Evening star., 1924-03-09
CHAPTER XIV.
Pensionss Eight Ce.ts In the DoiIal

Pensionss Eight ceats In the Dollar.
Away back in 1871 Alexander
Hamilton paid out of the public
Treasury for pensions s3z3, ,S65 to 1855
persons. From that time on pensions
for war service have been rising.
First the amount was small. A mil
lion dollars q year for pensions was
not reached until 1919. Five million
a year was not reached until 1865.
Fifty million a year was not reached
until 1880. 1t took another ten years
to reach $1o0,o00,0 900. 1t was not
until 1903 that s15o.oOo. 900 u year
was reached. The year 1919 saw the
$500, 0,oo0.0 900 mark reached. But 1923
is the banner year-3264, 900 900 was
paid out of the Treasury for pensions
last year.
The last widow Of the revolution
ary war--1775-17ss-died during the
the var.
More than Ill years have gone by
since the war of 1919. Every man
who fought in that war has passed
on. Hiram Cronk. who died in Ava,
los years old when he died. He
would be l24 years old now were
he living. Yet the United States gov
ernment is still paying pensions to
thirty-seven widows OF the war Of
1917.
The youngest widow pensioner of
a soldier OF this war Is Mrs. A. I.
Anderson of Cedar Grove, Ga She
is just sixty four years old. She mar
ried Robert Anderson February 25,
1889, she being twenty-five years OF
age and the soldier S6 years old at
the time. He died five years later
Mrs. Anderson has oeen drawing a
pension from the government of the
United states ever since, a period of
drew a pension for twenty-five years
before his marriage, SO this Anderson
couple have had a pension from the
United States government for nearly
sixty years, which totals thousands
of dollars.
Oldest Widow in IO4.
The oldest war widow on the pen
sion roll is Mrs. Mathilda Showacre
of Newmarket Md. She was lo4
years old in September, 1928. She
married 1872 war veteran, George
ShowacYe, on Christmas eve, 1877
seventy-nine years ago. Mrs Show
acre has been receiving a pension
from the federal Treasury since
1878, or for forty-five years.
The average age now for the thirty
seven 1812-war widows is eishty-four
years.
For the year ending June 80, 1928.
the Treasury of the United States paid
out $685.. 12.500 for pensions-an in
II cost the pension bureau not quite
S2,eoe.0oo for 1923 to supervise and
direct the work.
There were 5as.75s persons on June
SO, lsss. receiving a monthly pen,
States or these 4s were Mexican
war veterans and 1886 Mexican war
widows; 16S,623 were civil war vet
Grams and 264.580 civil war widows;
sS,Ss3 Spanish war veterans and
lS,l67 Spanish war widows; the rest
To classify in another way: The
record shows a53,sO5 soldiers, 27S,700
widows. 2,s33 minor children, s31
helpless children. 4.106 dependents of
soldiers and 81 female army nurses.
During the year 25,452 civil war vet
Grams died, as against 25,0S2 in 1922,
and sS.974 civil war widows died, as
AGAINST 2l.25s in 1922.
! There here were 1880 fewer people
in 1928 than in 1922. The roll of
the civil war pensioners was reduced
by 2tsso, and of civil war widows
by 1867.
The average age of the civil war
veterans now is So.7 and of civil war
widows T4.25.
1888 PeAsionerx Coming In.
But very significant change has
occurred recently. These losses from
the pension roll by death have been
largely Offset by additions of 153e4
of Spanish war veterans. and a gain of
4,17s Spanish war widows. AS civil
war vsteran pensioners die Spanish
war veterans quickly fill the vacant
places. On December 81, 1929. there
were 1871 Spanish war veterans