, 1870-01-11

p,unds you nuat pay for out Of your own pocket
! ~ well ~ the fare OF your wife, servants, aCt
! children. The wife OF n Officer OF. my reglmeu
Ment to him lsst spring, IN Montana, and II cos
her 500, on The Union Pacific Railroad, thong:
she had 20 one but herself 10 trnnspoEt- kuod
officers Who have not seen tnetr families for hrt
Yeas, beczute they arn not able to transport then
| TO the distant posts where they are se15fng."
"The Officers whom see IN the East do no
| keem to be poo7.1" ...
"Tiue enough; but II you knew how long the!
| had been savln8 up 10 put on = little style. 30:
would laugh Poor felloTs! why shouldn't the]
splulgo little when they get EAST: for it on1.
coMes once Ia long while Let me tell you hos
they Esnsgeit When Second Lieutenant ha
been with hls regiment long enough-ssy Rbou
three Tears-he gets to be Frat Lieutenant; s1t
thep, In two years more. he may hope to get 1
detAu on recruiting service. These detaiIl ere
for two year9, aud are the good thing Of Lieu
| tenants Life. The ranking First Lleutenants aIe
fent; and as they expect shortly TO become Cap
tatDs they generally court tbs g1E1 they Hl
naI1J while they are On recruiting duty. They
get conmrtation Of quarters and fuel, whict
nearly donhlcs their psJ; aof it u these nlce
| young fellows you see SO much East, and who nre
10 1uAh. They ere dreIed up IN new uniforms,
and arc after every pretty OF rcn g,rl IN the toVa
where they are Rtauoued"
"Do not the orass buttons 60 a long way II
winning the girls hearte:'
"They are the very deuce among the women,
and 1urn the heads Of older folks than grlA They
should not do It, but girls WI. marry soldeI
sooner than ary one che, and I never knew c:u,
zen and I soider compete for q 1Adys hand, but
what the soldleF, II he was h4lf man, Won the
prize. The army officers have knack OF masTy-
tDK pretty AMI rich g1fls, and, Al they deem all
things fatr IN love and war, they take good care
rot 10 tall thet sweethearts, unrl they get them,
how poor they are, or shat they will have to live IN
q hut among the sRvagea, Thousands Of uiles
nom bone"
"Row do such girls manage to get along In the
army On their hnabanda' pay."
"Well, It Ii funny enough and works abo1t this
way. At drst, the young husband 6pout4 his pay
rolls 10 the Aut1er, who Will buy them I've or Rtx
months ahesd. and thus money for present Use "a
had; but when thar runs out then comes the tug
Of war. Retrerehmcnt Is ordered, and Madam Ia
informed frankly Of the financial 4isuauon. OF
course, she u nightly aston1aned. for she thought
army ot1cers were al SO rich! Poor thingI she
soon lea1na that abe saw the buttons and not tina
purse Of her lover. Perhsps ste cftes little and
secretly longs fol her old home, but nually makes
np her mind to do her duty Ike a good wife, aud
put up With her hard lot. lived IN log cabin
In Oregon, With only 4 nan-se1yan., for
I'VE years. Ii the encouragement gi7en
her BY older army xomer, and thus
she begins BY Fenecttrg she Ia not 40 bad on az all
that Should the fathertn-law bs very rich the
wife receives femlttancea from home, or goes
back and iniercedes for her husband, who Il IN.
dnced to resign his commission, como home, aod
90 1nto bustneA. Only one olllce1 In ten renaIas
IN the army over ten years-''
Why do any Of them staJ II 1t is such hard
place 2"
There NE lights to any life a. well ps i,A sast-
oFa. A young man has fancy for West Point,
ard bis IA her gets him IN appointment At the
end Of four or i've years he gradnates ard IL sent
to bis regiment as Second L!cuteoanL Having
been edncated by the government he
owes It TWO years. service before he
can resign credliably, and he aerres
hts term, r1mlr determined To resign but when
the tWo years are np, he kees chance for promo
t!on, ard makes up bis mind to walt until he Is
Flrai Lieutenant. Then he has formed attach
Henta and aAsociatlons he doea nos Ike to break
up; and thus he unRets year after year, always
dezlE1Dg 10 resign, Jet Fever doing II. Thete is
soEt OF taScuatton about the army; aud after be-
leg IN 1t fot few years, an o1lcer Il, in crest
measure, united for civil puraoits. let moro
nen quit a1ns than any other profession. Nearly
ha1f Of our officers are noV seeking civil employ.
ment. They are applicants for eTery positIoa un-
der The FUN, from ntktc1ass Ml1Bterahtp to a
foreign court doHn 10 thlrd.class ct,kA1ps IL DRY
goods sto1es. Many have sought and Obtained
CIVIL oflccs from their old c1nrade, Geueyul
Grant, who does NOT forge: thst he vas once a
poor Lieutenant, and Is very Kind to tho army
Others are turning theif attention to literature
and #tl1tn0 book, Eagazine aud newspaper art.
c.es. in immense numbers. The truth Is, let them
live never ao.economlcal,Y, officers cannot mako
bo:h enda meet, unless they hare private melnr
or earn something besides their pay"
"Wb5 dontt Jon ask Congress TO Increase your
sslar1es7"
"Wble there aeemed no probability OF paying
tie national debt, the army otl1ce11 AZ body
rtfIa!Ied from asking an Increase OF pay; but
NOW that the financial corditlon OF the country t..
more favorable, they sre rumerouBly signing
petitions and sending them to Coug1esa p1ayinK
Tor q restoratlon Ct the ntty-ceut ration. Tue
present price allowed for ration Is thirty cents
nLd the ot1cera wtsh It Increased TO nfty cents
Each officer receives from four to seven ratlops
per dag, according 10 hta RANK and the length Of
tine he has bes n In service. The Increase Of pay
asked for would average about $l25 per day to
the ct1cef, and lam sure their request Il not
unreasonable Corgressreu, however, vote bet.
ter On iIcreasiCg thelE oTu pay than the col
diers',"
"Have they not oace OF twice Increased your
pay Eipce lst07"
"Eo. That Know is the general Impression,
but It Is a mistake, and ought TO be corrected.
The law Of 1857, temporarily increasing the pay Of
c1cers Of the regular army 10 TO Is per cent, ex.
PRED BY limitation IN 1868, and We now actually
receive kss than We did In 1860. during the war
You will 1eadily understand this when tell you
that my pay in 1853, as Major, did not enable me-
to live az well az tuy pay as q Second Lieutenant
did In 1860 This ls due, partly, to the Increased
cost Of Living, and partly TO the depreciation Of
currency. In $500 we we're paid In god, now wa
are paid ID paper money. The cost Of uying IN
the army has irc1csssd Is ler centum since 1850;
10 my Ealary In paper as Major does not go as far
ID keeping my family as did ny aalary In
gold when o Second Lieutenant Since
lsGo the pay In the legislative branches Of
the government has been Increased from 90 to 6s
per cent The sa'aEies or lees Of the learned pro-
LESSONS have advanced generally from 30 10 s5
per ceLt, Profits and incomes from mercantile
purtuits have nearly doubled, auu the pay Of the
Judiciary, civil, and executive officers incseased
Is TO 100 per cent Naval ol1:era' pay has been
raised 20 to ass. aud enlisted msn 80 to IS per
cent While all thesa advances have been made
our pay has teen decreased, 1t would appear
lrom all these facts In the case that Congress
ought to restore the nfsy-cent ration; but the
mi9rep.cs entatton ard prejudice against the army
Is 80 great ID the East that doubt # It viii DO IT,
and most Of rs will have 10 LOOK o3t for some
Other employment TO keep our families"
AARON About.
l.