The Washington herald., 1917-06-05
VETERAN HOST
SWAMPS CITY
Hundreds Of Old Soldiers,
| Without Beds, Sleep
| on Floors.

!
veterans for the annual reunion which
began yesterday, has completely
swamped the hotels and boarding
houses of Washington.
An urgent appeal was sent out to
[ local newspapers at O'Clock this
I morning, by John polph. chairman
of the committee In charge, asking
every citizen Of Washington to ten
der all their available accommoda-
! tionS for the veterans
The rush Of visitors has exceeded
| the widest calculations made by the
date the homeless ones. Convention
Hall vas obtained last night, where
mattresses were found for some. but
hundreds OF others were forced to
sleep on the bare floors.
Hundreds are stretched in cots and
on benches at the Union Station.
Owing to the advanced age of most
Of the veterans. It is feared that
such conditions will result in serious
Illness. Every effort is being made to
! accommodate the visitors, but the
accommodations are totally made
quate.
The District OF Columbia yesterday
opened wide its arms to the thinning
ranks OF the men who wore the gray.
Through its gates, from dawn until
midnight, poured the veterans OF the
| Confederacy and their families. They
AAcoA - S"e@AARC0 AAAS Hi6s%iNlC CA4Oi
Station, they overlooked the pIazas
Of the city and they bedded down in
its parks. The 9th annual reunion
has become q fact.
The formal opening of the reunion
Of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
patriotism at the Arcade. Fourteenth
street and Park road last night.
Three prominent. speakers - Gov
Manning. Of South Carolina; Gov.
stuart. Of Virginia and Mayor John
to attend. On the stage were grouped
distin2 uished gathering OF Southern
men and women, among them being
Miss Mildred Lee, daughter of Robert
E.. Lee, Mrs. Josephus Daniels ano
Mai. Z. w. R. Ewing. commandant
Of the District OF Columbia Sons
made the address Of welcome While
his address carried the note Of well
come, 1t was essentially a patriotic
speech, dealing with the rise and fall
upon the Later life of the American
Claude n. Bennett, Of the enter
tainment committee. made an inter-
eSttng address in which he pointed out
that Washington was the most COM
posite type of city n the nation and
that its citizens were of the game
composite nature. He pointed OFT that
Washing tOnians, without vote or
sectional feeling, were the real hosts
or the ,Ountry.
Senator Duncan L. Fletcher. Of
Florida, in an address along the lines
OF Anericl ) duty in the war. spoke
OF the nation that is no longer divided,
but Which has united to. meet q COM
mon foe. >, ~ -
epostrophe to the American fsg anG
a general reception and housc-w2rm-
ing followed.
The veterans OF Americas last great
war found a city preparing for the
most titanic struggle the world has
~ say, and a city Inwardly tense.
Their welcome wcs none the less a
welcome,
Thousands In Camp.
More than 400 veterans were en-
camped IN the shadow OF the Capitol
dome Inst night IN plcce of Pickering
camp fires. The steady glow OF nTner-
Gus arc lights made the tented city
almost bright as day; instead OF the
the veterans rested on comforts BILE
army cots, and immense c1uIdrons
supplied stGalninS coffee in place of
the battered tins used over half 2 CEN
lury ago. But the CGmarad!e Of the
camp vas unchanged, and many 4
u.
over In one corner the brilliant yell
low Of the old cavalry uniforms made
bright spot in the picture. They
were Pickett's men. and some OF them
had ridden with Forrest ard MosJy.
In tn! shadow OF one Of the tents,
Uncle Joe Burcs, of Alabama, bent
and wrink!ed but his ebCny face aglow.
told some of the survivors of how he
followed Col. John Pickett on his
famous mission to Mexico. getting
cause of 4 wound in the leg.
Sixty survivors of the famous Or
phan Brigade" of which Gen Joseph
F.. johnson said the best in the CON
federacy," arrived during the day and
took up quarters at a hotel as the
guest Of Col. W. E. Haldeman, editor
Of the Louisville Times. Each man
proudly wears a picture of Gen. J. c.
Breckinridge, who commanded the
brigade.
Wears BuI,et-tOrn Coat.
One o. the callers at Gen. George
P.Harrisoa's headquarters was Mai
William Campbell Saunders, Of
Wytheville, Va. who wore the same
coat he wore during the war. He
exhibited a bullet hole in the LEFT
shoulder where minnie alP'
drilled through just fifty-th-ee years
ago today.
Capt. G. W. Smith. of Springfield,
Mo. notified Gen. Harrison that al
though union veteran, he had come
CONTINUED on PAGE two.