The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1891-08-06

their service In the army. know lots OF
them myself who are on the pension roll,
but who are just as well as ] am" says the
soldier-hater.
How do you know, o, you OF the genera
tion of vipers, that they are just as well as
you? What do you know Of the uSsteri-
Gus powers Of the body, and all that won
derful mechanism Of life, that makes You SO
bold in your assertion? The most skilled
physician in the world would hesitate TO
speak so positively without a searching ex-
animation which would test and estimate
every factor in the intricate problem. Do
you not know that there are men dropping
dead every day who were apparently as
healthy as you are? is il not true that you
are constantly astonished by the sudden
death Of acquaintance who you were conf
dent would live many years?
DO you not know, brazen pretender that
you are, that physicians say that no man
ever entirely RECEIVERS from 50 little rs PIN
scratchP Any severe strain leaves its weak
ness in the body rs certainly and as incura-
bly, as a wrenching gale does upon the limbs
Of a tree? DO you ever stop to think, when
tremor of fear seizes you upon getting
your feet wet or being caught in a shower,
what these men, who you say are as well as
you are went through with? You know
10y your own aches and pains what the cost
Of a little exposure is 10 you; what do you
imagine has been the effect upon their bodies
Of months Of sleeping upon the damp
ground, with no shelter but a web Of flimsy
muslin, standing picket day and night amid
the widest storms, marching endless miles
through mud and rain one month and under
blazing suns another? DO You imagine
that you could 20 through a single day Of
this experience without permanent injury
10 your health2 From the care with which
you, and those like you, avoided all chance
Of such a thing during the war, we know
you do not
Then the awful strain of q battle. You
have no idea Of it-no man can who has not
had the actual experience. You hear the
boys laugh and jest now about their battle
experiences, and you may get the idea that
battle was something like a circus. We
can assure you it was not. If You had ever
stood in line, in The gray Of the morning,
when the long-roll was beating and white,
sten-iaced men were hurriedly DOMINIC
their accouterments, telling each other be-
tween times messages to send to loved ones,
if they fell, while the spitefal popping Of
the skirmishers was deepening into the
angry roar Of battle, as regiment after regi-
ment joined in the murderous work, you
would wonder that any mans nerves or
4 heart escaped SCATTERING. The man who
4 says that he was never terribly frightened
before or during battle is either fool or
liar. The awful suspense before the battle
opens and the terrors that burst upon one
during its progress strain the heartstrings
Of the brayest men. You have probably had
some terrible fnghts when you were nearly
run over by train OF narrowly escaped
falling from a high building. Multiply
those sensations by 100 and you viii have
some idea Of what ii is to 20 through a bat
/ tie.
Can you imagine that any man could 90
through from one TO 30 Of these experiences
in the course Of three years service, with
the intervals between them filed mp with
sleeping out Of doors in the rain and sleet,
marching over roads Of bottomless mud or
deep dust, with days and nights Of anxious
watching against mortal enemies and yet
be just as well as you are, who have had
none Of these awful experiences to sap your
yitality9
We say to you that it is physiological
fact that no man who saw so much as a
month Of active service can possibly be 50
well as he would have been had he stayed
Al home and taken care Of himself When,
therefore, you cay that these men are just
as well as you are, you are saying what you
know nothing about, and what all Patio.
logical science gives the lie to.
s-
PENSIONS AND THE PUBLIC DEBT.
In IN narnir.h ~ r-ru-sLa... ..raa.ln r. Il.