Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-07-18
DUMMY
A Pathetic Story of the Wal of the Ra.
bel1iOn.

JIMMY TEAR-DRoP."
A Pathetic Story of the War of the RIA.
belliOn.
We had been diminishing with Stu
arts cavalry and at the bendin the road
we had shelled them vigorously with
our hight artillery. AS We passed this
bend, still following the enemy. we
found four dead men, three or four dead
horses, and a boy about 10 years old
sitting ON a stone, so white-faced and
scared that he could not speak o word.
We spoke kindly to him, and tried to
comfort him, and finally he began to
cry. When we asked for his name he
gave it as Jimmy" Jimmy what?"
he was crying so that we could not
make it out. Then some one suggested
that it must be Jimmy Tear-D Drop, and
the name at once became his.
The soldier of the civil wal was a
curious being. While the heat of bat
tie was in his blood his heart would
grow soft at sight of q poor rabbit
frightened from cover by the awful din.
We had not a second look for the dead
lying there, but half a dozen troopers
tangled as to who should be guardian. of
that boy. He was a legitimate capture
one of the spoils Of war. As q COM
promise he was sent to the wagon-mas-
ter for the time being.
In time Jimmy Tear-Drop" told us
that his mother was dead. His father
lived on the road by which we had
marched, and as Stuart fell back he
took his boy by the hand and fell back
with the soldiers. In the confusion
father and son had become separated,
and they never to meet again.
Our camp was thirty miles away, and
the boy went there with us, and once
within our lines the father, even if
alive, had little chance to hear of him.
Every company of soldiers had its
pet, if not a dog, or cat or goat, then
something else-even a 'possum or rae
coon. 1t was late in the fall when we
captured Jimmy Tear-Drop, and by
spring he was known to most all the
men in the brigade. He was a quiet
little chap. seeming to have a great sor-
row in his heart, and it was only when
heard us talking about the end of the he
war, and how we intended to find his
father and bring about q reunion, that
he laughed and seemed boy-like. The
officers tried to send him away, but we
kept him hidden and treasured him as
if he had been q gold nugget. Our
tailor made him clothes, and we foraged
him a pair of shoes, and when we got
him rugged out we all felt proud of him.
I don't think Jimmy Tear-Drop learned
any wickedness from us. We taught
him to dance, and he could sing a song
or two, but the boys were careful O.
their hard words when he was near, and
no one would teach him anything about
cards. On the contrary, "Old jack
our company teamster, got some books
and taught him his A. B. C,s, and called
us in to hear him spell "dog" and "hen'
and shat" and other easy words.
Well the spring came, and one day
our whole army corps moved. Jimm,
went along with the wagon train, and a
a certain point on one Of the highway.
the enemy made a dash and cut off
portion of the train. We got it bacl
after q sharp fight, and when we cam
to look around We found about twent
| dead and wounded men. Ii there ha,
been nothing more we should hav
wheeled into line and tested over it. .
soldier takes his chances, you see.
he wins he gets no credit. If he fall
= there is always earth enough to hide b
body from sight.
We were getting ready to move o
when there was an excitement amor
t'se "aos.s ard we pushed into tn
5 train to find "Old jack bending owe
something lying on a blanket on tn
grass. He was crying like a woman
and some of our boys were brushin,
tears from their eyes and others hotl,
vowing vengeance. That something o.
the blanket was our boy-our Jimm,
j Tear-Drop. A stray bullet had whistle'
through the cover of the wagon an,
ended his life as quickly as you coul'
blow out the flame of a candle. An,
as he lay there on his back, white-face'
) and dead and his eyes h%alf-closed, w
saw through our own tears q great tea
on his cheek-a pearl glistening in tn
southern sunshine which streamed dow
through the smoke yet hanging abou
the tree-tops. Then in u sore heart
we felt that we had rightly named hin
Jimmy Tear-Drop, and that the hand o
God was in it.-Detroit Free Press.
A Cats Whiskers.
The long hairs on the side of a cat
face are organs of touch. They are at
tached to a bed of fine glands unde.
the skin, and each of these long hairs il
connected with the nerves Of the lip
The slightest contact of these whiskers
with any surrounding object is thu
felt most distinctly by the animal, al
though the hairs themselves are insen
sible. They stand out or each side O
the lion, as we'll as On the common cat
From point. to point, they are equal t.
the width Of the animals body. If We
imagine, therefore, a lion s~tealine
through a covert of wood in an imper
feet light we shall at once see the use
of these long hairs. They indicate tt
him, through the incest feeling, any
obstacle which may present itself to the
passage of his body; they prevent the
rustling of boughs and leaves, which
would give warning to his prey if he was
= $500. k-0 1~-o l1,. --