Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-11-30

airs OF civilian Tell" and "Norina"--a
thanklcss task. seeing that these airs Of
Rossini and Bellini arc good enough for
most people In their original form. But
10 Is his pride to see his name on q pro-
gramme In company with these great
ones. and 90 he works away mt his "Airs
from William Tell, arranged (derangcdD
by NJ, bandnaster Of the Forty-sec-
ond Light Foot" just as every English
chemist has composed a special tooth
powder, every French bandmaster has
composed an arrangement Of william
Tell"
Here comes the colonel ON horseback.
He looks sad and careworn. No won.
der. exclaims Jules Noriac, three thou
sand men to manage, and the variations
on william Tell" to hear every day at
dinner.
pass over the lieutenant colonel and
the chief Of squadron to have the plea.
sure of introducing to you few subal-
terms, the non-commissioned officers, and
the French Tommy Atkins, who is called
"Pitou" by his compatriots.
The married officer keeps TO himself,
and does his best to keep his wife at
home. French susceptibilities, In bar
racks especially, are soon wounded, and
he wants to avoid the possibility Of quar-
rels that might srise from the dear
ladies' tattle. He does wool work in his
spare moments, and looks forward to the
time when he will be able to retire on
his pension. He is peace loving man.
In the army matrimony is the grave Of
| glory.
The serious officer is the one who looks
for promotion. Ho is soldier by pro-
fession and by vocation. He studies
tactics and military history, and prac-
tees fencing, shooting at targets, swim
ming and all athletic sports. He has the
campaigns of Napoleon at his fingers
ends. You will always see him poring
| over maps. He studies geography and
the German language. He is of opinion
that when the French can all speak Ger.
man, the Prussians will have a hard
time.
The officer of fortune is the one who
has not got any-and runs into debt.
| Give him wide berth; he is the bully
of the regiment, very quick to take Of
fense, and ovcrticklish on the point CT
honor.
The officer who has risen from the
ranks is very popular with the soldiers,
whose wants he knows much better than
| do the young lieutenants fresh from the
military school. His messmatcs say "he
is not gentleman" He is, however, a
| good soldier and trusty, straightfor-
ward man. 1t is true that his manners
are not refined He can speak very fair
! French, but prefers bad language, and
can swear for n quarter of an hour with
out using the same oath twice.
! remember, during the Franco Prus-
sian war, happened to be quartered for
day in an aristocratic household in
Lorraine with lieutenant of this type.
Trembling at the thought of my worthy
friends unruly member, / seated myself
at our host s dinner table. All went well
until the conversation unluckily fell
upon military marches, when the lady
of the house wanted to know whether
the feet did not suffer very much with
such quantity of walking to do every
day in the hot weather.
"Ill tell you what, ma am, sid he,
"you must never wash the feet. never
do. Grease them well with tallow and
they'll be all right"
The lady wished she had not spoken.
Later on there was a whist party
formed in the drawing room, and my
comrade was asked if he would make a
fourth at little table where three old
whist players were already seated, ready
to enjoy their favorite game.
with pleasure, I'm sure" said he,
comfortably installing himself in the
empty char--"only / must tell you !
never played before"
The face of the old gentleman opposite,
as he looked at him over his spectacles,
was study.
The sergeant major is pretentious. He
will tell you that if he were a civilian he
could occupy position that very few
officers would be able to fill. When he
retires to private life he boasts of having
been "a sergeant major
The corporal, to be seen in all his
glory, must be studied when he has
written report to make to the colonel.
He is good fellow, who rules four men,
and defies all rules of grammar His
spelling is phonetic; yet he loves long
words, and his reports bristle with such
words as nevertheless, Notwithstanding.
He is regarded by his four men rs an au-
thority on elegant diction. A private
may be able to spell, but a corporal never
such is the deep rooted belief of all
French officers. was present one day
when corporal came to the doctor with
one of his men who was unfit for the
saddle. The doctor examined him and
found him suffering from rheumatism.
The corporal proceeded to fill up the
requisite form for the mans admission
to the nearest military hospital.
"Can you spell rheumatism, corporal?"
said the doctor.
Il think can, doctor, thank you,' re-
piled he, saluting,
That corporal was Louis Coetloyon,
one of the leading journalists of Paris,
who had volunteered soon after the out
break of the war. We had good lasgh
over the incident when | told the doctor
of his blunder.
"What business has he to be n corporal
if he can spellg' exclaimed the surgeon,
who was little bit sorry for what had
happened
Pitou serves his country for the mod
est sum of two sous day. He receives
one sou cash, and the other is placed to
his credit until his term of service is
over, when he is presented with a sum
representing as many sous, plus interest,
as he has spent days in the army. OF
course his pas is not often his only
source of revenue. Many soldiers work
at some trade inside the barrack, and
those who copse from the middle classes
are well supplied with pocket money
from home-even the peasants son is