marking the graves of Confederate SOL
diers other than those who died in northern pris-
ons and hospitals. But throughout the south the
various organizations. such the United Con-
federate Veterans and the Daughters of the Con-
federacy, have given ample recognition to the
men who died for the southern cause. Their
bodies have been gathered in special cemeteries,
monuments have been built in their honor and
their graves have been appropriately marked.
In the south Memorial day there are often
enacted scenes that are even more touching than
those in other sections for there the veterans of
both causes. those who wore the blue and those
who wore the gray, join hands in honoring the
military dead. Oftentimes the uniforms of the
two causes, by men in the very eventde
of life are In evidence and old animosities are
buried In realization of the valor of both COM
batants and the fact that each fought for a cause
he deemed the right