Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1885-06-06
LAClNG UP THEIR C0RSeTS.
Army Officers Who Give Their Wives
Man Servants.
Furnishing the Same From 0u, tbs Rank and
File oiihe Regular Army 0utrages OF the
Service Some Startling Discoveries.

Not long since the New York Mercury
published an article showing the abuses
and i'll treatment which soldiers suffer
from their superiors and by the heartless
blood and iron rules that prevail in the
army. These revelations attracted much |
attention from military men and were
discussed and criticised thoroughly.
Numbers of letters have been received
of confirmatory nature and containing
recitals of fresh abuses and outrages
heaped upon the enlisted men.
THE FOLLOWING LETTER
touches strongly on things close at home
and its persual is recomn ended to Cen
eral Hancock:
EDITOR SUNDAY MERCURY In your
issue of March 90 you publish the ex-
perience of John F. Loe in the United
States army. Allow me to say that the
abuses Loe complains of are occurring
every day right here in all the United
States army depots around New York
harbor.
First some officers seem to take special
deligh, in worrying the priSates in every
conceivable manner. They treat their
dogs with more consideration than they
do the enlisted men under them. The
men have to do the meanest kind of
work. We do police duty, clean out
officers quarters and act as servants 10
the officers negroes. If the negro, after
PUTTING HIS DRUNKEN MASTER TO BED,
finds Job too nasty for himself to do,
he goes to a corporal and gives him an
order. Then the corporal sends a squad
If United States soldiers to do the nasty
work, and while they are SO engaged the
negro looks on and smiles.
AS SOLDIERS
we are supposed to drill only with artil-
lerv and muskets; but in reality we drill
| with picksand shoyels, casks and Daes,
and buckets and brooms, and brushes and
harness needles, and carpenters tools
| and trowels. and besides this we drill as
errand boys clerks. porters and hostlers.
The soldier, whose life is supposed to
be such clean and easy one, is employ
| ed as machinist, wagonmaker, axeman
and. in fact, everything but thst for
which he enlisted. The officers, wives
are even meaner than the officers or the
uegroes. / will
| GIVE LITTLE INCIDENT
that will illustrate the kind hearted con
siderateness of some of these laoies
One afternoon. IN Summer a company
was on skirmish drill The thermome
ter was ninety degrees in the shade
As nearly all the movements were done
at double quick, the heated condition o
the men can be understood. The cap
tain VAS about to dismiss the company
when his wife came across the parade
and said: "Please, captain, trot then
around again; it makes the baby ladgh.
And thus this fine lady thought tina
soldiers were only fit tobe trotted aroun'
in a broiling sun to make her bah.
laugh. So among the other uses to whic'
we are put, we are made playthings 10
the babies of the officers wives! Exem
plary conduct is expected from the men
but what sort Of example do they ge
: from their officers? When speaking o
our food 1 should have mentioned TN
} very bad quality of the meat. We ar
fed on the beef of worn out cows ant
bulls that are picked up by the contracto
on the farms of New Jersey, Long ISLAM
and vicinity at few cents per pounc
A fair, square investigation at Fort Ham
, ilton, Governors Island, ETC., woul
prove everything have stated and muc
more ofperhaps more sensational chal
acter. For obvious reasons l do nc
, sign nv name, as intend to skip owe
the garden wall" Oh the first good OF
5 portunity. will sign myself
QUAKER.
JOHN r. LEO
| ,oontioned in the above communicated