Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1894-04-27
RUn.E,G TO TITLES.
Amer:cecs AFRO C::.2g Too Fond
of Indies to -le.r Names

Va A~S~<~SeSS w ~>40@A &NoAA0S
Military OniciaIs Who Have Never FER
formed Any Field Service - Some
Of the Absurdities Of IN
Irans Practice.
In no place perhaps is the inclination
to affix titles to the names of public
men more prominent than in Washing
ton, where the fields of American life
have unrivaled opportunities for devel.
opment. The stock of generals, colonies,
majors or judges who never saw service
in the field or forum but who are not at
all unfamiliar with practice at the bar
of one sort or another, Is unlimited, and
sometimes leads to confusion. amusing
or annoying as the case may be- In
most states, if not in all, it is custom
airy for the governor to surround HIM
self with military staff ranging from
general to captain. This is q custom
handed down from colonial days. when
the governor of q colony had his coun-
Gil, the members of which in the militia
~ organizations of the colony were COM
manders of the forces in their respect
i've counties. with the title Of colonel
AS militaryism declined it was perfectly
natural for the advisors of the governor
to inherit the mi itary title. as dis
tinction from the mass of men who were
not thus hOnored with close friendship
with the executive. Later, under state
governments, the governors staff be
came quite feature in the life of poll
tics Many q worker for the success Of
the ticket has been appeased by appoint
ment to a place on the governors staff,
and has gone down to posterity with all
the glamor of military title surround
ing him. 1t is not necessary for any
staff officer, with perhaps the exception
of the adjutant general, to have par
ticle of knowledge of military affairs
beyond adcptness in making a salute or
acknowledging one. But quite fire.
quently he has not even that At the
Washington centennial in New York
few years ago the streets were full OF
brilliantly attired staff officers, and the
Washington Post thinks that the men
on guard duty who brought their guns
to present arms whenever n ranking Of
ficer hove in sight rnust have been high
ly amused at the questioning glance
given them by more than one of the
carpet knights as icy walked or rode
past without acknowledging the salute.
AS governors are frequently changed,
say every four years, in forty-four
states, the possibilities in the way Of
the manufacture Of colonies and gen.
erals are readily appreciated. Giving
each governor twenty staff officers and
aids-a modest eStim-;te--in twenty
years there would have been nearly five
thousand Of su distinguished individ-
ualS. and When IL :.leSa are added those
who bear the titles br ..u,e their fathers
once had thcI;,. tie n',,Hber is expanded
staff. too. al ,'ys If IN interchange Of
titles. The j &c aG-Hc;stc general,
ranking rs color :. for il,H;ance, Elay be
called with ~ or'"y i''cGe, colonel or
general. acd 80 y" through this list
Other causr5, ho-- yer. contribute To
the list # T. -, g.. u.iTS'rinQ city a
genticraat nc. ~..l Inc editorial
staff Of Il iev-' 49, -, ne distin :tiOn
TO quit the :. :. -. ,..- < &c If the war
as private. But u - ,..t l,;xuriating
influence Cf ncw:- ".r work he &C
quired u portly 1. lie, developed his
good coraradcsi.ip and gathered a col
lection of ane do s AMI wit.icisms
which always mace him welcome ad.
dition to any Parry tut for fun. In an
evil hour one of his younger associates
called him C lionel. and colonel he has
been ever since.
Not long ago. in outhern city. wa
raised a mO-.unc;:. to confederate
leader Go # til. newspapers pub
lished quit" an "a tive souvenir
which. b. rcq est. rs sent to Massa'
chusetts town for presentation to q
grand army pest. Al 'ng w.th the SOU
venir went q letter cf the saalle-hands
across-the- bloc .y-cl'a IN order from the
editor. The pr. 20 alton took place
and the lo-al r & -, had quite IN &c
count of liz, -, E. "a. uCing a repro
duction of ..ie p. r:o;ic letter" from
the southern editor. who was called
Gen" SD-a1d-s1 As he had JUS
turned thirtv yo"rs the editor enjoyed
the joke on hi-l:;. az. Ia another city ,
popular railroad Or al was nevel
called anything >.neral by one whit
was frequen'' lnrovn with him Al
too oclc;al us Cite o young man
wno,c military record had never beef
male, his friend was asked one day VIII,
he gave him a title and replied: why
don't you know he is a general passen
ger agent?" These are but few of tn,
absurditics out@ropping from the insan
practice AGAINST which signs of protes
are becoming app-~cnt
CRESTS AND THEIR ORIGIN.