Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-03-03
National Training School

1 and where he was soon made pris-
oner of war.
During the Civil War this eleva-
ton of 230 feet above the Anacostia
River was fortified and named Fort
Lincoln, in honor of the martyr PreSi-
dent, and about 40 rods east OF the
fort, on a bluff overlooking the river.
stood Battery Jameson, and a wire
fence running through it. it is said,
separated the Boyle and Arlington
properties. The rifle pits extended
west to the fort and east and south to
the river. OF course, there is little
remaining now to remind one OF the
fort and the Civil War, although some
earthworks are still to be seen.
When built the fort was roughly a
quadrangle $50 feet long, north and
south. A thousand feet Of infantry
parapet extended to battery at the
north end of the crest and lower than
the fort, and then TOO feet OF rifle
trench extended northeasterly down
the slope to Battery Jameson. which
was 500 feet long. Covering the deep
ravine that runs down the crest east
ward into the Eastern Branch were
two batteries, each about thousand
feet from the river.
The fort was built in the Summer
of 1861 by the list Massachusetts,
ground being broken on August rs
1T was a powerful work." We are told
in an old account, 1.-The armament
consisting of "a heavy guns of various
Ii, 10 ,I
named in honor of President Lincoln
Old Joe Hooker's brigade, which was
composed Of the LIST and 18th MaSsa-
chusetts, I'd New Hampshire and
26th Pennsylvania, were the first
troops to occupy this section. Battery
D. 1st Rhode Island Artillery; Com
pany A, Maine Coast Guards, and de-
tachmentS of New Hampshire Heavy
Artillery and 150th Ohio National
Guard occupied the fort during the
time of Early's investment.
Maj. Darling, It'll Michigan Cavalry,
with about 500 men, commanded the
Cavalry outposts, and his command
had a brush with the enemy's cavalry
beyond Bladensburg on the afternoon
of July IL. Capt. T. S. Paddock had
command of the fort at this time.
Forty rods east of this port, at the
extremity of this part of the line OF
defenses. stood Battery Jameson. the
old parapets being in fair state OF
preservation"
After the Civil War Fort Lincoln
became Mount Lincoln" and this is
probably what it should be called
today.
WITH the passage of the act OF
w May IS, 1872, the Board of
Trustees of the school lost no time,
after obtaining the new site, in con-
tracing for the necessary buildings,
the plans for which were drawn by
Edward Clark, then the architect Of
the Capitol.
Work on the buildings began shortly
after the contract was awarded, on
August %, 1872, and the family
building was probably occupied the
! following December. The superin-
tendent did not wait until the new
buildings were completed. but moved
the boys into temporary quarters in
a barn on the new site.
When the writer visited the Train
ing School recently, and was so de-
lightfully received by the superin-
tendent, Col. Claude D. Jones, and
the secretary and treasurer, E. T.
Hiser, and after hearing Col. Jones
tell of this wonderful establishment
and the good work that is being
done there, he marveled at the
progress made from the old Civil
War hospital building up the Po-
tomac River, to the fine up-to-date
plant operated by the Training School
today. But above all, what struck
the writer most was the undoubted
sincerity of the superintendent In
his desire to redeem the boys under
his charge, to put them back on the
right track, so that when the time
comes for them to go out into the
world again they will become good
citizens and will reflect credit upon
those who have helped to recon-
struct and build anew their charac-
tiers, at the institution of which he
is so valuable part.
| He also met there two veteran
employees, one of whom, Edward
Hickey, once served as .superin-
tendent: the other, Henry Newman,
who has been employed at the school
since April 2, 1873. When he went
| there, he said, there were only two
buildings, one the large farm building,
in which the employees of the school
lived, and the other barn in which
the boys were temporarily housed.
Another veteran employed there, but
whom the writer did not see, as he
was detained at home on account
of an accident, was D. E. Chester,
whose service covers many years. 1t
seems the retirement law does not
cover the Training School, as 1t Ger
tainly should, and for that reason
these men, who have rendered so
many years of public service, must
just continue on until their status
is made consistent with that of other
Federal employees.
REING a Washingtonian and know
ing so many of the old-timers,
the writer's mind naturally went back
quite a distance as he sat in Col.
Jones' Office and saw hanging on the
walls portraits of William M. Shuster,
Crosby S. Noyes, Cecil Clay, Francis
H. Duehay. william S. Thompson
and N. w. Burchell, all representa-
tive men of their day. Mr.. Moves was
appointed on the board October 10,
1886, and at the time of his death,
February 81, 1908, was its chairman.
In addition to the portrait of Mr..
Noyes in the superintendent office,