Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1892-08-13

clothing, with q flaming red Prince Albert
coat, decorated with blue cuffs and huge
brass buttons with the monogram, ar. H.
@. P."-Royal Hospital of Chelsea PEN
sioners, once In three years.
Their food consists of half q loaf of
bread and an ounce of butter daily, mar
man; with bowl of cocoa for breakfast.
soup, mutton or beef and potatoes for
dinner, and a bowl of tea at half past
three for "tes," which is the last meal of
the day. Besides this they are each paid
one penny per day for ale and tobacco
money, and each also receives q quarter of
q pound of tobacco every three months.
There are practically no restrictions
upon these old wards of Chelsea. They
60 and come at will; and punishments for
infraction Of always lenient discipline are
confined to the wearing of black cap for
extraordinary revolt against good order, or
a few hours in the guard house for q PEN
sioner taken red-handed in battle with
John Barleycorn at the ale house. They
are royal grumblers all. To them their
clothing is "shoddy," soup is "swill," CO.
Goa and coffee are "pizen," butter is
Thames skimmin's." !" and, in scornful IN
timation of the officers sppropriating all
the joints of mutton while leaving them
but the ribs and briskets, they stoutly a.
sert that EVERY sheep killed for Chelsea
has nine breastiesi" But I believe they
are, on the whole, very comfortable and
considerably treated, and fully as well
served and cared for as are the veterans of
our own Soldiers Homes.
The most interesting places In Chelsea
hospital are ths ward rooms, the kitchen
when the noon day meal is nearly ready,
the chapel and the great hall In the
ward rooms discovered one clipper old
fellow who will be ninety-two years old in
October. He is William Merrill, late of
the Thirty first Foot; is a native of Bed
fordshire; enlisted in 1919; and has seen
over forty years of actual service. Ny
companion said he was the 'slyest rogue
and joker In No. 10 ward" Gay old VIII
liam also has the record of countless fir
tations over the area railings of Chelsea's
mansions. Carlyle chased him all the way
back to the hospital one day for too vigor-
GUS badinage with the serving maids of the
philosophers family in Cheyne Row.
ANY Sunday forenoon You may see three
or four hundred of these grizzled pension
ers at chapel. They are not very reyeren-
tial, and are uneasy as children in the
pews. They shuttle their feet, get into
complications with their wooden legs,
canes and crutches, and there is much
snuffiing. clearing of throats and hard
great painting does not exaggerste the pa
thos of their collective and individual as
pect. So many of these white heads and
battle-scarred, bent frames together look
very pitiful indeed when all are bowed
aud still at time of prayer and benedic-
ton.
The great hall is q spacious, lofty PAN
eled room in which are famous frescoes
and paintings, many tattered battle flags,
q raised dais for the queen, q good library,
many newspapers and periodicals, and fns
may come and fight their battles over at
draughts and chess Wellington lay in
state here and Nell Gwynne is not forgot
ten. In one corner of the huge partly al
legoricsl fresco abe is depicted in her first
and most honest vocation, q London or
ange girl.
What interested me most in the great
hall WAS large glass case of medals, hun
dreds upon hundreds of them, stained and
grimy, attached to vsricolored ribbons
the magenta plain for good conduct; ma
genta and yellow stripes tor heroes in Chi
ns; rose red for special valor in Turkey;
the blue and yellow stripes recalling the
horrors of Crimea; and many others of
whose Significance 1 was ignorant.
asked my companion how SO many came
to be collected here.
"Well," he replied in a sacred sort of q
way, tinged vita bravsdo that had pa
thos in 1t, ''you see when Little Joe and
Harry McDuh (the old ifer and drummer
of Chelses) heads a procession here
there's hundred o. that sort a year-an'
the old boy in the box that's booked for
Brompion (the present burying ground OF
Cbelsea) 'sven't got no kin to claim 'em,
his dec'rations all go in 'erel"
EDGAR L. WAKKMAs.