Evening star., 1922-06-15
LAWMAKERS SCORED
FOR NEGLECT OF b, C,
Capital First in War, First in
Peace and Last in Hearts
Of congressman
To the Editor Of The Star:

| To the Editor of The Star:
| The nations capital Is first in war.
having furnished more troops in war.
| in proportion to population, than most
I OF the states of the Union. At the out
| break of the civil war. the troops of
the District of Columbia were first
| in the field.
| First in peace. because our citi-
zens have been foremost in every pur-
! suit in the progress of our nation In
! the days of our old wooden navy
Washingtonians built ships in the
| navy yard. manned them and blazed
| the pathway to all ports Of the world.
Washingtonians sleep in graves in
the sands of the far south: have
found watery graves beneath the
| waves of the Atlantic and Pacific,
| they have found tombs Of ice in the
Last in the hearts of congressman,
because our national legislators
| have. logically. given considera ton
! to the affairs of the states they rep
| resent before legislating for the Dis
| trict of Columbia. The majority of
Washington has distinctive citizen
ship; they appear to think that our
! city is made up of transient residents.
! The majority of our people are old
! residents. thoroughly imbued with
civic pride.
q
! Columbia has furnished men whose
names are worthy of being inscribed
J upon the nations roll of honor In
the early days of our country there
! was young midshipman named
Stuart Holland. He sailed away on one
of the old wooden naval vessels. The
! ship foundered at sea. AS the ship
! was sinking Holland was ordered to fire
| the minute gun. He was not relieved
| and pulled the lanyard. firing the last
! shot as he went down with the YES
sci. Mrs. Hemans, the poetess, has
written a poem, Casabianca. (The
boy stood on the burning deck) that
has been published in every Ian
guage. the story of a myth. yet the
story of the heroism of Stuart Hol-
! land, a real hero. is forgotten.
| Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, another
Washingtonian. said to be the most
brilliant cavalry officer of the civil
war. promoted on the field Of battle
! during the Mexican war, commanded
! the cavalry at Charlottesville, where
he turned the enemys flank and
saved the Union army from annihila-
tion, had command of all cavalry at
| Gettysburg. resigned his commission
after the war, returned to Washington
! and Oblivion. Had he been a resident
of a state. he might have been sent
for the highest position within the
| gift of the people.
| Lieut.. John Dannenhower returned ID
| home from arctic exploitation, blind
| and sacrificed his life as the result Of
his experience About 1859 the Amcri-
| can vessel Oneida left Yokohama,
! homeward bound, after a cruise of
| three years in foreign waters. A short
| distance out she was rammed by an
! English vessel. the Bombay, which
| Capt. Williams, standing on the
bridge of the Oneida, gave orders as
| the ship was going down. Some one
called him to come on" No. he re-
Piled, Il go down with my ship" II
| stay with my captain" voice sang
| Cowie, a Washingtonian and school
| mate of the writer.
| When the Merrimac wrought havoc
| among the wooden ships in Hampton
roads, Washingtonian commanded
one of the Union vessels. He was the son
| on 9Th street above K. After the
! naval battle some one informed the
old admiral that the Congress had
struck her colors. Then my boy is
dead" answered the stricken father,
which proved to be true.
There are many more heroic namas 8
similar to those herein mentioned, all
furnishing a galaxy Of heroes un-
excelled by any state in the Union,
and worthy of commemoratfon. Nelr-
ly every town and city in the coun-
try has a memorial to its soldier
to the men who made the supreme
sacrifice" The Military Service Le-
gion has inaugurated a movement in
behalf of a fund for the purpose of
erecting a memorial to .the soldier
dead of Washington who served in all
wars. If nothing better can be done.
| let a board sign be erected on the
outskirts of our city with this in
scription, Washingtonians-Fi in
war, first in peace and last in the
hearts Of congressman.
F. s. HODGSON.