The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1884-04-03
Aatstellansous. g
THE BAD BOY AND HIS PA.
From the Milwaukee Sup.l

! From the Milwaukee Sun.l
Say, come in here while / give
you piece of advice" said the
grocery man to the bad boy, as the
youth entered the grocery one cold
morning, with an old veteran from
the Soldiers Home. who went up to
the cold stove and rubbed his
hands. and turning to the old veteran,
the grocery man added, No, sir,
you can't IlaIe any plug tobacco,
unless you have got the money to
plank right down on the counter,
and l had rather you wouldn't t come
here to trade anyway, because you
look hard, and smell frowy, and
my customers don't like to mix up
with you The old veteran warm
ed his hands and went out, with a
tear in his eye, and the grocery man
took the bad boy in the back end of
the store, and said, You want to let
those old soldiers alone. Your pa
was in here last night, and he said
he was ashamed of you. He said
he and your ma were out riding,
and he saw you walking up toward
the Home, with soldiers on each
side Of you, holding on your arms
and your pa thinks they were drunk.
Now, you ought to be ashamed.
Let those old soldiers alone. They
are bad lot" and the grocery man
acted as if he had been the means
Of saving the boy from a terrible
fate. The boy was so mad he
couldn't speak for a minute, and
then he said: :........ ...-
"You and pa are pretty crowd
to 90 back on soldiers, amt you?
How long is it since you were hnnt-
ing around this town trying to hire
a substitute to go to war for you?
Then a soldier who volunteered was
the noblest work of God, and you
helped pass resolutions to the effect
that the country owned a debt of
gratitude to them that could never:
be paid. Every dollar pa got he
got out of soldiers, when he was
sutler ola regiment. Every mouth
full I eat now is the price Of a SOL
.dier's wages, who spent his money
with pa. Pa wasn't ashamed Of
soldiers then, and at that time
soldier would have been welcome
to a plug Of tobacco out of your
store, and now you turn an old
wounded veteran out doors because
he hasn't got five cents to buy to-
bacco."
There, there" said the grocery
man, becoming ashamed of himself.
You don't understand your pas
situation, or mine, you see"
Yes, | see," said the bad boy,
Il see it all just as plain as can be,
and it is my turn to talk, and am
going to talk. The time is past
when you need the soldier. When
you wanted him to stand between
you and the bayonets Of the enemy,
he was a thoroughbred, and you
smiled when he came in the store,
and asked him to have a cigar.
When he.wa wounded you hustled
around and got together sanitary
stores, such as sauerkrout and play
ing cards, and sent them to him by
the fastest express, and you prayed
for him, and you welcomed him
home with open arms, and said
there was nothing too good for him
forever after. He should always
be remembered, his children should
be cared for and educated, and all
that. Now be is old, his children
have died or grown up and gone
west, and you do not welcome him
any more. He comes in here on
his wooden leg and all you think Of
is whether he has got any of his
pension money left. His old eyes
are so weak he cannot see the
sneer with which you, drafted pat
riot, who sent a substitute to war,
look at him as he asks you for a
plug of tobacco and agrees to pay
you when he draws his next pension
and he goes out with pain in his
great big heart such as you will nev-
er teel unless you have some cod
fish spoil on your hands. Bah !
You patriots make me tired"
You are pretty hard on u.s. and
the grocery man acted hurt. The
government paid the soldiers, and
gave them pensions, and all that,
and they ought to know better than
to get drunk
paid them," said the bad boy,
Indignantly, "what is four dollars
north pension to a man who has
| lost his arm, or who has bullet holes
! all over him? If a train runs over q
mans leg, the railroads. in luck fit
does not have to pay ten thousand
dollars. What does the soldier
get? He gets lelt half the time.
I am opposed to people getting
drunk, but as long as lots Of the
best people in town get drunk
when they feel like it, why is it
worse for an old soldier, who has
no other way to have fun and feel
rich, to get drunk. If you had to
live at the Soldiers Home, and
work on the road, and do farm
work, for your board, you would get
as full as a goose when you came to