The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-10-17
AT A RECRUITING OFFICE.
WHAT THE SERGEANT TOLD TO A
REPORTER.
Men who Eniist-Cnuses that lead
Them 70 Join the Arny-Why SOmd
Fail 10 be Enrolled.

Them 70 Join the Army-Why Somd
Fail TO be Enrolled.
A Washington Star reporter has been
interviewing the sergeant in charge of o
United States recruiting office in that
city, with the following result:
'Do we enlist manyl Yes, all we can
get" said the sergeant, in response to
the reporters questions, as he offered
him chair and closed his recruiting
book. ave take all we can get who
can pass the examination"
'How many applications do you get
in day2"
''Two is the most 1 remember of com
ing in one day. Some days none come. "
''Do most of them pass2"
"No. Last month we had twenty ap-
plcants, and only eight were accepted
as physically sound. The month before
there were only eight accepted out of
thirty"
"What is sufficient to disqualify an ap-
plicant2"
"The absence of molar teeth is alone
sufficient. In old times it used to be
that soldiers had to have good incisors,
or front teeth That was when they had
to bite cartridges. Now they have car
tridges that don't need biting, and in
cisors are not indispensable in a soldier.
Signs OF habitual drunkenness is suffi-
Gent to disqualify man for the service.
He will be rejected for any serious physi-
cal weakness. Many are disqualified on
account of big veins in the calves of their
legs-long marching might burst them. {"
"What makes men enliSt2"
"Out of work, out of money, out Of
friends. Anything. Some have a lik.
Ing for the army. Some have read books
and have romantic idea of frontier sol.
dier-life. But the most of those who
enlist are laborers who get out of work
and have nothing open to them but to
go into the army. l don't know but it
Is the best thing they can do. For q
single man without trade the army is
lot better than jobbing. They have their
pay sure and no expenses, and at the
end OF their term they generally have a
snug little sum of money l have been
discharged twice and each time had 5000
due me. That isn't bad"
"Oh," he added, after a short pause,
during which he pulled his pipe violent
~. "They come for various reasons. 1
s'pose some young fellows enlist because
they have had quarrels with their sweet
hearts. Some young fellows have been
wild, and they run away from home and
join the army. Occasionally an educated,
retined-looking fellow will join. They
generally have good reasons for it. They
have been clerks, and have violated some
trust or otherwise injured their reputa
ton, or have been ruined by bad asso-
ciates and are flying from them"
tired of soldier life and desert before
their time is up2"
''About nine-tenths of all the new re-
cruits desert before the first year is up.
Most of them never join their regiment.
There are over q hundred thousand de.
serters at large throughout the country
now."
care these what you call bounty
jumpersa"
"No, they get no bounty. They
never get cent until they join their
regiment. When we enlist them we
simply dress them up in uniform and
ship them Off"
"You say they are all single men.
Don't married men ever enlist2"
owe won't have any but single men.
They don't get pay enough to support
wife, and the government does not want
to be burdened with their family"
Don't they ever get married after
enlistment?n
sometimes, and those who have
served several terms are allowed more
privileges in this direction But it is
not very good for the new recruits to
get married. | remember one recruit
who was placed on duty here, who mar
ried young Washington girl on the
quiet. AS soon as they found him out
though, he was ordered as far away from
his bride as they could get him. Now
his wife lives here dependent upon her
relatives, guess"