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2D MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.

THE FIRST MONUMENT ERECTED ON GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD.

be used for farm land or building lots, but notwithstanding this it was determined to place the monument there, and so to-day it receives the reward and attention due the perseverance and patience of those who erected it and is pointed out by all the guides as one of the "sights" of the field. How well we build at times without being aware of it.

Between Hancock Avenue and the peach orchard stands a monument which excites one's curiosity as soon as it is seen. It represents two men standing side by side, one in the uniform of a volunteer soldier and the other in the uniform of an old-time volunteer fireman. It was erected by the 2d Fire Zouaves and 73d New York Infantry to the memory of those of their number who fell during the battle. It seems that when the war began there was in New York a volunteer fire company who, becoming fired with patriotism, enlisted in the

service of the Union as a body, and in one day evolved from volunteer firemen into volunteer soldiers. They suffered great loss of number during the war, but held the record of being one of the best disciplined and bravest body of men in the service.

In passing through Sickles Avenue you come suddenly upon a man standing partially concealed in the bushes and who levels a gun at you aimed at just about the proper angle to make you think that if he fires it will be all over with you. Your heart involuntarily jumps up into your throat. Your hands almost mechanically are raised high above your head and you are just about to declare that he is welcome to your pocketbook, when you make the happy discovery that it is not a highwayman but a cleverly devised statue of a Federal sharpshooter, erected by the Andrew Sharpshooters as a tribute to the memory of that heroic body of men who saw such arduous service and who performed such wonderful deeds as fell to the lot of the sharpshooters. The pose is so lifelike, the situation in which the statue is placed is so well selected that the Sharpshooters' Monument is well worthy of being classed as one of the curiosities of the field.

On Little Round Top stands a beautiful monument erected by the survivors of the 44th New York Volunteers, known as "General Butterfield's Pet," to the memory of their fallen comrades. While of great

beauty and very costly, perhaps the most unique thing connected with it is the fact that it represents a dead loss of a considerable sum to the contractor and due to a very singular circumstance. The monument has an entrance and a small room at its base, and so confident was the builder of the solidity of the work and so sure was he that it was like the house spoken of in scripture which was builded upon a rock and could not be moved by anything, that he announced his intention of having a cannon placed in the room at the base of the monument and then have it fired off, declaring that the concussion would not affect the monument in the least. He could not be dissuaded from the attempt, and the exhibition came off, and so did pretty nearly the whole of the upper part of the monument, costing him something over $6,000 to repair and put back in its original shape.

Many, many of the other monuments would prove of great interest if the little curious incidents in connection with their erection were given, but time and magazine space forbid.

May a kind Providence watch over the monuments erected to the fallen ones on this and all the battlefields in this country,

but our more fervent prayer is that never again may this great nation be called upon to take up arms brother against brother, but may the foes of long ago be welded into one common band of patriots and brothers standing shoulder to shoulder in defense of this "Land of the free and home of the brave." What more appropriate words could close this article than those of the immortal Lincoln, who, at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg in November, 1863, only four months after the battle, said: "We cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. It is for us, the living, to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

made by the national capital for the 1902 encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, which is to occur in Washington during the second week in October. Ten years ago the veterans of this organization were entertained as the city's guests, and the reception then accorded the members of the Grand Army proved to be one of the most notable experiences in their history as an organization. It is the purpose of the business men who have interested themselves in the reunion of this year to make this encampment even more noteworthy.

Three days-October 6, 7 and 8-Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday-have been chosen by General Torrence and his associates of the G. A. R. executive committee as the period of the national convention. The entertainment of the veterans and their guests, however, will cover an approximate week, beginning with the Thursday or Friday preceding the convocation of the delegates.

Monday has been set apart for the first day's session of the convention and a special and elaborate display of fireworks, at which all the officers of all the organizations then assembled in Washington and the President of the United States are to be present. On Tuesday the convention will continue and conclude its annual session, while the general visitors to the city will view an attractive and picturesque parade by the Sons of Veterans, who meet simultaneously with the G. A. R.; a regiment of militia from the District of Columbia and several battalions of regular troopsengineers, marines, cavalry and artilleryfrom the barracks about Washington. The third day has been set aside for the parade of the veterans, a sentimental desire on their part that none but soldiers who have seen service at the front should participate having been recognized by those who framed the program. In the evening it is probable President Roosevelt will tender General Torrence and his associate general officers of the auxiliary organizations a reception at the White House; the display of fireworks will be presented a third time,

and several smaller receptions will be tendered the officers of the woman's organizations by local chapters of those bodies.

This is a brief and tentative statement of the program so far agreed upon, and is, of course, subject to change to conform with later wishes of General Torrence. An extensive schedule of regimental, division and corps reunions have been arranged to cover the first two days of the encampment. Conventions of less noteworthy significance than that of the Grand Army will be held at the same time by various associations of survivors and auxiliary organizations. Numerous excursions will be made to nearby points of historic or legendary interest, such as Harper's Ferry, Frederick, Monocacy, Gettysburg, Antietam, Mount Vernon and Braddock's Rock and the 200 or more battlefields within easy reach of the Potomac River and along the Baltimore & Ohio R. R. All the public buildings will present particularly inviting displays of the work done by the several departments of the civil service, and encampment week will otherwise afford the general visitors to the city an exceptional opportunity for inspecting that part of Washington not intimately associated with, but nevertheless affected by, the coming of the veterans.

All the advices received in Washington either by members of Congress whose constituents are interested in the encampment or by those who have charge of the encampment preparations indicate that this gathering in the capital of the nation forty years after the period of service at the front is exciting extraordinary interest throughout the country. The expert testimony of many is that the crowd will surpass even that of 1892. The officers of the local Grand Army posts speak confidently of a larger post attendance than at any other encampment in the history of the society. General Torrence refers to the encampment as likely to prove the most interesting, the most significant and the most memorable reunion of veterans in his knowledge of the order, and that knowledge began almost with the foundation of the Grand Army of the Republic.

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National pride in the City of Washington as the capital of the nation gives any convention held there a heightened interest. Indeed, this is so true that except during the months of July and August rarely less than three conventions are in progress in Washington at the same time, and the city has acquired an indifference toward ordinary conventions which contrasts curiously with the active pursuit after such meetings made by municipalities less fortunately situated. But in this instance Washington is wide awake both to the attractions and the honor of the G. A. R. encampment.

The whole city will be handsomely dressed for the occasion. A conspicuous A conspicuous feature of this decoration will be that it consists almost exclusively of American flags hung at an angle from all buildings along the line of the veterans' march and from most houses within reach of the business section of the city. Local opinion is strong against the distortion of the beautiful architectural lines of the public buildings. On other occasions the splendidly proportioned pediments of such buildings as the Treasury and the Patent Office have been marred by flags hung more or less gracefully about the cornices or allegorical pictures painted more or less skillfully. But this year the strong, fine lines of Greek and Romanesque architecture will be let to speak for themselves, and except for groups of flags about that which always flies from a governmental building they will be entirely without decoration.

The parks will make up for this deficiency. There are, perhaps, 100 reservations, large and small, within easy reach of Pennsylvania avenue, and these are all being transformed into encampment decorations. Near General Hancock's statue, at Seventh street and Market Space, for example, the trefoil of the Second Army Corps has been done in varicolored flowers. A triangle in solid colors in another park designates General Thomas' old commandthe Fourth Corps. About the Pension building are a dozen floral badges, among which the most conspicuous is that of the Ninth Corps, designed by General Burnside, with its shield, anchor and cannon admirably modeled in coleus and begonia plants.

These decorations will converge on a court of honor, which is to be built in the space inclosed by Lafayette Square and the grounds of the White House. Several wellknown architects are at work preparing a

design of Greek pillars and covered reviewing stands, which shall have the general effect of a peristyle with a semicircle of Ionic columns leading to the doors of the Executive Mansion, which by that time will have been completely remodeled. At night this space will glow with thousands of colored lights, illuminating the smoke which will ascend from several pyre urns and transforming what is now an open plaza into a structure of the most delicate beauty.

At night the whole downtown section of the city will take on the peculiar charm which attached to the Buffalo Exposition when its buildings were outlined with thousands of incandescent lights and its fountains transformed by the gleam of many colors. Plans are being laid for such an illumination of the high, white dome of the Capitol that from every point of view it shall stand out in sharp relief against the black of the sky. Corps badges and insignia designating the different state headquarters will be constructed about the different hotels.

But the chief night display will be the unusual and pretentious exhibition of fireworks, which will be made south of the White House and at the base of the Washington Monument. If the plans of the encampment committee do not miscarry, and that committee is made up of the most sound and conservative business and professional men in the city, this program of pyrotechnics will surpass any similar display ever seen here. There will be the inevitable prelude of bombs, rockets and colored balloons. This will be followed by thousands of what old-fashioned folks call "flower pots," but which are known to-day as "pyrotechnical fountains." Fire portraits of the great figures who contributed to the success of the Union forces will be varied by similar pictures of those who led the American army and navy during the war with Spain.

As a culminating number for each night's program there will be a representation in fireworks of the fall of Pekin. A lake of appropriate size will be constructed to represent the river Pei Ho. Representations of Chinese junks and other characteristic Chinese river craft will be constructed to make the view of Pekin as realistic as possible. During the battle 500 young men will impersonate the soldiers who scaled the wall of the Chinese capital, and models of gunboats will depict the