Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1893-10-12


"What was the mstterp Didn't the
old soldiers treat him we'll? Didn't they
seem to yearn for his society,"" asked the
grocery man as the boy was making
lunch on some sweet crackers In tin
canister.
"Well, they were not very much
mashed on Pa. You see, Pa never gets
tired telling us about how he fit In the
army. For several years ] didn't know
what . sutler was, and when Pa would
tell about taking musket that dead
soldier had dropped and going into the
thickest Of the fight and fairly moving
down the Confedsrates In swaths the way
they eut hay I thought he was the great
est man that ever was. Until / was II
years old I thought Pa had killed men
enough toflll the Forest Home cemetery.
I thought sutler was something higher
than q general, and Pa used to talk about
i and Grant, and what Sheridan told
him, and how Sherman marched with
him to the sea, and all that kind OF rot,
until I wondered why they didn't have
pictures OF Pa on q white horse, with
epaulets on and q sword. One day at
school I told q boy that my Pa killed
more men than Grant, and the boy said
he didn't doubt It, but he killed them
with commissary whisky.
"The boy said his Pa was In the same
regiment that my Pa was sutler Of, and
his Pa said my Pa charged him IS for a
'esntsen Of pepperssuce and alcohol and
called t WHISKY. Then began 10 In
glire into It and found out that Q sutlsr
was sort OF liquid peanut stand. and
that bis rank In the army was about
the same as q chestnut roaster on the
sidewalk here at home. It made me
sick, and I never had the same respect
for Pa after that. But Pa don't care.
He thinks he Is a hero and tried to get a
pension on account Of losing piece of
his thumb, but when the officers found
he was wounded by the explosion of q
can Of baked beans they couldn't give
1t to him. Pa was down town VII l1e
veterans were here, and was " I'm,
and I saw lot of old soldiers Ioakilg at
Pa, and I told him they acted ., though
they knew him, and he put Oh his glasses
and said to one of them, How are you,
Bi1lY The soldier looked at Pa and
called the other soldiers, and one said,
That's the old duffer that sold me the
bottle of brandy peaches at Chickamauga
for SO, and they eat hole through my
stummick.'
"Another said: He's the cuss that took
80 out of my pay for pickles that were
put up In aqua fortis. Look at the corps
badges he has on Another said: The
old whelp! He charged me 80 cents a
pound for onions when I had the scuryy
at Atlanta Another said: He beat me
ont Of my wages playing draw poker
with q cold deck and the aces up his
sleeve. Let us hang him. By this time
Pas nerves got nnstrung and began to
hurt him, and he said he wanted to go
home, and when we got around the cor
ner he tore off his badges and threwt them
In the sewer and said 1t was all mans
life was worth to be veteran nowadays.
BE didn't go down town again till next
day, and when he heard a band playing
he would go around the block. But at
the sham battle, where there were
no veterans hardly, he was all right
with the militia boys, and I told them
how he did when he was In the army.
I thought It would be fun TO see Pa
run, and so when one Of the cavalry
fellows lost his cap In the charge and
was looking for It told the dragon
that the pussy old man over by the fence
had stolen his cap. That was Pc. Then
1tad Pc that tho soldier ON the horse