, 1861-12-20

Humorous Letter from the Army.
The Boston Pvt has tue following good na-
tured Mark Tap'ey species Of letter from one
Of its correspondents:
CAM GrsfowDER, Ans6Y or TIE PoTexAc,
DEAR MEssRs. EDITORS: Billy Briggs and
still remain in the Army The other morn
ing was standing by linn in our tent. s'Hand
me them scabbards,, JIMMY said be. ''seab-
bards!' said T. looking around. :" Yes, boots,
1mcan." Billy arranged himself in his scab-
hards-a dilnpidatcd pair Of fashionable boots
and stood up in i very erect aud dignified
manner. "Thcse boots OF mine, don't think,
were any relation to that beef ne had for din
ncr to-day, Jimmy" said he. "No," said I,
F." If they were only as tough as that beef, and
ticc 7frs., IT wonld have been better"
1T say, Cradle" he called out, ''wheEc are
you :" Cradle was our contraband, genuine
.darkcy, with Il foot Of extraordinary length,
and extra heels to match. giving lin queer
call lin Cradle fo5, Billy =" said I; 'that's
Jimmy; if he amt \ cradle, what's he put on
perforated stockings. tits no usc,' said Billy,
locking at thcn. @Them stockings will do
to put on a sore throat, but they won't do for
feet It's = humiliation for man like n'c to
be without stockings; man may be bald
headed and it's ,genteel; but to be barcfooted
| added, thougbtfnlly, t'but the feet are gone.
| There is something about the heels Of stock
ipgs and the elbows Of stoyepfpes in this world
| TINT is Ill wrong, Jimmy
| A supply Of stockings had come that day
and were just bcing given out; pair Of very
large ones fell to Billy's lot. Billy held them
up before hlan- Jimmy" sid he those
Them stockings Was knit for the President o.
young gorilla, certain;'' and he was about te
bcstow them upon Cradle, when soldier in
the opposite predicamcnt made an exchange
''Th.n stockings made me think Of the Louis
Billy. "How's that ?'' said I. He ws:
among our prisoners aud big pair Of rcd leg
gings, with feet, was hanging up before tent
| HG nGfer said a word till he SAW the leg
gipgs, and then asked n,c what they we're for
sTl.cm :'',said I, them is General Banks
man, is General Banks,' said I, <'but then Ii
OFT to be, the way he lives" ts How?' said be
.'Nhy,'' said I, "his regular dict is brick
bnttered with 1nortar.'' The next day Bill
got present Of pair Of stockings from
lady; nice, soft pair, with his initials in re
silk upon them. He was very happy. =" jim
N.Y. said he, tsjust look ut them" and Ii
slnoothcd them down with Lis hand "laa1kc
with my initials, too; 3 for. MY Chris1ia
and " for my hcashcn name. How kind
They came just in the right time, too; ~
grtsuch sorc heel; for its u fact, Jimmy, ths
il there's anything in life worse than unrequ
led love, it's a sore heel Orders came
= t. fall in: Billy was So overjoyed with h
i new Stockings he didn't keep the line ve'
: we'll "s:cady, thero!" groWled The tersean
( *'kcep your place* and don't BE- tEavelln
i, around like thu Boston post Office" We we
soon PIT upon double quick: Aftera fly nj
u1cs Billy gave = groal,. e What is it, Billy
E:sd I. Its ali mp with them,' said he.
. don't know what hc meant, but his face shol
cd something very bad had happened.
Wien VT broke ranks, Billy buried to Il
~ tent, md when got there, there ho stood, II
- very picture Of despair, with his shoes off, o:
bis hccla shining through his stockings lii
r. two crocktry door knobs. ''Thcm new stoc
;s irgs Of yours is bleech~lcali1g, amt tho
10 Biiiy - said an unfccling volunteer. "Bcst
: gct your name on 18th ends, SO you can ke
Z them tsecthtr," said another. t'Shoddy stoc
irgs," said another. BILLY was sileut; 8:
q his heart was breaking, and ! said no:hiu
ne held council On them, and Billy not fc
e ing Bt,ong-l,ear.cd enough .for the task, g
X them to Cradle, with directions to sew up {