Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1880-08-19
For the Journal.
Excursion Notes. from a V,ntOn
Standpoint.

Stati0p0int.
A Jolly crowd of old soldiers went
from Vinton to the Reunion at Co
lumbus. The old seth, Gen. Crooks
Regt., was we'll represented from
yintOn, Wilksyille, Morgan, and
Salem, but nowhere else.
The boys felt good because We had
r. R., and were full Of the old
spirit of army fun and a jolly
soldier life. A stranger might have
suspected some of having partaken
of spirits Of a different character.
but We only wanted to show those
Macarthur and Logan fellows thst We
had been away from home before,
and that it wasn't the first ride on
the cars we ever had either; and
they looked o. snd-smiled. Well,
as / said before, we were full of the
old spirit of Camp Life.
Gen. Peden, of the Great Eastern
Mail Service, thought the Hooking
Valley splendid place to forage for
roasting ears. Maj. Glenn thought
the canal was hi Of q creek.
Adj Anderson thought the Camp
Meeting Grounds at Lancaster,
would make a nice addition to Vim
ton.
Private W. S. Mathews didn't care
much about the trip but he came
down from Columbus especially to
take care of Esq. Shaner and see
that he didn't get run over or lost.
Will has one of tue 'Squires "Acci-
dental policies" and he's all right.
Lieut.. N. F. Barrett, Of Tomato
Valley, got back Q. X. 1t was a
close shave for him though. He
reports having a talk with some of
the Irish Brigade, whom Hancock
called Flannel Mouthed Something
or other, and that they are all going
for Hancock-with Garfield ballots
| and bad, bad words.
The ballot taken on our train and
telegraphed by Editor Nash to your
paper, was about fair average of
the soldier vote.
We were delighted with Columbus
and Columbus was fairly elated over
the crowd and rush of business.
! The rains on Tuesday and Wednes-
day did not dampen the enthusiasm
much, but some OF the restauranters
were dampened through both tent
and umbrella, and even their lem
onade got wetter than it ought to be.
An hour after the rain when the
newsboy was yelling out "Hcre's
your evening Dispatch; all about the
Reunion" an old vet. who had
been pretty well sprinkled asked
him, ''Does your paper say 1t
rainedT' "Yes," said the boy.
putting his finger ou the head line.
"Resd that if you don't believe it."
"Well," says the old vet. "the papers
do tell the truth sometimes, I'll have
to buy one" The newsboys are all
sharp as steel trap: When one
of them was asked if he had any
sreenhack papers, he Indignantly
replied. "Do you think I'd sell any
thing that's been dead that long?'
While | can not say that admire
the taste of the managers in allow
ing III many big signs of Lager
Beer stuck up over the Fair Ground,
| am compelled to honor the judg-
ment of those who had them put up,
and their knowledge of the wants
of old soldiers.
There was some disappointment
because some of the invited guests
did not attend, and one man was
indignant enough to stick up in
large letters: "Grant is at hOme,"
but he missed it widely both as to
truth and good taste, for Grant was
a thousand miles from home on bust
ness or pleasure Of his own, with
which no one has a right to inter
fere.
With the above two exceptions /
did not see motto, transparency,
or any thing Of the kind but was
| perfect and in good taste judging
from my own standpoint. The
people of Columbus were kind,
clever and hospitable, and looked
after the welfare and comfort of the
vast crowd of people to the best OF
their ability.
One man had barrel of ice water
at his door constantly, free for all.
One restauranter had in big letters
over his door, "Welc0me Comrades" i"
but charged quarter for meal,
which was all right; he did not
charge for the welcome, he said.
There were some good speeches
by Hayes, Sherman, Gibson, Beatty,
and others. Gen. Beatty had a
good chance to give a sly dig at
Hayes Southern Policy right in the
presence Of the President, and he
improved his opportunity.
The Immortal j. N. assumed the
pressure and fairly spread himself
before vast audience on the Capitol
steps in the evening.
Our party returned all right
Thursday evening.
On Friday the first freight for
Vinton arrived over the road for
portar 4, EoItn,on nnJ n w.