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Show ? BFSi AfiLINGtp- Copyright. 1915, by The International U Syndicata. P Once the Home of General ! Robert E.Lee -How It! Became a Military Cem-! j etery-Description of! Some of the Newest and I Most Notable Tombs. IT was not the Irony of fate but rather the hand of an all-wise Providence that haa made the once beautiful home of the military mili-tary Idol and chieftain of the Con-federacy Con-federacy General Robert E. Lee, the I ?0S' raaIflcent burial ground of our I fl? hereS Wh0 e1vc thelr "ves in defense of our country's honor. re A Beautiful Spot, A more beautiful spot than Arllnr- ton could scarcely be Imagined The I oId mansion bulk in 1802 i9 bri k covered with stucco, and with the two I wings presents a frontage of one hun dred and forty feet toward the na l tlonal capital, a grand portico sUiv r feet in front and twenty-five feet' in depth, with eight massive Dorl- col I umns. constitutes the main entrance . This was modeled after the Temple I of Theseus at Athens, The mansion stunt's on the brow of a hill whese slopes stretch for half a mile or more to the shores of the Potomac Po-tomac several hundred feet below. I The outlook toward the capital city I beggars description and artists from every land have gone Into raptures with pen and brush over lt-s beauties The scene is wide and far reaching In the foreground the historic Potomac Po-tomac Is seen with Georgetown and Washington on the opposite shore; far to thf north 1 te great white tower, 8 2 of the Soldiers' Home, and In the J south the spires of Alexandria come I into view. Almost in the middle of i the "picture" the tall shaft erected in memory of General Washington stands out against the sky, and on this the eye centers and lingers After all, It seems most fitting that the men who gave their lives for their country should sleep their long sleep on the heights which overlook the capital of the land for whose honor they fought and died. The grounds with their hills, valleys and plateaus are noble in themselves. The great oaks bend their leafy boughs almost to the ground as If pro-tectlng pro-tectlng the rows of unknown dead which rest beneath their shade. Indeed, In-deed, it seemi as if Nature had prepared pre-pared this particular spot for the purpose pur-pose for which it is now being used. "The Bivouac of the Dead." All through the grounds are scattered scat-tered bronze tablets bearing inscriptions inscrip-tions of a verse from Colonel Theo- doro O'llara's remarkable poem, "The Bivouac of the Dead." It was written writ-ten in memory of the Kentucky soldiers sol-diers who were killed In the Mexican War and was read In public for the first time In Frankfort, Kentucky, at the dedication of the monument set up to the memory of the men who fell in the Mexican campaign. It has since become one of tho famous war poems of the world. Tho remains of Colonel O'Hana He in tho Mexican War section sec-tion of the cemetery. Tho main entranco Is from the lower road on the east of the mansion man-sion through what is known as the Sheridan Gate an Imposing structure flanked on each side by two Imposing columns which once stood nt the War Office in Washington. When this building was reconstructed in April, 1879. tho pillars were transferred to Arlington and set UP at this point. Farther down is another entrance rarely used, known as the McClellar. Gate a handsome portal built of red sandstone and named in honor of tho first Commander of the Army of the Potomac. Two of the six War Office columns form the Ord and Weitzel Gate which opens Into what Is known as the Lower Cemetery. Splendid Memorials. The officers' section is filled with monuments some simple and others elaborate, and one might wander for days among the vine-covered tombs land trace out history, for perhaps nowhere no-where else in the world are tho tombs of so many great men clustered together. to-gether. Tho sarcophagus of General Meigs always attracts attention. Tho beautiful beau-tiful monument in memory of Captain I Natha'B Sargent, U. S. N . which represents repre-sents tho Angel of Peace with the olive ; branch in her hand as tho figurehead of a boat, Is one of tho most artistic works of art in the cemetery. The ChJnes,o coffin shaped tomb of Captain John Williams, U. S. M. C. who died in Florida in 1812, is tho unique tomb of tho cemetery- The tomb to the I unknown dead whoso bones wcro gathered from the field at Bull Run, the Temple of Fame, the Sheridan Tomb, tho Porter Mound, and many others are too well known to need description here. Tho Crook monument erected in memory of General George C. Crook, the noted Indian fighter, tells the story In bronze of the surrender of the Apache Indians under Chief Geronlmo to General Crook in 1883. The figures are excellent portraits of tho men who j took part In the surrender (tho face of General Chaffee and Geronlmo being be-ing exceptionally fine) and Is regarded j as one of the best monuments in the -. . Hi mi ji . 1 v r ; rh'U ! , , . s2J7bj?0jrr or 9 cemetery. While every tomb In the officers (section Is interesting tho most impressive impres-sive part of tho cemetery Is what Is known as tho field of dead in tho private's section. There long rows of white stones stretch out in endless lines, for there a silent army of slx- ! teen thousand soldiers wh" wore the I blue are blvouaccd for their lent? slep Tho stones which mark the graves are of the simple pattern adopted by tho Government in 1872 for all National Cemeteries. They arc Uet up In rows a few feet apart. On enrh Is the namo of tho soldier, his State and the number by which he Is enrolled In the great Roll of Honor kpt by the "War Department Five thousand Ho in unknown grae marked by the white stone with tho Inscription "Unknown " These are nv I tenderly cared for as tho grave of the greatest general. Confederate Section. The Confederate section where sev-era) sev-era) hundred men who fell in defense J of the Lost Cause are burled is near the Fort Myer Gate These bodies wcro gathered from the various cemc- j trrlcs of tho District of Columbia j Each Rxa e is marked with the regulation regu-lation headstone. The first memorial service In memory of the Confederal dead held at Arlington took place on Juno 7th, 1903. Slnco that tlmo a splendid memorial has been erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy ft is bronze and represents tho South-BIT) South-BIT) woman stretching out her hand In peace over her fallen sons. Tho Spanish-Amerir an War section already contains several thousand graves and a number of monuments The central one, a tall Doric column surmounted by a bronze eacle. wa erected by the Colonial Dames In memory of the men who fell In hat war. Nearby Is the tomb of Admlrnl ' I ' 1 ' I Sampson and other officers who took I part In that war. Thcro is also a 1 special monument to tho Rough Riders Rid-ers and to tno nurses who served In that conflict. The Malno Memorial. Tho bodies of about two hundred and fifty men who met their death when the Maine was blown up In the Havana harbor rest in a part of the ' Spanish-American War section. One i hundred and sixty-three bodies were sent to Arlington shortly after the ' disaster, and several years later, after the United States Government raised the ship the remains of many others found In various parts of the wreck were placed in tho cemetery. Ono of the anchors and several mortars serve to ornament the plat. After the final sinking of the hulk of the Main outside out-side the Havana harbor the mast was sent to Washington and afterward set up at Arlington as a part of the memorial me-morial erected by the United States Government in memory of tho men who lost their lives on the Ill-fated battleship This memorial is the masterpiece of the entire cemetery. The lower part, representing the turret tur-ret of a battleship, is of white marble on which tho names of the dead men are inscribed with tho mast In the center with rope ladders reaching to the "crow's nest" at the top. It stands at the far end of tho Malno plat. The graves of the Malno dead are spread out in the foreground. Several States have erected monu- ments to tho memory of officers who fl came from these States, tho most no- ofl table ones being tho splendid tomb sot H up by Pennsylvania In memory of General Wint, of Spanish-Americm fame, and the elaborate monument JB erected by the State of Connecticut to 9 her honored dead. This memorial is jH made of Tennessee marble and is forty ' feet in height and ten feet square ,j at the base. Tt is elaborately carved. But One Equestrian Statue. I There Is but ono equestrian statue in the cemetery and this was recently jH erected by the State of New Jersey ,11 on the one hundredth anniversary of I her illustrious son. General Phil I fl Kearny of Civil War fame. The statue fl is an imposing one. The figure of Gen. ifl Kearny on horseback Is In bronze ffl and rests on a massive granite base. jjfl I It stands near tho Rostrum and Is a splendid addition to the art of this '.H magnificent memorial ground of our honored dead the world's most beau- tiful military cemetery- I Thousands of visitors come to Ar-( Ar-( llngton each year to pay tribute to fl jthe fallen heroes, and on each Me- morlal Day people from both North land South come from far and near laden with flowers which they rov- erently strew upon the graves of those iH who loved and served their country 'H |