The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 30, 1897, Page 18

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MAY 30, 1897. 4 2 QP Nearly half a million soldiers’ graves will pe decorated in the cemeteries of the United States to-day. from the Atlantic to the Pacific the Nation’s heroes will be | all sorts of flowers and evergreens. Over |siz>. honored by a loyal and loving people. ¥rom the time the sun rises over the hills of Maine until it sinks to rest beyond the mountains of California the vast extent of | our land wul echo with the bugle call and | the booming of cannon. The youth of the Nation will get their best lesson in patriotism when they lay a wreath of flowers on the stone that marks a soldier’s grave. It isat the present time impossible to state exactly how many soldiers’ graves | will be decoratea to-day, as no record has | been made of them for several years. When the last record was made there were about 300,000 sleeping in the Na- | tional cemeteries and probably 75,000 scattered in little graveyards all over the | country. The accompanying map gives | the figures of the last record made. | Of course, the number of graves has in- | creased since then. The veterans have become fewer and fewer. They have not | fallen as rapidly as they were mowed | down before the death-dealing fire of Gettysburg, nor as they fell in the awful charges of Bull Run, but their ranks have | been thinned by the grim reaper, ana for | each ome that passed away there has| arisen another mound to be decorated to- | d National cemeteries, as is, perbaps, well known, are burying-places maintained at the expense of the United States Govern- | ment, and wherein only scldiers are | buried. Many of these are near some military post, but by far the larger ones | are located in the vicinity of the big bat- | tlefields. Some of the heroes were buried | near the spot where they gave up their lives for their country, and numbers were | taken to as near their homes as possible. | In the National cemeteries near the bat- tlefields most of the graves are unnamed. Only a number and a tiny stone tell where a hero lies sleeping. When sbells and shot mowed men down by the thousand it frequently hap-| pened that there were none left to iden- | tify the bodies. In most cases it was | known to what company certain men had belonged, although each could not be | identified individually, and in such cases all are buried in groups and the names of all the men who were missing after the battle are inscribed on a single shaft. | There are in all about ninety National | cemeteries in the United Statesand so ecattered that each presen’s an entirely | different appearance. Could pictures of them be viewed one after another they would present a panorama of our country. Each characteristic would be shown. | There would be cemeteries far out on sandy wastes where the sun beats down mercilessly and the dry desert wind car- ries the hot sand in blinding clouds over the shiny stones that mark the graves. There would be cemeteries in mountain wilds and on boundless western | s. There would be peaceful little | svots sheltered "neath church towers, and | vast stretches of beautiful park where thousands lie buried. Millions of people will visit these cemeteries to-day and when night comes each will be a perfect bank of flowers. The most easterly of the National ceme- teries is the one known as Cypress Hills. It is located not far out of the city of Brooklyn, and is a typical Eastern bury- ing place that contains some of the finest | monuments that are plzced over soldiers’ graves in toe country. The natural aspect of the country at Cypress Hills is some- what flat, but the cemetery has received to much attention and art has done so much for it that the flatness is not notice- abie. Jtis a most beautiful spot, where 5000 heroes are buried. Cemetery of New York State. It is a|Only 164 are buried here, but it is one of magnificent burying place on slightly | the most beautiful cemeteries in the coun- rolling ground, well kept and planted to |try—certainly the most beautiful of its town and Annapolis. Most of them have | From almost any part of it a view extend- streams of water running through them | ing over miles and miles of country that that greatly add to their natural beauty. | in war time was the scene of many impor- In North Carolina the most important | tant batties can be obtained. It isa most National cemetery is Salisbury. Nearly | impressive place to visit at any time of are fairly lined with National cemeteries, About 50,000 are buried in this vicinity, and the graveyards are almost exactly alike in appearance. They are not as well kept as some farther north, but nature In the immediate vicinity there is the 3000 are buried here. N.DAKOTA MINNESOTA 5 DAKOTA NE,BRASKA ™~ ' ® fort AcPherson = s51 X i ceem . 3 | OKLAHOMA ot // ib: 4 7, | ey 5 S = W the year. The other cemeteries in North e INDIAN | Carolina are Raleigh, New Berne and 1 A little further to the south and Na- tional cemeteries are very close together. At Philadeiphia there is a beautiful bury- | ing place, where about 2500 sleep, and just | Woodlawn is the name of the National to the northeast of town is pretty Beverly. 5 ) “.JTERRITORY; WISCONSIN L//) SO L | @’/ Quing; Gy MISSOURI Jefferson S s City 815 7/ L ARKANSAS 2t T Hud PorT Hyg3e 1 - Balon Rouge ,' 302 ! Gettysburg cemetery, Antietam, Balls Biuff, Grafton and Winchester. All these are much slike in general appearance. ‘"About 14,000 are buried in all of them, The shoresof the Chesapeake in Virginia ILLINOIS MISSISSIPPI ) S Wl Mexico Cify LiRas N L ing LIRDANA R v ot L. b'é‘i;m?fn i 712 'i (indiznoplis) f O samm = e Mobile:- 853 Y earrancas 7 1.5 é SAnFrencisco 342, “fVIRGINIS. gy STAUNLON-73 VIRGINIA Bea Sfort 927 has done so much in the way of luxuriant | 13,000 are buried here. This cemetery is vegetation that this is hardly noticeable. | located in a spur of a mountain range and The most important of thess cemeteries are Fredericksburg, Arlington, Culpepper, Richmond, Cold Harvor, Petersburg, York- is a most beaut:ful spot. In general ap- pearance it is entirely different from any other National cemetery in the country. woodiont 37 Aire) o | Wilmington. About 7000 are buried in these three, Almost at the southern tip of South Carolina is the most beautiful National | | cemetery in the country. It is known as Beaufort and about 10,000 are buried there. | Although it is in South Carolina, Beau- | | fort might be said to belong to Savannah, | Ga. The perfect city of the South is just | atew miles away, across the river that | divides the two States, and it is from there that the crowds of people will come who will decorate its graves to-day. Hundreds of the sons of Savannah are buried ip Beaufort. In general appearance Beaufort might be said to be a typical Southern cemetery. It is kept in the most perfect order, and looks like a glimpse of a tropical paradise. | Broad drives of a beautiful red gravel | extend beneath over-arching oaks and | sycamores, from which long streamers of moss depend. Palms of many kinds grow on all sides, and the air is heavy with the perfume of magnolias, Hsre and there | are tiny lakes, bordered by smooth green lawns. There are some magnificent | monuments raised over the graves of | famous soldiers in this cemetery; but just as much care and attention is given to the nameless graves that are marked only by | small stone and & number. For picturesqueness the National ceme- | tery at 8t. Augustine, f'lorida, takes first rank. Iu is on the site of an old Spanish buryirg place, and many are the quaint graves'and tombstones to be seen there. Surrounded by a very old stone wall, within sound of the breakers and filled | with tropical plants and dreamy lagoons, | About 1500 are buried here, and the Decoration day ceremonies are alyays of a most impressive nature. The National cemetery of Chalmette, near New Orleans, is one of the beste kpnown burying-places in the country. Thirteen thousand are ed here. Chal- mette is located on the shore of a bayou and presents somewhat the appearance of a swamp with driveways through it There are several lakes in it, and in ma instances the graves are very elose to t water. Decoration day is always exten- sively observed here, but for one reas or apother the graves are decorated w flowers and evergreens the greater part of the year. The largest National cemetery in the country is at Vicksburg, Miss, About 17,000 are interred here, but the place has rather a depressing effect on one who visits it for the first time, it is so vast and so suggestive of . the horrors of death. There is a melancholy aspect to it that it is impossible to shake off. Near by is tbe cemetery at Natchez, where 3200 are buried. In the immediate vicinity are the cemeteries of Port Huason, Baton Rouge and Alexandria. All tkrough this part of -the country Decoration day is most extensively observed. In nearly every graveyard there are seversl soldiers buried, and the sentimental nature of the people causes much attention to be given to the ceremonies. From Andersonville, Ga., and following a sort of curve to Little Rock, Ark., there is a line of cemeteries where nearly 100,000 soldiers are buried. These are all very much alike in appearance and are not as well cared for as those in other parts of the country. The principal ones of this group are Memphis, Nashville, hatta- nooge and Marietta. There is a little group of cemeteries in Kentucky where about 8000 are buried, but the observances of the day here are | aiways very sad. More old people will b seen at these ceremonies than in any other cemetery in the country. They still remember their lost sons, and even at this late day old, white-haired negroes will frequently be seen weeping and cry= ing for “young marsa.” A National cemetery that is very little known is Jefferson Barracks, located about eizhteen miles below St. Louis, Mo. Over 11,800 are buried hers, and the ceme- | tery is one of the grandest sites in the world. It is about 300 feet above the Mississippi, on the west bank, and com- mands a view in all directions over the bottom lands. This cemetery is remarka- bly well kept, although it does not con- tain as many trees as one feels ought to be there. The National cemeteries of the West are sad places. Most of them are absolutely barren and are distressing in the extreme. The one at San Antonio, Tex., is of this character, although of late years an at- tempt has been made to improve it. Nearly all the Western cemeteries are small, The National Cemetery on the Custer battlefield in Dakota is perhaps the strangest burying-place iu all the world. It is a most barren spot, containing an enormous marble shaft, with 414 graves grouped around it. The strange thing about this cemetery is that all those sleep- ing there were kiiled on the same day. The National Cemetery of San Fran- cisco is, as all know, located at the Pre- sidio, and is so near as hand that a de- scription of it would be superfiuous here. Still, it might be well to remark that it is most picturesquely located and kept in the best of order. About 350 are interred bere. It is not generally known, but the United States maintains a National ceme- tery at the City of Mexico. Of course the 6184 buried there are the victims of the it is at once beautiful and interesting. Mexican war. Coming up from the canyon, the other morning, [ walked into the midst of a iragedy enacting under thesun, On the roof of a bird box, where a pair of blue- birds had set up their lares and penates, crouched a cat, reaching with murderous paw into the littie doorway in an en- deavor to pull the occupant out. The male bluebird was fluttering about in an agony of helpless rage, from which I Judged that his little mate was within the box. I drove the cat away and presently saw the otber bird emerge, sadly ruffied, from the opening. Then, watching, I discov- ered that the doorway was so blocked with debris that neither of the pair could re-enter. The little hen had just man- aged to squeeze herself through in getting out, so I procured a ladder and climbed up to the box. Evidently tne birds re- garded this performance as the last drop in their cup of disaster, for with a loud cry the female fled the scene. The dougnty little head of the house was made of sterner stuff. Round about my head he flew, unering’ persisted in my efforts until I had cleared the doorway and came upon six pretty blue eggs, still warm from contact with the feathered mother’s breast. Awk- wardly enmough, I fear, [ re:tored some- thing like order and then, fieldglass in hand, retired behind a convenient tree to await results. As soon as I left the box the bluebird flew off, to return an instant later escorting his terrified wife. She | The last tims he came out in a hurry, evi- wounld not enter the nest, but perched | dently driven forth, but he took it in good upon & round of the ladder and sat a | part, and, clinging to his splinter, con- picture of despair. suring chirp her mate flew about her, With many areas- | tinved to watch with every manifestation of tender interest the process of recon- Then he went into the box and presently | struction, Once the. little hen sesimed thrust his bead out from the opening and ready to give up in discourazement. She called to her. After a little hesitation she | came to the opening and made as if about cries of protest and distress. Once I| finally hopped cautiously to the entrance, | to fly away, but he pressed her gently thought he was about to attack me, but I clung for & moment and at last disap- | back, entered with her and pulled in some peared inside. Out flew the male bird and perching on a projecting splinter looked anxiously in through the opening, where she was evidently tidying up. Anything prettier than his engaging solicituae would te bard to imagine. He would flutter about the entrance, keeping up a constant chirping. Two or tbree times he even entered and began to help. I horsehairs that had been drawn out. Then | and each time I h dently her nerves had received a great shack. But her mate’s song sesmed to 800t ner, and finally I could see that she bad settled down upon her eggs. Then the brave little huesband flew to a branch of a tree, at the trunk of which 1 stood. I could not see him, but six times within the fifteen minutes fol- lowing I saw the timid mother bird thiust her head out and gaze anxiously about, out he came again, and, perched upon & | from the branch above me. The sixth round of the ladder close beside the box, | time he left his perch, flew down and en- began to sing, The performance was heroic, for I do mot believe there was tered the box, remaining for some min- utes, then, reissuing, took up his station mucb song in his anxious little heart just | on a perch which I had nailed up close then, His mate lookgd out once or twice. | beside the nest. I removed the ladder, One could read her perturbation in her ruffled feathers and frightened eyes, Evi- l lest grimalkin take it as an invitation to renew her attack. It wes in the afternoon of thatsame day that, passing near there, I saw father bluebird still sitting, sentinel-like, upon the eucalyptus branch opposite his home Suddenly his mate flew up upon the branch, but a little distance away from wh e sat. Instantly he was beside her. She must have told him something, for down he flew to the nest while she re- mained outside. Presentiy he came out fest. We are apt to think exclusively of the patient little mothers hovering day after day in the narrow nests, growing ruffled and shabby from neglect of their toilets. One can always tell a setting bird from her disordered plumage. But no matter how disheveled ahd ‘peevish the feathered mothers become the gallant little fathers seem never tonotice it. They come and go, bringing dainty tidbits tg rd a reassuring call f and with a sort of whoop flew off, she | their ladies, singing to them to whil rushing after him., When they returned, | away the long hours, and in every way one behind the other, each bird ecarried | sonfething in its bill, from which I in- ferred that one or more of the little birds had left the shells. One of the most interesting features of bird life is the strong sense of fatherhocd Wwhich 80 many of these creatures mani- manifest their pride and solicitude. It must be conceded that the majority of them get a good deal of snubbing at this time, but they seem to make due allow- anee for feminine nerves, and I have never seen one of them resent harshness from his mate. ADELINE KNaPP. | § W Vd