The Van Buren press., 1894-11-03
A HOWLING SUCCESS.
An Account Of Barton's Attempt
to Enliven the Post.

- 1GNouu lltuIt0unt can
DO. Moreover he had theories, which.
except II popular novels, are very bad
tnlngs for young officers to have; if
'hey are not absolutely useless, thew
are apt 60 be worse than useless. yerv
much in the way. He came straight
from West Point to a fort neal. a
goodly sized town IN the western
states and brought with him, besides
ms own acceptable presence in com
munity including five girls and two
bachelors, the idea that there should
oe such thing as sociability in the
small circle of an army post.
Being young person of determine
ton, he meant to put his theories into
practice, and ut first even went so far
As to hope that lie might bring the non.
speaking families to terms again and
act the beautiful role of peacemaker
lt is in fiction, and in fiction onls
that everybody in garrison is aa
sweet as strawberry jam and lives in
perfect harmony with his neighbor
Remember that the army is fighting
institution; il it has not Indians or
fairer foes to battle with, it will set
up system of civil strife wonderful
in its complexity. What do they find
to quarrel about, you wonder? How
Is 1t possible to ask, knowing that a
handful of people, all with more or
less natural energy to be disposed of,
are shut up, year after year, within
tha narrow limits of reservation.
without ever q change of scene and
rarely having new blood infused into
their veins. Familiarity Is said to
breed contempt In this one phrase
lies the reason of it all. These dozen
or two of congenial and uncongenial
people are for time on footing of
the greatest intimacy and familiarity;
no wonder, then, that contempt fol-
lows and is in turn followed by dis.
like.
It was astounding to his Young and
untried spirit that so many people
could be SO entirely lost to sense of
the pleasures to be gotten out of this
world, such as moonlight rides and
walks, picnics. private Jheatrieals and
hops. He suggested rides. The two
bachelors were cavalrymen, and said
they rode for living and not for fun.
two of the girls could ride, but one
hadn't habit; the other two were
afraid to try 1t. Barton got mp some
riding parties of two-himself and the
one girl; but she was the least charm
ing of the quartette, SO he found them
dull He ventured upon suggesting
some walks, but the idea was secuted.
Walk in that alkali dust, with coyote
howls the only sounds in the air! They
mocked at his youthful ardor. The
board walk around the parade ground
was good enough for them, il they
wanted to stroll; but as that was per-
fectly within the range of vision of
some two hundred and fifty enlisted
men, 1t was not agreeable to saunter
along with a nice girl under their
eyes. Barton gave that up and tried
picnics. All the world knows that a
picnic ia trying to the sweetest tenn
per, to the most complacent souls.
The outcome of this particular one was
that it put one more family on the
official terms list. No one could be
worked up to the private thentricals
point, for in army, as In civil, life
every one wanted to have the star
role.
Anyone else would have been dis
heartened at these repeated failures
and have settled down into the ordi-
nary round of duties of the ordinary
lieutenant. But Barton had the maxi
ings OF q general in him, coupled with
a desire to be a leader of men; he
could not reconcile himself to getting
up at reveille; going to bed again and
sleeping until breakfast at the mess
1t nine o'clock; twirling his mustache
and incidentally bis thumbs in the
suffers store all the morning; sleep
ing from luncheon to retreat; dining
and re-twirling his mustache and
thumbs until taps. OF course he could
have put in his time at reading and
thinking, being intellectual, but man
in his position should not be intellec-
tual.
No, Barton would make last and
supreme effort to awake these leth-
argic people from their stupor. lie
would get up hop. Visions of old
West Point dances arose before him
and filed his soul with longings- HI
made it next the order of the day te
find room big enough to hold an or
binary set of lancers There. was 1T
ballroom, nor was tllern' the usua
available library-room which so Otter
does service. Of course none of tht
quarters would answer the purpose
he bethought him of one of the hos
pital wards, and got the doctors per
mission to use it. 1t was not big-no'
more than twenty by thirty feet-bnl
it could be made to do; the floors wert
rough. but sperm candles would make
them slippery; the walls were bare ant
the plaster cracked; he would draw or
private houses and the suffers store
TO decorate them. Nothing should
daunt him.
So he sent his own striker to sweep
and dust, and scrub; he gave the pos
children a jubilee by letting then
shave candles on the boards and slide
about to smooth them down. 1t was
lots of fun for the children, and Bar
ton took pleasure in watching theil
pretty gamhols until the {. q. s young
est son slipped and broke his wrist
When that happened. even this mex
perienced youth knew that it was
little short OF calamity for him. tina
il would be many long day before
the commandments wife--therefore tii'
commandant himself = would smile
upon him again. He carried the chic
home. and submitted in silence to TN
stony glare from its mothers eyes
...-l a-,,iuin she walked