Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1879-07-05
"Hay.foot! Straw.foot !"

Many boys and girls may have heard
these words applied in derisive way tC
raw recruits who were making begin
ming in their military education by
learning TO march; but very few young
people-or old ones, either-know how
the terms originated.
During the war Of 1872, there was :
great deal of drilling and training
among the militia-men all over thu
country, especially in the larger cities
and towns, where the principal recruit
ing stations were situated. In New
York City, much Of the drilling Of new
ly enlisted men was done in what is now
City Hall Park, in front of tavern
which stood where the San newspaper
building is located. Many Of these
would-be soldiers we're from the coun.
try, and these, of course, knew nothing
at all about marching in military fash.
ion. They could walk far enough, some
of them, and work as hard and bear a:
much fatigue as any soldier in a regular
army; but they walked as they please
and had no ideas about such things a:
excepting step" 1t is even said thai
there were fellows among them who did
not know their right foot from their left
and who were therefore continually get.
ting themselves and their companions
into disorder by mixing up their legs
that is, moving out their right leg when
the officer who was drilling them called
out Left" and the other leg when he
called out "Right." Ifthey could have
put both legs forward at once, it is prob
able that they would sometimes have
done SO.
To make these men understand ex.
actly which leg was meant when the of.
ficer gave his orders, curious plan was
devised. Around the right leg of each
man, just below the knee, was tied q
wisp of hay. while wisp of straw was
tied around his left leg. Now, these
country fellows knew very well the diff
ference between hay and straw, and so,
when they were ranged in line and the
officer gave the word to march, and
called out, Hay-footi straw-foot! hay
foot! straw-foot," each one of them un-
derstood exactly which was the foot he
must put forward. u.
1t sometimes happened, however, that
a man would be SO busy observing his
companions-and perhaps making fun,
at the same time, of their attempts to
walk like soldiers-that he would forget
his own business, and put forward his
." straw-foot," when "hay-foot" was
called for.
1t must have been very funny to see
these raw recruits-here country ostler
in high boots and striped shirt; there a
farmer in his shirt-sleeves and broad
straw hat; then, perhaps, village doc
tor or school master, with his high bea-
yer hat and his spectacles, with a tall
boy near by in cap and short jacket-all
marching side by side, with hands down
by their sides, thumbs turned out, eyes
fixed on the officer as he stepped back
ward before them, and all keeping time
to the monotonous call of /" Hay foot,
hay-foot! straw-foot!"
The regular soldiers who may have
been drilling at the same time probably
smiled, if they did not dare to laugh, at
these queer-looking men, with their hay
and straw bound legs; but the mothers
and fathers and sisters of the recruits,
II any of them CHANGED to come to town
to see their sons or brothers drill, doubt
less thought the affair a fine military
display, and that Jeremiah OF Calico
would be General yet, if the war last
ed long enough.-St. Nicholas for July.