Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-02-20


| feed large army.
Fresh beef was an item not to be over
looked, and the Department had in herd
and corral in the country surrounding
Alexandria from 1000 to 5000 head of
beef cattle, with orders to ship to the
front daily as many as were required.
The larger portion of these cattle were
| from the West, and were as wild as deer.
| The herders had to drive them through
the main streets of the city to put them
on board steamers en- route for the front.
1t was during the loading of the steamer
Warrior (she had carrying capacity for
500 head on deck) that an incident oc-
Cured worth mentioning.
Before driving down through the city
the cattle were divided into lots of 100
each, as that number could be more
easily handled. Now, any one who has
ever seen a wild Western steer can easily
imagine just how they would perform,
when they were being whipped up with
the herders' long goad sticks, down
narrow street with cheap clothing, red
shirts, ETC., hanging in frontof the num-
erous stores, flying in their faces. 1t
simply made them furious. One old,
broad-horned fellow suddenly lowered
his head, shot his tail into the air and
made rush for red shirt. The door
was open, and he never stopped until he
reached the rear end of the store. At
that spot stood a sewing machine with a
red cover over it. The steer saw it,
lowered his head and dashed at it. The
,f,,fr 10 flo
and came down wreck. In the mean
time the proprietor had taken refuge
under the counter. About this time a
herder appeared on the scene, and with
his long goad stick prodded the steer out
in good shape.
But the Hebrew proprietor was the
worst scared and the maddest man |
ever saw. He declared that $3.50 would
not begin to pay him the damages. He
was told to go to Colonel Bell for redress,
and he lost no time in going down to the
bank Of the Old Dominion, where the
Colonels headquarters we're located.
The Colonel, who had not been made
aware of the circumstances, was thun-
derstruck when the Hebrew rushed in
with his hair standing on end and his
coat-tail flying out straight enough to
play checkers on. He opened up the
music with: Colonel, am all broke
up; my clothing all ruined, my sewing
machine is all broke up, and $3.50 will
not pay me-"
The Colonel ordered him to shut up
and get out of the office, but it was OF no
use; the man went right on with his
complaint. He soon had his damages
raised to $780, and 80 help me Moses.
not one cent less would settle it.
BY this time the Colonel had himself
got mad clear through. Calling an or
derby, he told the latter to take that
crazy fool to the old slave pen and give
him shower bath.
At that moment Captain A. B. Mott,
who had charge OF the beef cattle, came,
and upon learning the trouble, went !
with the Hebrew to see what the amount |
of damages really was. He settled all |
claims by paying $50 to repair the sew
ing machine, and that ended the fun.
/ have often heard people say since |
the war, "Well, il you were in the Com
missary Department, you had soft |
time of it, and never in danger of being
shot" Granted to certain extent AT |
the same time, / can assure you that the /
Johnnies, who were always short Of RI.
tions, were always on the lookout TO
gobble the commissary train. And after |
a battle, If the commissary was not |
on hand with his train to feed /
the tired and hungry soldiers, what
howl would be raised by the army. 1t
used to be one of the soldier sayings,
''No good rations; no good fight"
knew it to be fact that the COM
missary worked day and night, and new
er knew when Sunday came, unless it
was by the double work he had to do on
that day. He always had to take a
of scolding when the rations
we're bad. The fault of the contractors
in New York, philadelphia and Boston
would be saddled on the commissary.
Well, the most of them lived through it,
and / do not know of one that is drawn
ing pension to-day.-Captain o. A. Co
burn, in N. Y. Tribune.