Evening star., 1922-06-19
PRIVATE lALZELL TELLS :
OF A Mckinley SHAFT
How Congress Went to Aid Of Vet.
eran to Guard Fine Memo
rial at Antietam.
To the Editor Of The Star,

To the Editor Of The Star.
| 1 do not think 1 ever did anything
quite as joyfully. whole-heartedly as
| the little matter beg to relate brief
| ly here.
| I do not remember the date exactly,
but it was early in President Roose-
| velt's first term, when the Governor
Of Ohio-then Nash-and a large
1 committee came to Antietam to dedi-
| cate the monument erected there for
| Ohio's men who fell in the great
battle of September II. 1862. 1t was
a beautiful day, a large crowd in
attendance. and an imposing and i'm
pressive ceremony observed.
] 1t is not to describe that I sat
down to write this sketch. but to re-
| call the ceremony at the Mckinley
| monument, above Burnside bridge.
This was after the regular services.
! special interest to them. 1t SO hap
| pened that I can name now all who
| were present-Assistant Secretary Of
! Agriculture Brigham. Assistant Sec
retary of War oliver. Capt. David D.
! Wood and their ladies. We had gone
i up that high rough bluff in the only
| conveyance available "a country
| wagon.
| Up from the Antietam creek and
Burnside bridge. the most crucial and
|
! wagon logged along over big stones
and deep gulleys in the nearly impas
sable road, to the spot on the top of
! the hill where the Mckinley monument
| stands.
| It is a heroic bronze figure Of Nc
| Kinley-the most lifelike I've seen. The
\ trenches all around it were washed out
deep, the place unkept and unkempt
and a decayed orchard around it-a
| most. forbidding surrounding for such
a splendid monument. AS we looked
| about and saw hogs around quite at
home and roofing and grunting, one
! of the swine waddled up from mud
, dy bath, and, to the CONSERVATION Of
all, actually rubbed his dirty hide
| against the side of our venerated mon
/ ument.
The ladies almost screamed, and a
/ general expression of disgust and in
dignation found expression from all,
! and l turned to Gen. Oliver and ex-
claimed: MY God. General, isn't that
! a disgrace to the nation and specially
| to your department." Instead of re-
| buking me. nobody. for such an ex-
preston, he turned about facing .me,
and, walking up close. said: rDalzell.
you write to me about this when we
| return to Washington
| OF course I said. GLADLY, General"
and kept my word the very day we
got back to the Capital city. He an
| swered me at great length and as
| sured me that he would send compe-
tent engineers at once to survey and
plat the road and the monument site
with a view Of making a good road up
| the hill and fine inclosed park
| around the statue. This he did.
| Meantime. wrote the papers, after
| my offhand way, all about 1t, and
Senator Dick at once rushed through
a bill appropriating amply for the
| work proposed by Gen. Oliver.
It was finished in grand style and
the beloved statue inclosed in a beau
tiful park and reached by a fine mac
adamized road as you may see it
today.
Though a little out of literary set
| ting and order. let me briefly describe
| that statue. It's heroic, in bronze, as
like Mckinley as the Lincoln we
placed in front of city hall-a true
l. and glorious representation of the
man we so we'll knew in life and
deeply deplored in death. Aside from
the Lincoln statue I never saw yet
any memorial In all that is art so
true and real as this plain memorial
march in the ranks at eighteen.
Read the simple inscription placed
on it by order of the great state of
Ohio. o that all epitaphs were as
true and unadorned except by the
majesty of sincerity and truth:
ITO the memory Of William McKin-
ley, commissary sergeant of the 23d
Ohio, who on this spot served hard
| tack and coffee to his comrades fight
| ing In the trenches, September II.
1852" Not another word.
Sublime in simple truth and historic
] fact, PRIVATE DALZELL