The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-05-12


incessant tnkle; sootheless to the senses was the
| wire-lights incandescent gleam-they were
not; they had never been,
| Trifiing In weight as was each segment Of
| the shelter tent, unappreciable addition to the
| individual burden, and willingly borne for the
increased facility and certainty Of biyouac, the
aggregate relief to the department of transpor.
/ tation was like striving bad mans conscience
of crime or lifting a fear from coward'ssoul
| The reduction Of the regimental train from
/ Is wagons to three was as efficient in ultimate
results as the Withdrawal of guards from Con-
| federate pcultry-coors and the CELEBRATION oil
zouave jackets; possibly more so.
The introduction of the shelter tent was thus
| a turning-point in the annals of the war; even
as the war itself was turning point in the an
mails of the Nation; the elimination of a long
! series of political events; the breaking down
| of lengthy line of political compromises,
| futile as an attempt to combine finance and
| delirium tremens; the upheaval of a vast ag-
gregation of suppressed political forces; the
explosion of a mighty reservoir of hidden
| political combnstibes, and in its attendant in
cidents as well as its remote consequences, as
| tremendous revolution as any which freights
the records of human destiny.
| Out into the crisp morning air or into the
sour and dreary morning driZzle step the tent
mates of last nights camp, each with his moiety
! of homestead folded in the lnapsack strapped
| TO his stalwart form. Marvel of moro than
| this marvellous spontaneity of Instrumentation
is our inimitable volunteer. He bears con-
stantly also his years wardrobe, his week S
laTder, bis drink, his bed. his arsenal of pro-
jectles, his weapons of ofiense, and his imple-
ments OF toll. Strength considered. no pack
horse carries weightier lading, and yet the
soldier is denied the dull, dumb creatures ex-
eInption from rational accountability.
He must ever stand prepared to flash at swift
command from toughest drudgery TO highest,
most alert intelligence; must rise, with instan-
taneous leap. from plodding toiler to knight
at arms, every tendon magnetic with the grand
agony of battle; must hear and comprehend
and with Unreasoning alacrity obey tho hasty
orders that may lead TO blood purchased victory
or certain death: must load and aim and fire,
advance, retreat move right or left fall, rise,
resist the onset of the foe or charge his bris-
Ting lines and face the whitening cyclone of his
wrath must breathe the sulphurous smoke
and see the red blaze flaming holly through;
must hear the deafning roar and fearful rattle.
and amid all preserve his faculties, maintain
his courage and do what in him lies to make
the triumph possible.
Thus freighted with beligerent meange the
modified veteran marches all day, with his
thinking bayonet st his side his logical musket
on his shoulder, and his profane vocabulary
held in measurable Subsection, the nominative
agreeing with the verb occasionally by acct
dent
On through the hot and bitter limestone dust
that blanches all his cuticle then reddens eyes
and nose and mouth with nnsanctifiei intiam-
nation. On through flounderug Quagmires of
yellow mud that settles into slush, then slumps
with slime. vivid parallel to the moral collapse
OF Z whiCe-souied comnissary warmed by the
beams of opportunity and trodden by the hocfs
OF temptation.
On through hest excruciating or cold IN
endurSble; through rain, sleet. hail or storms
dread alienation OF discomfort all the length
ening day, footsore and hating each nerve
roadway for pains burning steps, each bone
racked with rheumatic twinges, until night
brings the ;mping turnpike tourist 10 vel
come resting place.
The bivoaac then, and full-orhed glory of the
shelter tent! Matches for adaptation, it is
pitched as seen as ranks are broken. The
landscape whitens with swift magic. like
Monday closhes-line billowy with confidential
raiment. The terminates join the sundered
segments, and with sticks or stalks or poles or
lacking these, with bsyonet and gun and ram
rod lift the flexible sheet to the required angle.
and 10! the dwelling stands confessed. compact,
clearly and stylish salad dressed in oil.
Hasty, most hasty, and OF all forrnalities and
frilis devoid. the additions, the cooking, the
mastication, above all post prandial ceremonies
OF dry dIshwashery-one touch OF water makes
the whole camp grin.
Then glad repose comes to Ell the few short
nocturnal hours, moonlit, starry, dark as black
bu!locks Of Galloway, or terrible with thunder
bursts and dTenciiing rain, and blowing of great
guns. The camp sounds lull, not startle; the
sentry's slew, reluctant Amsterdam tramp;
the electric inter-urban symphony of snorings
manifold the weird signals OF the fond. me-
iodious mule struggling with an anchylosis Of
thoracic articnlation the melancholy squeak
af q lnin rpG cpfinric -.
assent 10 the maxim that linchpin ia time
saves an axle; the boot Of disconnected owl in
concea!ment OF branches not remote, or howl of
expostulatory cnr in distant farmyard. Sopo-
rife all this medley Of celluoid resonance
provocative Of serenest sleep, until the ioyless
reveille shall como, summonng from irrides-
cent dreams to another day Of inglOrious, un-
romantic toiling.
Through the soft, drowsy Summer afternoons
in luscious dishahiile of relaxation, born of
an assumed hali-week-s unthreatened encamp-
merit serenity, the recherche loungers in tho
shelter tent delight in tutti-frutti visions Of
banIshed spleBd0rs and forgworn delights
Those bright bichloride gold days haunt US
still. The cribbed and cofined quarters ex-
pand into peopled vistas of cpicurean magnif-
cence, wherein the mirage of gorgeous furnish
ings aternates or mingles with the phantasm
of delicate potables. Cashmere, Bokkara, and
hhivan rugs bespread the marqueterie foors
Ragouts supreme, and chow-chow, dinde glace,
trufhes, soquillo, sorbot, terrapin, sauterue,
cognac, and extra dry cover the beckoBing
tables.
lie secs priceless biou OF Louis Qninze buhl,
Sevres, Limoges. Dalton and Royal Vienna;
treasures Of ormolu and ivory, rocco and Car
rara; wonders Of faience and Satsuma; quaint
carvings from Padua, Toxic, Delhi, and Ant
werp, dcit in ebon or sandal, or teak and i'm
memorial oak. Here are poems in brass,
anthems in eternal bronze pastorals in Dres-
Gen, mythologies in the gTinDing idols of
Cathay. miracles in Gobelin and Daubisson
Here scimetar and falchion from the
days OF Bionheart, or damasque and inwrought
with golden arabesque By fezzed wizards in
1ehersn. Here swing hangings more precious
than jewels silk woven in the Calipbs' harems,
or following marVels of Chantilly; glowing
glorles Of Carrot and DRubigny, Gerome, Vibert,
Meissgnier, Miliias or Rembrandt.
All, yes. Roast yenison, fried chicken, stuffed
oysters, broiled lobster, sausage with sour
kraut, beefsteak and onions, float and allure
and dazzle and tempt in the soaring fancy of
the dilettante militant, who, at q drum-tap or
mule-bleat, Is brought down to his cramped
coarse environment with dull thud. Blessed
is the voluptnousness Of reverie; blessed and
cheap and safe as flirting by telephone with
centripeial divinity at the exchange, sweet |
voiced, Invisible and anonymous.
From roseate fantasy TO grim realism is O
tumble sharp and sudden to the dreamer in the
shelter tent His ormolu and bijouterie con-
sisi Of a deformed pocket mirror, and fore
shortened pipe black as bombazine grief. His
floor Is honest old earth, rugless, plankless
naked rs n marble EepuS aud cnld as Nav Enu