Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1861-01-04

with an eu.broiderod and braided bag
fr vest; with cap like red WOODEN
saucepan with yellow boots ike the
fourth robber in stage play With a
moustache like two half pound paint
brushes, and with sort Of sword gun
or gun-sword for weapon, that looks
like the result of love affair between an
enormous broad.sword and q lonely
muskei, indiscreet aud tender that is a
Zouave.
A fellow who can "put up" hundred
and ten pound dumb-bell; who can
climb up an eighty foot rope, hand over
hand, with barrel Of -four hanging TO
his heels; who can do the "giant
swing" on q horizontal bar with fifty
six FOUNDER tied to each ankle; who
can walk up four flights Of stairs, hold
ing a heavy man in each hand. at arms
length and who can climb creased
pole feet first, carrying barrel OF pork
10 his teeth-that is Zouave.
A fellow who can jump seventeen feet
four inches high without spring
board who can tie his legs in double
bow knot round bis neck without pre-.
viously softening his shin bones in a
steam bath who can walk Blondln's
out door tight rope with his stomach
outside of nine brandy cocktails, q suit
of chain srmor outside his stomach, and
a stiff northeast gale outside OF that,
who can set forty foot ladder on end,
balance himself on top Of it, and shoot
pigeons on the wing, one at time, just
behind the eye. with single barreIed
Mime rife, three hundred yards distant,
aud never miss a shot; who can take a
five shooting revolver in each hand and
knock the spots out of the ten Of dla-
monds at eighty PAGES, turning somer-
saults all the time and firing every shot
in the ar-that is Zouave.
| am Zouave.
My musket education progresses-l
am getting on finely VI can tell the
,nuzzle from the stock at first sight, and
shall soon be able to say which end OF
the ramrod to put down, and " hich side
up the cartridge goes.
But am paying more attention TO
my gymnastics just at present than to
my musket, tor everybody knows that
in battle arms are not Of nearly SO
much Importance as legs-it is very
good thing to know the use ofyour legs
i'm case of war.
I've got practicing room, where |
gymnastic every day. Pve taken up
tie carpet-a performance which my
landlady entirely approves-Ive piled
the chars on top of the table in cor
ncr, and have sold my bod at auction
Zouaves sleep on the floor.
Besides, it is good thing to know
how to sleep without "a bcd-in case OF
war.
Spinkey and his brother came to see
my room after had got it arranged for
practice - they did things - they
Zouaved little, by the way Of setting
me an example.
l found out by the actions Of the
Spinkey brothers the exact dimensions
of my room it is three flip flaps long,
and handspring and two back-somer-
saul,s wide.
BY means ola fiip-f.p you discomfort
your enemy's ann and draw his fire,
then you kill hun. A hip-hap is good
thing to do-in case of war.
verse your position and our be~ildered
enemy cuts off your foot, instead OF
your head. Then you kill HIM; then
YOU screw on a wooden leg, and do so
again. When you've done it twice,
you've killed two enemies and only lost
two legs /; and after hat, you can only
lose wooden legs, which are compare
lively cheap, especially if the war is in
Q well timbered country.
A handspring is a splendid thing to
do-in case Of war.
BY means of forward somersault
you leap over your enemy, when he
charges on you; then, by back somer-
sault, you fall on his head from q great
height and stun him; then you kill
him.
A somersault is an indispensable
manGuvre-in case Of war.
Our company-Spinkey commanding
can 60 through the manual of arms
complete, and only touch ground three
times; they do all the loadings in sin
gle somersault, springng into the air at
the word "Up!' with their muskets
empty, and loading exactly together at
the word of command, given by Sphinx
ey with speaking trumpet, and firing
by files as they come down.
When Spinkey left my room began
to practice ; for Pm very anxious to pro-
gress. Our company has been all draft
ed into Kerrigan's Contingent, and we
must all be ready.
Tried somersault first, as l thought
it looked very easy. All you have to do
is, to throw your heels up and your head
down, and then bring your head up and
your heels down; Its the easiest thing
in the world-apparently. When l
came to try it, | thought that the floor
looked unusually hard, SO l put pillow
in the spot where | thought my feet
would come down, as l didn't want to
hurt my heels. Then took off my coat,
tied my suspenders tightly round my
W ist, took short run from the corner
Of the room, shut my eyes, and
When l recovered, which I should
Judge was in about three-quarters of an
hour, had bump on my forehead as if
I'd been hit there by base ball, which
had stuck. 1t took me fifteen minutes to
get up on my feet, for l felt as if my legs