Omaha daily bee., 1883-02-17
"He who fights and runs away,
Call H.. a. G.kk .-.tI.. H.

"He who fights and runs away,
Snail live to fight another day"
Those who ran away were In q de-
cided majority at Missouri Valley yes.
terday and day before. The battalion
from the Bluffs Ia returned; quiet
dwells In the hearts of our tax payers,
and confidence droops over the eyelids
of the sleeping babe.
On the way to the Valley the MEM
bers Of Abe Lincoln post No 20, after
they had thrust their muddy boots
upon the plush seats of the Chicago &
Northwestern company, and ~invarious
other ways evinced their hostility to
the c%orporatio n for Its action In the
reduced rates matter, betook them
selves to the usual romancing permit
ted old soldiers. The representative
Of The BEE found Comrade Paul Van
dervoert, commander of the National
G. A. r., on board, and at once ap-
piled his interviewing tweezers. Com
mander has been making 80 speeches
In a month, has visited nearly
every southern state in thu last
two months, has spent about three
hours q night and done double
duty both On picket, and at the table.
He says the G. A. II is stronger than
ever before, and few OF those who
carried the musket or drew the sabre
In '61-'65 are now outside the ranks.
Convevsing with Commander Wander
WORT the whistle blew for our destina.
ton. 1t was q gloomy day and the re.
ceiving force seemed to feel its effect.
A rqusd of three or four moistened
veterans raised q hoarse cheer as the
Council Bluffs detaohnent shook the
hated railway corporation mud from
the soles of their feet and formed on
the platte m. Commander o. l..
French, representing local Beldon
Post, No. 81, took charge of the line
Of march, and guided us to the Opera
hall. We listed to catch the Stir of
martial music, but
"No cymbal clashed, no clarion rang,
Still were the fife and drum"
ard the mentor of our marching was
the periodical 'left, lett, left" dear to
the heart Of the soldier. At the hall
were pork and beans, hard tack, coffee
with milk too-how it brought
back memories of milking
thst Georgia COW to many q one of
"Shermsn's Bummers", Comrade
Va%ndervoort was greeted with a cheer
by all the old veterans and was o
elbow deep In anecdotes, hand shak.
Ing, beans and other provender. BY
the way, Vandervoort hasa photograph
of himself taken ut the time of his
exit from Andersonville. It Is con.
trast enough to his 200 avoidupois now.
At that time he wan 30 thin that even
Clark Of the Nonpariel would be count.
cd oorpulent beside him, and SO weak
that he couldn't break through a cob
web. Qaite a change from the days
of starvation In the st,nk.hole of
Georgia to the time recently at Fan
euil Hall, Boston, where Governor
Butler was chairman of the evening,
when the ex-private Of Nebraska, who
never wore even a corporal's atrlpe on
his uniform, was the recipient of o
boquet.
But to the supper, while the beans
md hard tanE -a.a olt,aL1.. A..
tables the ''boys", for aver the gray
hairs, and they were not a few,
were "boys" again turned loose In a
grand barrack uproar. The old songs,
the old stories of the camp, the fray,
the field of Thomas who loved his
boys, Of Mcpherson who fell, and all
the dusty recolleCtions that lie strewn
over the southland from Harper's
Ferry to Galveston, from Donelson
to Savannah were gone over and some-
how they never will tire in the soldiers
ear.
After dinner and the tables were
covered SO profusely that they scarcely
betrayed the attack Of the military. A
detail was made TO arrest all deserters
and stragglers, twenty or thirty were
captured and compelled to 60 Into the
guard house, 1. Q. eat n quart of
beans supplemented with copious cot.
fee. Mr.. Harris and son Of The Mis-.
souri, Valley Times were found Just on
the point Of going to press and brought
up with tho rest Of the chain gang to
receive sentence. They were cor.
demned to make q speech or be
hanged, and choose the latter alterna.
tive at which the audience drew q sigh
Of relief.
Comrades John Lindt and R. l.. Will.
liams attempted to steal away Oh the
evening train for the Bluffs, but pur-
sued by the merciless provost guard
were captured, covered with smut
and infamy, and secreted In o coal
house. They were unanimously con-
demned, the former to be shot, the
latter crucified. At 2 p. M, "Atten.
tion!" was called and the inspection of
arms gone through with In q man.
ner meriting 80 days on cold grub In
the guard house to every n of the
offenders.
Vandervoort was then introduced
by Commander French and spoke on
the "Nobleness of Frsternity, Charity
and Loyalty" for half ani hour.
Tears came from the gentle eyes of the
ladies present as they listened, and
we surmise they were not far from the
eyeiids Of many a severe-looking SOL
der as he thought of an old comrade
whose dying eyes had met his fate
down in the sunny land.
j. b. Cook, from across the Iowa
divide. was present and addressed his
comrades Of the western side. Our
own comrade, John Lindt, spoke ex