most shaded, flowery walks and drives in the world.

Swiftly sped the summer hours in fair Milwaukee, with its gay gladiolas
and blue skies, its crystal waters and grand old forests, until it ceased
to be a wonder why so many health and pleasure seekers made it a resort,
and that it became, during the warm season, a fashionable watering place.

One of our most frequent rendezvous was upon the lake shore, where, in a
sweet secluded spot, far away from the throng which resorted there, a
rough log for a seat, we were wont to sit for hours, listening to the
music of the bands upon the excursion boats as they came and went with
their scores of pleasure seekers, and the still more harmonious melody of
the waves as they rose and fell at our feet in low, soft, musical murmurs.

Among the many attractions of Milwaukee is that of one of the several
noble institutions erected by our Government and known as National
Soldiers' Homes.

It is located four miles west of the city, and is accessible both by
Elizabeth Street and Grand Avenue, two of the most delightful drives of
Milwaukee.

Its eight hundred acres are beautifully enclosed and finely cultivated,
being laid out by one of its former chaplains, according to the most
artistic rules of landscape gardening; every coil and curve of avenue
being a line of beauty, and its fifteen miles of drive startling the eye
with its grouping of lake and garden, bridge and stream, fern-clad ravines
and sunny heights.

Amid its dense groves are fairy pavilions, in which its maimed and scarred
veterans discourse sweet music by a silver cornet band, without one
grating sound or discordant note.

Without the rigid discipline of active array life, these veterans have
sufficient military discipline for comfort and order, and one cannot fail
to remark the systematic precision which characterizes the performance of
their daily duties.

I cannot say all I should like to say in regard to these institutions, but
suffice it to say that I found many sympathizing and some old friends
among the blind, and was glad to learn that these soldiers, as a class,
ranked among the most cultivated inmates.

I cannot close my chapter upon this subject without alluding to the
magnanimous generosity of the Milwaukeeans in their donation of one
hundred thousand dollars to the National Home Fund, the proceeds of a
Sanitary Fair, in which white hands and deft fingers, faithfully and
patriotically wrought, for the