St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-07-13
FRED'S COVERLET.
4 Chaptsr From tho Lite Of . Pri-
vaee Soldier.

W3tO NO. was 70 my C"SuHt an
spection precisely like the other nine
teen with which it formed tho General
Hospital of Jacksonville, Ind. 1t
was clean. and the long rows OF cots on
each side of the wards were always in
order. But whatever the necessity for
it. its uniformity was a little trying.
The meals were served to the minute.
and the food was never known to vary
in kind or quality. This even extend
ed TO the sOurness of the bread. the
hairs in the hash and the flies in the
soup.
After . stay of six weeks, Fred Ray
mond. of Company B, --th Minnes0-
II. began to find it little monotonOus.
Not meaning to be ungrateful for the
uniform kindness of his treatment
here. he began to long for little
moro variety. 1t seemed to him as
though he had about exhausted the
simple pleasures that the hospital had
TO offer. He had read several of the
memoirs of great and good men. which
formed the bulk Of reading matter;
and these. too, he had found singularly
slike. Even the interest and pleasure
to DO had from q perusal Of Baxter's
Saints Rest" failed after single
reading.
Many Of his comrades had . never
failing resource in writing letters to
friends, which was not open to Fred
Raymond. for reasons that will pres
entity appear. After debating the mat
tor in his mind for . few days. he
finally ventured on . course which
might greatly relieve the tedium of his
enforced leisure. which was likely to
last . few weeks longer. At some
time during his stay there had been
received from the North . considerable
supply Of hospital-stores-shirts and
drawers Of al shapes and s'sea with
openings made to At all sorts of men
with all sorts Of wounds. Upon trial.
of course. none Of them were ever
found quite adapted to any particular
case. but by cutting open here and
sewing up there, they did very we'll.
especially - the weather was warm.
Among other things received were a
number of sheets and coverlets for the
beds. These. although generally
plain, were not quite uniform. and in
troduced the only bit of novelty to be
seen any where In the hospital. 1t
happened that the covcrlet which fell
10 Fred Raymond had been made by
the young ladies of one of the churches
in B.. Ohio. and many Of them had
written their names and addresses on
the blocks. He had studied these
over until he not only knew them
al by heart, but had formed
. pretty distinct conception Of the
young ladies themselves There was
more character and individuality in
the handwriting than ono would have
supposed. considering the difficulty Of
tracing letters ON cloth. He was not
the least bit OF . ladies' man. or one
who would think Of answering an i'd
yertisement for correspondence-.'ob OBJ
iect, fun and amusement" But then,
these names and addresses seemed to
say to him that he might write if he
choea Ono Of these names had struck
him - very pretty. and the handwrit-
ing was indeed neat He had amused
himself with picturing the writer to
himself many times. until he felt par
TALLY acquainted. To her, therefore.
he would indite . very general letter.
and il she chose to reply and . CORE
spondence grew out Of it it would give
new interest to the days that must yet
be passed before he could return to his
regiment His letter. addressed "a
Miss Lille Meline. was not an eloquent
epistle; it simply told the story Of the
writer's leaeliness. the gratitude Of
himself and comrades for the interest
shown in the comfort Of the Union sol
diers, and the satisfaction it would give
the inmates Of the hospital il ANY O