Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1884-11-14

Objectionable on account of tho Lying it
gives rise to. Directly a man gets we'll on
the way down hill. the goodnatured Worli
gets this liz Autographed, and each man
presents him copy-"Why [ never saw
you looking better in my life % For the
first few copies that are presented him the
poor devil is grateful; of the next few he
is suspicious, and thereafter he Is worried,
vexed and profane. If you demonstrate
against the truth of the assurance and
call attention to the prominent skeleton
which you are presenting to the public eya,
the good natured Liar LOOKS you unflinch-
ingly in the eye while he presents you
with another Autograph bearing this in
scription; 'Oh, didn't mean that you
we're fatter. I meant that your skin is
clearer and your eyes brighter" Not
having a sample Of your former skin nor
another pair of eyes handy to confute him
with, this we'll meaning Liar walks Off
triumphant. [, myself, however, am no
better than the rest of them, though m
presenting the Autograph cost me dearly
one day. In one of the towns stopped,
young girl came to the hotel the shadow
of what she had been. 1 suppose one
evening I must have felt unusually chip
perry and kindly myself for, coming up On
the porch where SIZE was sitting, dashed
off the old Autograph, why you are looking
so much better" Her eyes-I never saw
eyes that had so much of the other world
and SO little of this in them-turned on
me with half kind, half reproachful look,
and at once filled with tears. She merely
said gently THANK you," and got and
walked away. God forgive me, that l
should have interrupted soul SO near to
setting sail, to pay Autographed and lying
compliment. Three weeks later, in another
town, was told, that she had sailed on
the last long voyage. l have burned my
Autographs.
A veteran with pepper and salt equally
mixed in his hair is not likely to be deeply
interested in the gentler sex as general
thing, but man would have to have lost
all taste for grace of movement if he did
not notice the effect that boat rowing has
has on the young girls of this alm ost sea
shore town. | don't think calisthenics or
equestrian exercise can compare with it
for giving young girl combination of
grace and health. When l say young
girlsSd mean from ten to fifteen. These
girls about Hampton have, without exag-
geration, as near the perfection Of walk
and carriage as the human frame can be
brought to. Shoulders well back, body
firmly set on the hips, step firm as man g
and withall an easy, free, graceful swing
that Is indescribable. The man that will
invent some exercise for young girls Of the
inland districts which shall equal boat
rowing, will have conferred favor on the
rising generation.
One can hardly realiza better how time
changes the face of a country than to
visit battle grounds twenty-three years
after. l spent some days, and nights too,
driving over the Peninsula. I stood at
Bethel with a strange activity of memory.
1t seemed that the names of every comrade
of that day, their little sayings during the
action, every petty thing, came up as if
photographed. How enthusiastically small
is the part that any one man in line of
battle knows of the engagement. 1 re-
membered nothing of what the men, even
on the next gun to me-not ten feet off
did OF SAID. And yet the pettiest thing
after the fire communication Wake
hams speaking of the sponge being thin,
Hale Houston having talk with his
brother. how poor Hillary Hutchins. who
was running the ammunition, chanting
poem popular in that day. in praise of the
''hog eye man." Burley Brown giving me
chew OF pigtail tobacco, q profane dis
cussion about how to cut the fuse for four
hundred yards. the curses bestowed by the
men on the limbs cut by the enemies
shrapnel and falling on the vent OF the
gun, the lively profanity that greeted the
recoil of the piece, the different spots On
which each man stood, all these petty oc-
currences around my own gun came back
min utely How differently is battle re-
called by the man who writes it. from what
it is by the man in it. [ suppose that if
most soldiers were questioned about an
action their memories would be
about these very sort Of little things
Ard what promises We all made after the
battle was over {; that every year the men
should come to the spot or the anniversary
ard have dinner, and yet, though within
only few miles of it, would not have
had the curiosity to go, except that it was
in MY way. had curiosity to see once
more the people l had met there during
the war, but not the places. Alas, found
the people mostly moved away, dead Or so
changed that did rot know them.
Sometimes during my stay in Hampton,
it came over me that we who are far away |
from the sea shore hardly know what |
luxurious living is. Let me give you the !
bill of fare at my hotel, say for breakfast |
only, fer the many weeks was in Hamp- |
ton grapes, pears. peaches. cantelopes, !
raw tomatoes Oysters-stewed, fried and |
raw, soft crabs, hog fish, spot fsh, beef
steak, mutton chop, eggs. and the usual |
of bread, with coffee, tea, choco-
ate, and milk. AT dinner very day there
was clam choWder aud terrapin stew. At
'uprer the marine fare was added to by |
leviled crabs. Or course this was at
Barnes Hotel, which l f I'd is more noted
han Old Point, when it comes to crabs,
ste1s and fish. Sitting at supper one
light when some Valley excursionists
we're OF hand, could easily tell our boys
" their ordering "everythiDg that comes