Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-09-07

ter never dreamed of, when he and
Juno took nectar and ambrosia at
the hands of lIebe, or Gonymede in
the back parlors of Elysium. Boys
it ,c0S good, wasn't it? Let's never
drink anything stronger. There are
no headaches, nor dreams of monk
eys and snakes, in tin cup full of
coffee, but there's lots of "git and
pluck" and SO when the bugler blew
"fall in," the rested army sprangto its
feet and by forced march of forty
miles, met the enemy at daybreak,
and won a fight, which helped to
break the shackles off four million
slaves and make our land 1.-The land
of the free" and all this because
those mule drivers "got there" with
the coffee.
oh yes, when ! get into congress
YOU may bet I'll vote to pension the
mule drivers.
And just here, while we are talk
ing about quarter-masters, did you
ever know old "Rucker' chief quar-
ter-master of the army of the Poto-
mae, the toughest old chap in Ameri-
ca, but better quarter-mastcr never
issued a canteen. Well the Depart
ment sent into his Office a little state
ment of differences one day, to the
effect, that his accounts showed a
trihing shortage of a million and a
half or such a matter. The old man
looked at the sum total a half min
ute, and then with an explosive eX-
plctive, dashed off an Endorsement
across the paper:
PLEASE stop il against my pay.
Yours &c, RUCKER."
And now, | fancy hear the sick
call, and that suggests two or three
classes more, who are deserving of
honorable mention.
There were towards and shirks
among the soldiers, and here and
there an officer who showed the
white feather, or who was a petty
tyrant with his men, and poltroon
before the enemy. None of them
were without fault, and so | suppose
the doctors were not all Just what
they should have been. Some who
dealt ont quininc down there, ought
to have been hoeing corn, and here
and there a chap was cutting off leg
and arms, with the title of Surgeon
who ought to have been shaking q
buckSaw. But on the whole om
medical corps was an efficient one
and TO most of Us our memories OF
the Doctor are grateful memories
He helped some of us through more
than one tight place, and not a few
of the boys are on earth to-day
through the will and kindness OIL
some faithful surgeon. They had tC
, cut and slash sometimes without
much time to consider whether they
couldn't save a lee or on arm, for SC
many poor fellows lay bleeding anC
moaning, waiting for their turn, tina
there wasn't time for deliberate con
sultation. Hurry was the order Of
the day, whether on the field or il
the hospital. But even SO, with al
the Inconvenience and discomfort,
and amid all the rush, many a vctc
ran has occasion to thank some kline
old surgeon that he is spared to hi
family instead of lying in nameles
grave down yonder Yes, / fame,
the thump of a wooden LEG may of
ten, very often be translated into ;
2 thanks, thanks, thanks, and the graft
/, tude belongs TO the doctor.
r And then the nurses, from tn,
, sweet-faced Sister of Charity to tn,
benevolent old maid from Yankee
; dom, from the trained and skilled
graduate of some eastern hospital L
= the kind-hearted old gent whom ma
= ture had taught just how to lift ;
fellow, or help him to turn over
without hurting him. God bles
; them one and all. They, each dc
T. serve a song Of praise as sweet a
t this from our loved Longfellow:
e when 'eer a noble decd is wrought
w men eel Is SpohcIl NOME Thought
Our hearts in glad surprise,
To higher levels rise.
The tidal wave of deeper souls
e Into our inmost being rolls,
] And lifts us unawareS
Out of all meaner cares.
Honor to those whose words or deed
Thus help us i'm our daily needs,
{ And 10y their overflow
Rise us from what is low.
Thus thought l. as 10y night read
OF the great army of the dead,
The trenches cold and damp.
The starved and frozen camp.
, The wounded from the battle plain.
, I'm dreary hospitals of pain,
; The cheeTleSS corridors,
l The cold and stony floors.
To, i'm that home of misery
a lady with lamp | ses
+ Pass through the glimmering gloom
l And fit from room to room.
And slOw--aS in dream of bliss,
l The speeckless sufferer turns. to ks
| Her shadow as il falls
i.