El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-05-29

For more than so years the Grand
Army of the Republic has laDored in
defatlgably 20 enhance its beauty and
sacredness- The Spanish War Vet
Grams have done the same since they
came In to existence. and other Mill
tary organizations are cooperatlng-
Every PRESIDENT Of the United
States since the civil War-eLcepr
one-has felt honored BY the Invita-
tion 70 speak az Arlington on ne
mortal day.
Part Of Our Nations History.
Arlington national cematery IS
most Intimately interviewer with the
history OF the civil war. Its com
handing height was the first point
occupied by the union troops m1ss-nE
for the defence OF Washington The
day after Virginia seeded camp
fires were lighted there whose rudy
flames beamed en- the white Uarblt
OF the capitol until alter AppouarroL
Strong forts rose on the crest. as part
OF the capltols enclrcllng line Of for
tificltions-
For three tumultuous years the
two mighty armies strugEled back
and forth on the plain reaching from
Arlington 70 the Eappllan1ccz- The
union dead were brought back 20 Ar
nngton FOR luterment and the wound
ed to recover or die In the great hos
pitfalls under 1t ancestral oaks
For ground which had been as
sessed IN 1850 at $4,000 the govern
menr paid the heirs OF Gen r Z
Lees wife $4,000. Something over
$1,000. 900 has been spent in the high
est efforts OF landscape gardening
to enhance the natural beauties OF
the spot A fine stone wall sur
rounds the whole Al acres Of the
ecemetery- The entrances are through
columned gateVT1ys. each named a1lerl
some noted general, as Mcclellan,
Sheridan. ord, Weitzei. etc
To the UnkaovFn Dead
Near the stately old colonial man
sion which was Lees home stands
'the Tomb o. the Unknown Dead
square. somber mass % marble and
granite. marking the last resting
laurel thickets and darksome pines
died.
sUnknellsd- uncofcnsd and unknown"
Stretching out from this mornful
pile 70 the south. toward the 100
fields Of bitter contest between the
armies OF the Potomac and northern
Virginia, are 21,5Q5 little marble
slabs, each telling an Individual
story Of;
Unhappy. flr-off things
And battles long ago"
The inscriptions. are as hrief as q
muster roll-simply the name COM
pany and regiment. Each name
means some home deEollted OF IT'S
strongest and best. each regiment
some historic grapple for the ma
lions lie
Altogether. 10 January ., 1918, there
were 26,219 interments In Arlington.
Famous Soldiers sleep There.
Among the more noted who sleep
there are Gems. sheridan. Rosecrans,
Porter. Wright Crook. Ricketts,. Ia
zen. Myers, Harvey, Paul. Meigs. Bel
KNAPP and Plummer and admir-lls
Farragut and Porter.
The state Of New Jersey has erect
ed in the cemetery q fine equestrian
bronze statue 20 Nai Gen Phillip
Kearnsy, killed at Chanuiiv. a few
miles away September I, 1s62. The
inscription reads -kearelv. New Jer-
sey's greatest soldier.
A beautiful monument 70 the con
federates has been erected in the con-
federate plot It is the work OF Sir
Moses Ezekiel. who served with the
Virginia military university cadets in
the civil war.
Nearly 20 years ago the modest
temple for the Memorial day eXer-
cises erected by quarterm1ster Gen
IL c. AleiEs was found 10 be entirely
Inadequate for the rapidly growing
thrones attending the Services
After IL years Of persistent efforts