Evening star., 1921-11-27
Capital Sidelights
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.


In these days of world war heroes
the veterans Of the civil war are not
being forgotten in official Washing
ton. 1t has been noticed that the
plea of the Grand Army, or delega-
tion of the G. A. r.. gets ready ear
at the White House. in the pension
Office and before Congress. where
there are a decreasing number Of
veterans who wore the blue or the
gray.
The meeting of the United Con-
federate Veterans this month in Chat
tanooga, following the reunion of the
Grand Army in Indianapolis, has en-
phasized that the blue line and the
gray line, which fought SO sturdily
rapidly passing.
Representative Henry z. Osborne OF
California. who entered the Union
Army at the age of seventeen; Repre-
sentative Charles NJ. Stedman of
North Carolina, who entered the Con-
federate Army as private and rose
to the rank of major. and former
Representative Isaac r. Sherwood.
now newspaper correspondent, who
advanced from private to major gen.
eral during his service with the
Union Army, were discussing with
Union which has arisen in little
over a half century, through the in
dissoluble union of both armies.
Their discussion brought out the
records which show that the average
age of the soldiers of the northern
twenty-three. In the south it was
lower. Fifty-six years have passed
since Lee surrendered at AppomattoX.
So the age of civil war veterans must
average eighty years. The G. \. r.
was organized in 1866, with all the
vigor and enthusiasm of the Amer
lean Legion. In 1890 il reached its
peak membership of 4O9.4S9. In 1917
only 135,931 members remained alive.
Now they have dwindled to less than
$4,000.
The boys in blue are passing. on
their march into eternity, at so rapid
a pace that nine years hence the last
one may be gone. That will be taps
for a mighty army that had 2.17S,0 600
enlistments and re-enlistments.
The United Confederate Veterans
have dwindled to 4 membership Of
only 45,000-all that is left of the
Confederate Army of GAO. 0.O00-an army
so valorous and efficient that 1t sue
cumbed to superior forces only after
four years of conflict and starvation.
j: x
One Of the happiest men in Wash
ington these days is Francis Kill
kenny, executive assistant to "Hell
Maria Dawes. chief of the budget
bureau. Kilkenny. some years ago
when he was secretary to the con-
troller of the currency, organized the
Back to Ireland" movement. He is
happy these days because of the i'm
provement of the Irish cause and be-
cause he has recovered an old scrap
book lost five or six years ago when
he left the controllers Office. That
Scrapbook contained thousands of
clippings about the Back to Ireland"
movement. Last week Kilkenny was
walking through the corridor of the
Treasury building when he met an
old man who has charge of old books
and documents. This old man told
Kilkenny he had a book he might
want. and when he learned it was his
old scrapbook Francis actually threw
his arms around the neck of the sur
prised salvager.
In those yeSteryears Kilkenny used
TO live on Massachusetts avenue.
Along about Inauguration time a COM
mittee set up tablets on historic sites.
for the most part on houses where
famous men had lived. Going home
one night Kilkenny saw a tablet on
the front of the house in which he
lived and was amazed to find that it
proclaimed that herein lived the or
ganizer of the Back to Irelanti''
movement. who could be found there
daily before 3 am. and after 5 pm.
AS far as Kilkenny was able to learn,
he was the only living man to whom
a tablet was erected at that time
all OF the others were for men who
had been famous in an earlier day. 3