Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-09-01
To be Continued.


| Iuduuy " DIlcu, Itt1hIlS uulN ser
/ Geant Of trop III, til calvary, rejoiced
/ in the possession of one strong point
| at least and that was a very strong
one He adapted all things to the pur-
pose for which they were intended
| If a recruit received q campaign hat
| that was too small for him, Tbaddeus
would promptly seize it in his ponderous
| fists and stretch it from six and three
quarters to seven and a half, CT any
other size that would conveniently drop
! over "Johnny-comelately head. Ii
it was too large, it was a soaking with
water it would get, and a piece of adj
vice to ''Niver let wather come higher
| to We than that" The generous and
| commodiOus government sock under.
went the same initial dimensions and
| never more than Il single size was or
| dered from the quartermaster's in that
| trOp. If the Unl1ind wind Whistled toe
| rJlthlesSly around the ankles of a ''ru-
! kie''neWly arrived from Jefferson bar
| racks. clad in his issue breecheS. which
! have always merited the reputation OF
| disproportionately broad in the BEAM
! the moment Thaddy spied him he was
sure to hear, let out your suspenderS
| manI'
But the fact that this propensity was
| generally appreciated never impressed
| itself upon my mind until the afternoon
| of one hot summer day when the troop
was making q rapid ride to meet a pay
master. I had been jolting Indifferent
| ~ along, easing the horses on the down
! grades and squirting on the levels, list
ening to the jingle of the canteens and
picket pins, and not paying much attell-
| ton to the chaff of the men in the rear
when Thaddeus rode UP and obtained
permission to fall out of the column 10
fix his blanket. He was scarcely out
of sight behind the cloud of dust at
the rear when one strOng-voiced Hiber-
MAN near the head of the column shout
ed out:
Say, byes, had dream lost night
I've been explodin' to tell We liver since.
Tell Ut" said the trumpeter.
II thought l Wuz dead an applyin'
fer admission at the gates of hivin'.
1lOy OlJClell Tic dlLIC GAIItI lIlh Lie LII.
to me beWildered establishment, widout
asking me to lux at me discharge from
the last regiment. [ felt very much ut
home, and galavanted right up to the
dure of the orderly room. 1t was thin
! that | stopped into the blindin' glory
of that place and me establishment re-
saved the final blow. Plat do yez
think | saW?''
mot wan of us could iyer guess, =
calculated the farier
81 beheld Thaddy O'Brien dressed in
his best suit ov full dhress, ishooin'
halos to the recruits!''
Mother Nv Moses it was night
mare" hoWled the trumpeter.
''But that's not all. Whin he gave me
mine [ pesaved that it wuz too small
an [ wuz afther handin' ut back to
him. Plat do yez think he towld me.
Bunker"
''To get yer heels together an stand
attention maybe"
''Niver a bit. He says, with fierce
ness in his voice, s'se: 'Maloney, me
man, it is the proper size. Take ut out
and stretch ut!'
1t was necessary to order a trot and
lead out lively to keep them from hear
ing me smile"
This is the same Thaddy O;Brien
that was sergeant of the guard when
q certain noted horse thief and desert
CT attempted to defeat the ends of
justice down in Texas a few years ago
by jumping out through the window of
the guard room and taking leg bail for
the chapperal. The alarm was given
before he was fifty yards en- his way
by the crack of the carbine of the SEN
tinel on No. 1 and in another minute
every member of the guard was On his
back, blazing away at him. All of the
bullets flew wild, and the deserter fed
On jumping to right and left like a sur
prised Tonic Apache. Thaddeus sat
down, with his carbine across his
knee, measuring with his eye the dis
lance to a wire fence through which the
deserter would have to pass before he
gained the shelter of the chapparal
regarding the unsuccessful shots of
the others with unfeigned disgust. He
set the sights.
eff We don't come back Ill have q
shot at ye myself" he shouted.
The deserter kept on paying no heed
to the warning until he reached the
fence, and was obliged to crawl be-
meath it. At that moment Thaddy's
carbine popped, just as the officer of tn
guard, who had been awakened by the
tumult reached the spot. He states
that the deserter was under the fence
| when he found him, and that he lived
long enough to request them to write
to his mother, and tell her that he died
with her name upon her lips There
being no law to punish guards for shoot
ing criminals escaping from under
their charge, the matter ended when
the last shovelful Of earth was patted
down on the grave Of the deserter
Out of His Sight.