Show iff co and heldele be ja iso bo COPYRIGHT BY WA PAT PATTE TER RaON T IS probable that never before in the history of the country has there been such a well sustained movement as there Is today to proper public memorials of the dead who in life ren dered great service to their fellows and to commemorate by tablets and by monuments the scenes of great bat ties and of the great events of peace which had their lasting effect upon the history of this great republic for two or three years during the sessions of congress the senate enate and house commit tees which have memorial matters in charge have been busy considering memorial plans which prop aly might have support at the same ime line the daughters of the american revolution and kindred patriotic societies have been engaged in the work of raising funds to make memorials ot of the past possible in the city of washington the residents have bay felt a touch of the ile same am spirit and there them 1 is here her oday an active organization which was formed tor for he express purpose of providing ways and means to beep in the mind of the present generation the mem iries rles of the past by means of memorial tab ets em placed on buildt gs of historic interest or on and or ground made famous as the witnesses of his aric aa events for some time there have been before congress three plans tor for a great memorial to abraham lin 10 T s alf k vy 1 ail va I 1 ak coin coln no one plan has been definitely adopted but the sentiment Is all one way and it Is virtu illy ealy assured that before another year has passed there will be under way the work vork necessary to commemorate worthily ahe he life and the deeds of the rail splitter president one of the plans Is for a great highway to be mown as the lincoln road or the lincoln high way to connect the cantal v ith the battlefield of gettysburg it is ib held by many students of eng ish that the short address which abraham lin coin coln delivered on the battlefield batt lefeld of gettysburg Is one of the finest examples of expression in the mother tongue known to the world of letters lincoln Is inseparably connected with gettysburg and the fact Is due almost almot wholly to the speech which he delivered on the anniversary ot of the bat tie ile a speech which it is said was prepared only at the last moment before delivery the only pro pre pa caration par atlon ration except that of thought consisting in a few notes jotted down upon the back of an old ei i elope the senate committee on library which has in charge memorial work nork reported favorably a bill authorizing the expenditure of for the erection of a arch upon the camping gioana of the american army at valley forge in the state of pennsylvania th the library committee ome come time ago recommended recommend ea and the passage of a bill appropriating money for the aree tion in washington of a statue to john barry barr y commodore omm odore in the united states ravy pavy during the revolutionary war 4 A mon ament also Is to be e to christopher columbus a d a part of the co cf c f will be paid by th tha people of the united tates statues to ko ceisl 0 an I 1 pulaski have been erected within the vear an I 1 other statues aid and moi either have been I 1 ut in place or irp re now well on the road to co ip letlon it Is ald aid that the i patriotic atri otic societies by their excellent educational work throughout the country have so aroused the sentiment of the people stat the pressure which has been brought to bear on con stress gress Iro properly perly to reco nize the services of the sead and gone has been irresistible A good deal of interest attaches to the pro cosed ire morial arch at valley forge it was here that gen george wash agton and his army cassed the irful winter of or 8 a time of suffer ing starvation and danger flom the enemy As has been said a bill althor authorizing izing the expenditure t f has been rei rel arted favorably from the committee there seems to be no i n in congress to the appropriation and a bill sanctioning it probably will oe passed at the next stion ifa if a sAtt tJ us 6 I 1 11 A 4 f I 1 to I 1 1 0 or rolta the money for the arches at valley forge Is to be expended by the valley forge park commission under the direction of the secre tarv of war A consid erable part of the en camp ment grounds of general washington at valley forge e in the winter of 1777 1778 has always been a forest and the greater part of the earthworks consisting of entrenchments the star redoubts and forts washington and huntington had not been greatly affected by the elements nor disturbed by man in 1878 an o 0 imposing celebia tion of the anniversary of the evacuation was he d As a result of this celebration the centen nial memorial association was formed by patri otic women who purchased bed the house which gen eral NA ashington occupy d during the greater part of the encampment encamp ment the ho se has been restored to its condition when occupied by washington in 1893 the general of 0 pennsylvania declared that the title to and ownership in the ground covering the ite including forts wash ington and huntington and the entrenchments adjacent thereto and th adjoining grounds in all not exceeding 24 acres but not including therein the property known as washington s head teis and now owned by the centennial and me ale mortal association of valley forge shall be vest ed in the state of pennsylvania to be laid out preserve servel and maintained forever as a public place or park by the name of valley forge so that the same and their thereon may be main tamed as nearly as po stile in their original con editions as a military camp since the establishment of the park the state of pennsylvania has appropriated toward the acquisition and ani improvement of the land and buildings including the wash agton headquarters building and ground which were acquired five beirs ago by condemnation and made free to all visitors the park now contains acres in 1901 the daughters of the revolution erect ed on the reservation an imposing granite shaft 50 feet high called the waterman monument on the face of the monument is the following in to the soldiers of washington s army who sleep at valley forge 1777 1778 erected by the daughters of the revolution on the south side Is another inscription as follows near this spot lies lieutenant john waterman Wa died april 23 1778 whose grave alone of all his comrades was marked it is estimated that there w ere 3 deaths in general washington s army during the winter winters s stay in this camp most of the bodies were buried in the camp grounds five years ago the daugh fers ers ot of the revolution erected east 0 of but u not far leebl iri L from where brigade ia is supposed to hav bay been encamped a log hut of the exact dimension erected by the soldiers under washington above the door to this h hut ut has been placed a tablet bear ing the following inscription on this spot stood one of the huts occupied by the soldiers of ashington s camp during the winter of this reproduction was wab erected by colonial chapter of philadelphia daughters of the revolution may 1900 members of the senate committee on library ex press the hope that eventually all the great battlefields of the revolutionary Revolution arf and civil wars in the states of pennsylvania virginia and maryland will be connected by boulevards the great memorial arch at t valley forge will be one of the few great arches of history which will represent ig more than mere victory in the battle of mch mth tt it was a moral and physical victory in one that washington and his men achieved at valley forge they conquered priva tion and they conquered rebellion against the hard blips of fate the romans were practically the originators of the memorial and triumphal arch in tact fact they used the ordinary building and bridge arch itself to a nuch greater extent than had ever been known before three of the groat great roman triumphal arches are still standing they are thoe of titus mius severus and constantine Constant lne that of the first christian emperor Is by tar far the most beautiful it marks the triumphal return from gaul and brit ain led ld as tradition has it t by the blazing cross of stars with the luminous sign which bade him con quer by this in the arch of there could be traced tor for years after its erection the information that the emperor had gained great victories over the Parth lans As one looks at this monument today it is interesting to recall that the man and em ena under it after its corn com pero r who passed in was the one who built the wall in britain to check the inroads of the fierce scotch high landers the arch of titus has but one arcade or entrance and upon this there rested at one time with other spoils of war the golden candlesticks of the temple of jerusalem of which titus in very truth had not left one stone upon another of the other famous roman arches the faunda lions of one erected in the days lays ot the republic may batill be traced though of the structure which roat above them little or nothing I 1 la known it was un der this arch that rabius maximus walked in tri after he had thoroughly tu tn rashed the bauls another arch but of which no trace exists was one that was erected in syracuse in honor of ver res the legate of rome in syracuse for whom cicero as every schoolboy knows made it so un comfortable in one of his orations there are still foundations left of the arch of drusus erected to commemorate the success won in germany by the son of augustus wife lapoleon napoleon commemorated his passage of the alps by the bimpson road by erecting at the road s ter minus at milan an arch which Is a magnificently beautiful nav v 1 ft I roman 1 ii |