The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-05-25

DaHSih- wan a Wooden Leg The Itch
ing of an Absent Toe-Ons-L.g-r,i
Men "a Marcia Chang. in the
Elevation.
-tf't sd; t.' Ilg ut remarkable thing, - ri-, 4"
Sslit q ply. ian of Prominence. 1t that the
Old soil % In var l-'ar the mem ,ltoe, #
hot yontiht>, tine rentmbranres OF DAYS or
we-ks or months of suffering and misery
with such cheerful m"oncer;I Most men
"h7 Fvt;,r q. 'olpn lcgS or cork legs do it IN a
way {" Tfya's tls' impression that the limlr
io>t In na'tI" asc sill a part Of tnenl,slv,-,
The otlvr hight at Il dance one of th.. most
graceful Ualt,ars on the iloor was u man Who
hat lost hi, Lex at New Hope Church. and Vel
there was Probably not "a lady in thu room
who Thought for a moment that She danced
with IA w1sien-legged man
There arr other reInemh.t.nt~.- If yari.ti,
conflicts that can not csfapa observation 4
closed eye, an ugly scar, a clipped nose, a
broken jaw, or Il distorted chin are rot the
sort of things 10 make any man cheerful. AMI
yet never heard any soldier thus dl,tisure,i
complain or grumble in public, and have
known eases in which the bearer Of such dis
fi5urement was accused of carrying hi, mark
through some disgraceful brawl, rather than
~ amomento ofthe struggle in which no
played the part of the hero
THE ITCHING OF AN ABSENT TOE.
There Is one man in the city who, III the
aecond year OF the war, had the tip OF his
nose ami his middle toe carried away by one
shot. lie hal thrown himself down for rest
ON side hill just inside the skirlniSh line
when stray rebel bullet took him length
wise, as It We're, went through his cap brn,
chpIsd an eighth of an inch OILY his Shapely
hoNe, ami Went through the end Of his shoe
cutting oil Nplarely his middle toe Hi, nos,
Is all right now except lersstcnth ,ale
sleck on the end, but the missing toe come,
hack like ghost to make him nearly frantic
1T times,
Il have sen hun juan FROM hi, chair in
the oilce, unbutton his shoe. kick il a> hiIh
~ the ceiling, and dance round like a mad
man. People who did not know the story of
the missing tr are very apt Ia jump to the
CONCLUSION that my friend /, crrutir as well Us
tctrntri', AMI II l. not very often that H.
makes AN explanation he saws il i lad
enough Ia have Il finger or toe itch when sou
van get at 1t, hut 10 have "A toe take an til.
ing spell AMI know that it isn't there ami that
you can't get at ii even if YOU could reach ihI
miles, AMI to have it keep up that irritating,
tantallalng, cxa'l~rating itching for ten ~
lilteen minutes and to have no chance Of get
ting Mt II Is too much for human nature"
oSE LEGuED MEN on A MARCH
"rlc fuNnr's. thing in the business, said
one armed stalwart, is to .ae lot Of one.
begged fellows Oh march Not long ago at
rcgimantai reunion a squad of veterans.
each ~ whom had lost Il leg or part If a
kg, determined To- marh in the procession.
They hal all sort, Of appliances, AMI caca
one was proud of his own substitute for the
leg that nature hal given him When the
bahd struck up one Of the Old marching tunes
We were on level ground, and all these famed
veterans moved or with as stately step as il
they had never been wounded. | rrioirul
greatly In the thought that they would dem
oilstiatc that cork legs AMI wooien stub an.
hwrrod all the purpoS,, of soldering
"Nnt ttlor. came Il change in the elevation
OF the street anl my onc-lcggcd squad were in
Disorder at once. In going up the incline
more than hnlf the wooden OF cork appliances
got out of order, and the spectacle of these
obi fellows trying To keep time was ludicrous
enough "a make any man laugh AMI pitiful
enough 10 make most people cry, but they
joktd AMI laughed. dropped out for a minute,
adjusted their wooden legs, and were again
IN the ranks. They really believed that they
could march rs well rs anybody could, and !
note that most OF the older boys, now gray.
headed and rheumatic, believe they can
march fifteen or twenty miles at stretch !