The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1893-07-06

,eriehcc out Of him.
'Sny, Dick" l asked; what was your
irst ehlistment2" ee-, s.,
We'll" said Dick, with q laugh, my
1rst soldering wns sailoring. listed
tfre'mRrincs and was sent down to a
1yblown hole in Florida. The heat,
The bugs and the style Of the marine
officers sichrncd nc, SO | Resigned.
"Rcsigncd2" l quericd.
Gave them a French resignation,
You know. struck New Orleans In .
Cuban banana boat dead broke, and
Joined n company Of 'doughboys' At
Rogue. That place was worse
than Florida. The first pay day set
tied me, and | took n trip up the river.
They charged me with two rifles, d
dozen brooms and d whcelbnrrow on
my muster roll, when | skipped. Handy
thing for n dsseftef, whcelbarrowl l
often ~-.ndcred that they did not .. nnrre
with Tom ~G..mnn's wife, who lit
out with q coon about the time | re.
tired"
"whcre did YOU So, bick-st toHisT"
"icsl Thought I'd take a Aver ~ the
cavalry. tot sick Of Oh Bully Wclch
'hcre. ard WIS glad enough 10 10 with
Il detachment to. the Third in Arizona.
We'll, that's q lovely country to get
away from. II there's a hell on earth,
Arizona is the place. was stationed
at Verde, and tho malaria, bad grub
and Apache chasing changed my views
of the cavalry. Three of Us skipped
tn" first time the ~paymaster got round,
and we worked down through Apache
pass into New Mexico with our hair all
right. We struck the settlements, sold
our horses, and separated, I worked
down to vi tase and went broke on a
monte game. Invent over to Fort Bliss
and took another blanket. liked
soldering there first rate and got tho
chevran-, but the captain broke mo
for raising a row dowh town ana
thu,hping a gfeaasr fhat MADE me
mad ami | Went on the retired list once
more. That quartcrmaster sergeant
was a daisy, and, as Twas hchu~ :. lis,
ne soctca ~ Va Me.-cnarged me with a
.!H-inule harness, a grindstonc, two
spades, a long Tom and a hundred
rounds of ammunition, just thtrlt s.
me a hoohng u arf0ss desert between
onitnail and Davis with a grindstone
under my arm, Must have thought !
wanted 1t to sharpen my appetite. !
got "A job as tcamstcr at Fort Clark, but
] ran across a fellow l knew at Baton
Rogue, and he was always hard up and
had an idea that | was n bank, and
concluded to GO cast
And them" ! insin"-.ea
''rhcn,' resumed Dick, II guessed |
had all the west | wanted for awhile, so
| honorcd the artillery. ! made n mis-
take. was in a fort where you could
sec nothing but sea and sand, and
where it was cold enough to freeze a
brass monkey. Lord. but the artillery
is tough and dull, all guard duty and
polishing; no mountains. no plains; all
buttons and drill. That heavy artil-
lcry made "A flying artillery man of inc,
l waited for pay day and left without
~lcnving my address. We'll, my muster
roll caught It. They landed me oh the
pay roll for d caissdf and ilfty fohnds
OF fixed and strapped ammunition and
other trit,cs.".
Draw It mild, Dick" I suggested.
"NYcll, II they didn't" said Dick,
earnestly, may | be 'bobtailed.' ! put
out for the west and listed in Coving-
ton in the 'doughboys' again, like a
fool. ! was just in time to be rounded
up for a batch of 'Johnnies' going to
Montana. the worst lot of fresh fish
ever got into. Tough? Well! say! We
hoofed it all day and stood guard every
other night. We had a chap just APP
pointed from civil life in command,
and he was scared to death. And the
grub. We'll, lct that go. We got to
our post and had to build new stables
for the cavalry. Fatigue duty every
day and dress parade every night made
life hardly worth living Then | was
detailed to guard n railroad SURVEY.
That was exciting. for the Sioux had d
spite against us, but | concluded thir'
tccn dollars n month was too small a
bet to stake my life against. Four Of
us snid good-by and waltzed for the
railroad, sleeping in ravines by day
and tramping by night. Once more
figured n big thief on the muster rolls
The post quartcrmastcr sergeant solo
six mules to a frcightcr and the team
turned up on my pay roll, with plundcl
enough to start a suffers store"
We'll, 90 on, Dick" said.
''Oh, to make n long story short,
kept getting in and out all the time
Had to keep going and changing IN,
name, for l was always running int,
some fellow that knew me Not man,
fellows will blow on you-but yo'
can't help thinking they will. Then
fellow that knows You have a ski
against you finds you very convenien
to borrow tobacco from and money, ant
a chap winds up by getting out. Now
there's Mackey who just Joined. II
was with me in the Nineteenth. wa
nervous about him, though he neve
pretended ITO know me; but he ownc,
up to four himself. I'm going to site
this time and get out fair and squar
with a clean discharge, for I'm sick an
tired of running away like a rabbit"
Dick made a good soldier and got
sergcant's c%heyrons; but he neve
served his enlistment out. He wa
smoking a cigar in a saloon in La
Cruces two years later, when two fe
; lows had a row and pulled pistols o
each other. Both fired. One WI
killed and his bullet missed his ma
and went through Dicks head, KILN
= him instantly.
We buried him in the little grav'
. yard there, and every nan Clipped !
! his dollar to put a stone over the hea
; of poor Dick Brandon, the ''profc
! sional skipper, Joseph Smith, l
y Illustrated American.
, A L~ong-Livsd Fly.