Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1884-07-04
AN ARMY EXPERIENCE.
How an Ola Veteran Escaped Ami
hiiati0n and Lived to lHipart
Il Warning to Others.


y pleasing occurrence which has just
come To our notice i'll connection with the
New York state meeting of the Grand
Army of the Republic is so unusual in
many respects that we venture To repro
produce it for the benefit of our readers.
Captain Alfred Rensom, of New York.
while pacing in the lobby of the
armory, previous To one of the meet
ings, suddenly stopped and scanned
the face of Il gentleman who was in
earnest conversation with one of the
Grand Army officers. 1t seemed to him
that he had seen that face before, partially
obscurcd by the smoke IF battle, and yet
this bright and pleasant countenance
could not be the same pale, and death-likc
visagc, which he so dimly remembered.
But the recollection. like Banquo's ghost.
would not down at command and
haunted him the entire day. On the day
following he again saw the same counter
ance, and ventured 10 speak to its owner,
The instant the two veterans heard each
others voices that instant they recognized
and called each other Ivy name. TIER
faces and forms had changed. hut their
voices were the same. The man whom
Captain Rensom had recognized was Mr.
W. X. Sage. of St. Johns, Mich. a veteran
of the Twenty-third New York Light Ar
tillery and both members of Burnside IA
nous expedition 10 North Carolina. After
the first greetings were over, Captain
Rensom said:
ut hardly seems possible, Sage. to see
you in this condition, for thought you
must have been dead long ago"
YES, do not doubt 1t, for, if | am not
mistaken, when we last met was occupy
ing couch in the hospital, a victim Of
yellow Jack in its worst form.
Il remember The war seems TO have
caused more misery since its close than
when il was in progress, replied the Cap
tain. 81 meet old comrades frequently
who are suffering terribly not so much
from old wounds as from the malarial poi.
sons which ruined their constitutions.
Il think so myself. When the war
closed | returned home and at times
would feel well. bat every few weeks that
confoupded all gone feeling would come
upon me again. My nervous system
which was shattered in the service. failed
me entirely and produced one of the worst
possible cases of nervous dyspepsia. Most
of the time had no appetite: then again
| would become ravenously hungry, but
the minute sat down TO eat | loathcd
food. My skin was dry and parchcd, my
flesh loose and tlabby. could hold moth
ing on my stomach for days At n time, and
what little did eat failed to assimlatc.
was easily idtisueu. III! iniiiu was ne
pressed; | was cross and irritable and
many night my heart would pam me so
| could not sleep, and when ! did | had
horrid dreams and frightfu nightmares.
OF course, these things came on one by
one, each worse than the other. My breath
was foul, my tongue was coated. my teeth
decayed. | had terrific headaches which
would leave my nervous system COM
pletcly shattered. In fact my existence,
since the war, has been living death,
from which ! have often prayed for re-
lease"
Couldn't the old surgeon do you any
good"
Il wrote him and he treated me, but
like every other doctor, failed. They all
said my nerve was gone and without that
to build upon | could not get well. When
| was at my worst, piles of the severest
nature came upon me. Then my liver
gave out and without the use Of cathar-
tics ! could not move my bowels at all.
My blood got like stream of fire and
seemed literally to burn me alive.
well you might better have died in
battle, quick, and without ceremony"
''IIow many times have wished had
died the day we captured Newberne."
And yet you are now the picture of
health"
"And the picture is taken from life. |
am in perfect condition. My nerve tone
is restored; my stomach reinvigorated; my
flesh is hard and healthy; in fact | have
new blood, new energy and a new lease
Of life wholly as the result of using War
ner's TippecanOe. This remarkable pre-
which consider the finest tonic
and stomach rcstorer in the world, has
overcome all the evil influences of mala-
ria, all the poison of the army all traces
Of dyspepsia, all mal-assimilation of food,
and indeed made a new man of me-
The Captain remained silent for awhile
evidently musiRg over his recollections of
the past. When he again raised his head
he said:
at would be a godsend if all the vetcr-
ans who have suffered So intensely and
also all others in the land who are endur-
ing so much misery could know of your
experience, Sage, and the way by which
YOU have been restored
And that is why the above conversation
s recounted.
The second largest source of revenue to
bp Il - (,nvarnnppt from any ono