The Van Buren press., 1893-07-15
gave the deserter chance to begin
again with clean record.

Dick was a great fellow ITO run for
orderly
AS we smoked and talked and pol
pericnce out of him.
''Say, Dick" asked; .'what was your
| first enlistment?"
"Well," said Dick, with laugh. my
first soldering was sailoring. listed
In the marines and was sent down to
| fyblown hole in Florida. The heat,
the bugs and the style of the marine
officers sickened me, SO resigned.
"Resigned?" queried.
"Gave them French resignation,
you know. struck New Orleans in o
Cuban banana boat, dead broke, and
Joined a company of 'doughboys' at
Baton Rogue That place was worse
than Florida. The first pay day set
tied me, and took trip up the river.
They charged me with two rifles, .
dozen brooms and wheelbarrow on
my muster roll, when l skipped. Handy
thing for deserter, n wheelbarrow!
often wondered that they did not charge
me with Tom Gorman's wife, who lit
out with a coon about the time re-
tired"
"Where did you go, Dick-St. LOUISE"
"Yes! Thought I'd take flyer In tho
cavalry. Got sick of old Bully Welch
there, and was glad enough to go with
a detachment to the Third in Arizona.
Well, that's lovely country to get
away FROM If there's hell on earth.
A,,su tc <J,2 rk-k
at Verde, and the malaria, bad grub
and Apache chasing changed my views
of the cavalry. Three of us skipped
the 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. worked
down to El Paso and went broke on
monte game. Invent over to Fort Bliss
and took another blanket. l liked
soldering there first rate and got the
chevrons; but the captain broke me
for raising row down town and
humping greaser. That made me
mad and went on the retired list once
more. That quartermaster sergeant
was daisy, and, as l was chum Of his,
he socked it to me-charged me with .
six-mule harness. grindstone, two
spades, a long Tom and hundred
rounds of ammunition. Just think of
me hoofing it across desert between
Quitman and Davis with grindstone
under my arm! Must have thought I
wanted 1t to sharpen my appetite
got a job rs teamster at Fort Clark, but
ran across fellow knew at Baton
Rogue, and he was always hard up and
had an idea that was bank, and
concluded to go east"
"And then?" insinuated.
"Then," resumed Dick, II guessed
had all the west wanted for awhile, so
honored the artillery. made mis-
take. was in q fort where you could
see nothing but sea and sand, and
where it was cold enough to freeze Q
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-
lery made flying artillery man Of me.
waited for pay day and left without
leaving my address. Well, my muster
roll caught it. They landed me on the
pay roll for o caisson and fifty rounds
Of fixed and strapped ammunition and
other triles."
Draw it mild, Dick" suggested. ;.
"Well, If they didn't" said Dick,
earnestly, "may be 'bobtailed.' Iput
out for the west and listed in Coving-
ton in the 'doughboys' again, like
fool. was just in time to be rounded
up for 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 chap just APP
pointed from civil life in command,
and he was scared to death. And the
grub! Well, let 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 railroad survey.
That was exciting, for the Sioux had
spite against us, but concluded thir-
teen dollars month was too small
bet to stake my life against. Four of
us said good-by and waltzed for the
railroad, sleeping in ravines by day
and tramping by night. Once more l
figured big thief on the muster rolls.
The post quartcrmaster sergeant sold
six mules to freighter and the team
turned up on my pay roll, with plunder
enough to start q suffers store"
well, go on, Dick" said.
ooh, to make long story short,
kept getting in and out oil the time.
Had to keep going and changing my
name, for l was always running into
some fellow that knew me. Not many
fellows will blow on you-but You
can't help thinking they will Then
fellow that knows you have skip
against you finds you very convenient
20 borrow tobacco from and MONEY, and
chap winds up by getting out Now,
there's Mackey who just joined. He
was with me in the Nineteenth. wns
nervous about him. though he never
pretended to know me; but he owned
up to foW himself. I'm going to stick
this time and get out fair and square
with clean discharge, for I'm sick and
tired Of running away like rabbit"
Dick made a good soldier and got
sergeant's chevrons; but he never
served his enlistment out He was
smoking cigar in a saloon In Las
Cruces two years later, when two fell
lows had q row and pulled pistols on
each other. Both fired. One was
killed and his bullet missed his man
and went through Dicks head, killing