Army and Navy Shafts.

A tall shaft of unique design is erected over the remains of Alexander Macomb, who at the time of his death in 1814, was Major-General commanding the United States Army. The inscription says:

"The honors conferred on him by President Madison, received on the field of victory for dashing and gallant conduct in defeating the enemy at Plattsburg, and the thanks of Congress bestowed with a medal commemorative of this triumph of the arms of the Republic, attest the high estimate of his gallantry and meritorious service."

Above the grave of Commodore John Rogers is a granite pyramid, on which it is recorded that Commodore Rogers was born in 1772 and died Senior Officer of the United States Navy August 1, 1838, after forty-one years of brilliant and important service.

There are many blocks of granite in memory of Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Charles Sumner, and other by-gone statesmen whose fame lives. There are also cenotaphs to statesmen who would be forgotten were it not for these marble and granite memorials.

Curious Record of the Silent Cities.

"While many persons," says a local writer, "harbor an inveterate antipathy to cemeteries and never make their appearance within the borderland between the living and the dead, if they can avoid it, it is, nevertheless, a fact that there is much of interest to be found in almost any one of the silent cities about Washington.

"The histories of the burying grounds of a city form a curious record, showing how the dead have first received tribute from and then been forgotten and finally crowded out by the living, to find at last a resting-place where no mention of them may more be heard. A number of cemeteries, once belonging to the Capital City, have been plowed up by the advancing hand of improvement, but others show in many a stately monument mementoes of the rich or famous dead.

"The first burying ground in this city comprised Square 109, situated between Eighth and Boundary streets, and Nineteenth and Twentieth streets, Northwest. Prior to 1796 this property was owned by Anthony Holmead, and was part of a large estate, but in that year the site of the city was divided into squares, and the lot in question, falling within the limits prescribed, it was purchased by the city government. On February 28, 1798, this square was set aside as a cemetery, and public notice was given to that effect. By an act

of May 13, 1802, the corporation of Washington was authorized to take care of and regulate burial grounds, and Square 109 was fitted up as a suitable place for the burial of the dead. Up to 1816, this was the most popular burial ground in Washington. The last interment made therein occurred in 1859 or 1860. The old burying ground, Square 109, was subsequently sold."

Among the cemeteries other than those already mentioned, are Glenwood, located on high ground, about one and a half miles north of the Capitol Building, which was said to have been laid out on the plan of Greenwood Cemetery in New York; Mount Olivet, Bladensburg Road; Battleground, Brightwood avenue; Graceland, Harmonia, and Prospect Hill.

CHAPTER XXVIII

Parks and Drives.

HEN a distinguished traveler was asked to tell what he thought of Washington, he described it as a city in the midst of forests. He had visited all the parks, taken the endless shaded drives, wandered about the byways, made pilgrimages to the sacred shrines, and had found his greatest enjoyment in losing himself in the historic environs. And when he came to give his impression in a single sentence, he thus vividly described it. No better description could be drawn. The parks, with their splendid old trees, the broad avenues, the little squares and triangles and the circles where the streets intersect all give this idea of a town in the woods.

Five Thousand Acres of Parks,

The public parks of the National Capital and its immediate environs comprise a total area of five thousand acres. These include the Arlington Reservation and the Soldiers' Home, but there are in addition to the larger parks more than three hundred public reservations in the shape of small circles, triangles, trapezoids, rectangles and the like. Most of these are less than an acre in extent. They vary from two hundred and fifty square feet upward. They are called the beauty spots of the city, because of their adornment with statues, shrubbery and flowers and fountains. Within the city proper the public grounds are in charge of a Superintendent, who is one of the Engineer Corps of the Army. The present Superintendent is Col. T. S. Bingham.

Lafayette Known for Trees and Statuary.

Of all the parks in the city, Lafayette is the favorite, for one thing perhaps because it is just across Pennsylvania avenue from the White House. Its grand old elm trees make it wonderfully attractive. Then for visitors there is the Lafayette Group, a monument erected by Congress as a memorial to the French nobleman who was the friend of Washington and whose services in the Revolu

tion never should be forgotten. The central bronze figure is of Lafayette in the uniform of a Continental General. Nearer the base at the side are the figures of two French Generals, Rochambeau and Duportail, and two distinguished French naval officers, D'Estaing and De Grasse. In front is the symbolical figure of America, holding out a sword to Lafayette.

There is another statue in Lafayette Park which is not very creditable to either the artistic or the patriotic sentiment. It is of Andrew Jackson, astride a horse which is standing on its hind feet in an attitude which no

military charger ever could assume. There is a story that when Thackeray, the English author, was visiting Washington he was shown around by Charles Sumner. Mr. Sumner often had suffered in his own artistic sensibilities at the sight of this statue. He tried to avoid having Thackeray see it, but the English author, guessing at his purpose, laughed and said "Never mind, Mr. Sumner, I have already seen your hobby-horse." Some day there will be a statue erected in the National Capital which will be worthy of Andrew Jackson, but the day seems a long time in coming.

Franklin a Forest Gem.

One of the most attractive parks in the city is Franklin Square which, as yet, is without memorial statute to ornament it. The park is bounded by K and I and Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets. It lies on sloping ground without a fountain in the center, and the walks cut through it have not been permitted to destroy its fine trees. Franklin Square is, in truth, a very gem of a forest in the heart of the city.