The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-10-18

has renewed the worn flooring with I'M
planed boards, and has tackled cotton duck
over the crumbling ceiling. The mouse Is
swept and garnished, and an incongruous
assortment of furniture set in. Ana she is
welcomed with hearty sentiment to a life
in which the felicity of closest comradeShip
is the chief joy
Straightway she begins to be impressed
with salient phases of army domestic life.
She may have heard of these before bten
warned of them, but they do not amount to
SO much in the telling as in the practice
Inc set OF quarters, when all is said and
done is but Badouin dwelling; in two or
three years at the most the regiment Will
be ordered to an exchange of stations, and
then she must pack up and go along with
would be worth preparing for if one could
be mortally certain of it; but as new Off
GERS come to the garrison and internal
changes occur, there are numberless minor
other, a constant shifting that allows no
time for settling-a consequence of the Gus
tom by which the arriving officer is en-
titled to the choice of any quarters occu-
pied by officers beneath him in rank So
the three years of undisturbed dwelling
may easily be less than as many months.
. mere is triple limit to the accumua-
tlon OF household requirements First the
limit OF the .quartermaster's supply, which
IS soon reached; second, the limit of the
purse, which commonly follows soon after.
and, third, the limit OF the baggage allow,
ance. And that is the most distressing of
All. In the constant removals from station
along Is set at a certain number of pounds
weight, rather small than otherwise A
piano would Of itself be apt to overrun the
allowance. And the purse limit does not
allow one to indulge in chairs and sofas.
to be sacrificed in a few months TO the god
OF the passage wagon. One must dc. with
out, and In that lies the first demand upon
the army woman's capabilities. She re-
spends; she is equal to the emergency;
she has true heroism I'm small things and
that is one very good reason why the
army should shout as with a single voice
and call her blessed.
The servant-girl question becomes curl
uncommonly help is scarce, or not to be
had at all. Then, some soldier of domes-
doing the. Heavy work. In the broad West
ern country, where the army largely is
Sipl in are ar o at premium and serving
wages quite fabulous by comparison with
those of the East. But in barracks single
men are plenty. And, alas for the wife of
a competent girl! With inexplicable per-
SxSersity. she turns pleased ear to some
s nIuIeLcoated sabre swinger-and so another
soidler wedding and another laundress
added to the red-armed array on Laun-
dress Row! A soldiers wife viii seldom
aRe seryiee d IN an an oHers family the in
permit it.. But she will spend the rest of
her days In washing the blue flannel shirts
baggage wagon, nor consider the change
ANYTHING but fortunate.
The table suffers in the army. The
butcher delivers meat by contract, not by
conscience. The commissary has a store
or cheap flour and of canned vegetables
milk and butter. These often are the en-
TIRE resources. Milk is worth as much as
champagne in the open market. The set
tiers who count on the protection of the
soldiers at the fort cannot in return be
Sometimes a company of soldiers may cui-
tivate a garden and supply the tables of
1ne o fhef from IT. or Tare1y it may hap
cause cabbages to grow where only sage
brush has grown before. Then there is
depends upon circumstances of time and
place to which she is herself a victim. Yet
she perseveres, and sets forth a table that
she accomplishes this is not given the UNI
initiated to know; they can only testify
that 1T is done continuously. In elder days
with the black man, but now the cook book
has usurped his place, and, with its aid, in
some mysterious manner, good yiands are
conjured out of the unknown. Thus does
the army woman contribute to the eff
cheney OF the army. Her services deserve
recognition at the hands of the govern
ment. She should be penSioned or retired
on full pay and allowances. But all she
gets is a share Of her husbands dole.
weeks of anxiety while her husband is alb
sent in the field, or he may be with her in
the garrison. or at long intervals they may
take the little money they have saved,
it is quite gone, and then back again
to the routine. And through it all you VIII
When garrison days are dullest she intro
duces a sur to cheeriness. She is looked
to- depend,d upon, by all: from the gray old
harum-scaum lieutenant. 1t is not too
much to say she is the soul Of the army.
-. This is the army life, life ordna T,s this is
come a day in the course of it when
change of station will bring the army WON,
there is the life Of women in the staff and
the artillery, where pleasant stations are
the rule. But that is a state SO different
from the view of the cavalry and the In
fantry to require q separate story for
it's telling.
And who complains? Not the army wom-
an. She becomes addicted to the life, and
will declare to you that she loves 1t. And
not the army man. He has chosen his vo-
cation-the ARMAND =, ne holds there is
bles at odd times tits human failing,
and not to be construed as sign of dis
satisfaction. And whatever the army may
say or do in other things, it has the high
est and the deepest regard for it's women.
They are treated with becoming respect:
they are protected cavalierly; the rigors of
the service are tempered to them when pos
sble They are appreciated and that is
probably one weighty reason why they like
the life.
The man of war is without an occupation
now. He is at rest, sitting in garrison on
prairie and on shore, with some trouble TO
And If there are victories in peace as well
as war, they will not be his, but rather the
glory of the army woman. She fights with
out weapons, and conquers through the
arts. She makes pleasant the waste places
that the army inhabits, and gladdens its
days in the land. She may be unappreci-
ated or even unknown without the army,
for no record is kept of her services. and
she gets no medals or rewards. The most
that is ever awarded her is honorable men
tion But within that circle she is regarded
even to the point Of worship. For the army
knows-the army knows!