Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-25
THE CAPTURE OF A. PRESIDENT
BY WILLIAM Il. WASSELL.
Copyrighted, 1895, by VIM. II. Wassell)

| Copyrighted 1885, by VIM. II. Wasscll)
| This is a story of a line officer and staff
officer. Ole of our honored Presidents and
| the gracious first lady of the land appear in
| the story, and also band of hostile In
| dams, i'll full charge, with all the ochre
paint and eagle feathers that part of
| their war toggery. The colonel himself told
| me this story, but, having heard many of
| the colonePs tales, 1 was mortally afraid
| he would get the characters SO mixed. or
| so overstep the rules of historical accuracy
| that he would not be able to finish the
| story. My fears, however, were ill-founded.
| He introduced no scientific impossibilities;
he violated no rules of time. place mill
tary regulations. At the bottom Of the
| seventh bottle-the colonels audience was
| OF small one-the story was terminated,
| 4 complete, coherent and connected whole.
Once President, the ccmmander-in-chief
of the military forces Of our country. shook
| the dust of Washington from his feet and
| travelled westward to the Pacific coast. He
visited many Of the principal towns and
| cities, and his observing eyes did not ne
/ elect the military posts. He was q good
| President, himself a soldier, and he did not
| consider it Inconvenience if he had to
| leave his comfortable private car and
| travel by ambulance to some distant post,
where his illuStriouS presence would be re-
ceived VITA all the honors due him as the
head of the army. Nor did the ladies of
the party shudder at the thoughts of bar
rem prairies and alkan dust, and nights
[ lodging at ranch, where the conversation
OF the Inhabitants ran from so many head
| of cattle to SO many bushel of potatoes
and then back again to the cattle and
| horses.
But there was a staff officer on this in
| w int re Iox in
| 1ngton, where he had long been stationed.
HIS knowledge of soldering was purely of
| hearsay nature. and. although he knew
! how to ask an influential Senator to have a
| drink, he would have been utterly lost if
| required to march a company over a hot
| Indian trail. Deep and long were his ejac-
uiations when the presidential party left
! the railroads and got into ambulances. The
a1kah dust settled on his clothes and in his
| threat, and. when the ladies We're out of
sight, he could not bring himself to take a
drink from tin cup and then wash it
| down with alkaline water from the same
| tin cup, After all. he thought, the political
| influences that had kept him in Washing
| ton so long, and had enabled him to travel
! with the President, had many drawbacks.
When 1t was known at Fort Barrenall
that the PRESIDENT was to honor the post
| by visit, great and elaborate preparations
| were made for his reception. The COM
manding officer realized that a Journey of
| eighty miles from the railroad was tire
some travelling at best and. in order to
| possible, he arranged three relays of trans
pcrtation along the route, sending with
each an officer and mounted escort.
When the presidential party got off the
| train at Delman they were promptly saiuted
! by swagger-looking lieutenant, and in
| formed that the ambulances were in wait
| Ing for them. After travelling thirty miles
| this lieutenant turned the party over to a
second escort, which attempted to beat the
| thirty-mile record made by the first and
| then, with tired mules and horses. gave
place to the escort that was to take the
party into Fort Barrenall.
And right here" said the old colonel,
Iris story begins. 1t would be a poor
story, and probably no one would know it.
II that stan officer had not been with the
President. You know, the third relay and
escort was commanded by Lieut. Growler-
mes dead now, poor fellow. Well. Growler
was a rough-and-ready sort of a chan for
ever in trouble in a garrison, but without
an equal on actual field service. He was a
great talker and 4 great grumbler. In sum-
mer he raved at the heat; in winter he
stormed at the cold If it raned, all the
unpleasantness of the frontier was due to
water; If the earth were parched. he de-
clared the west would be all right If it had
plenty OF water In garrison he be-
| he cursed the luck that was forever send
ing him out against Indians. His opinions
We're sometimes right. more often wrong
but always for the time being unchange-
able as the everlasting pyramids. OF course
he had many hobbies but his greatest, and
one he was never tired of riding was in re-
gard to the political influences that gave
some officers pleasant details and kept their
superiors, SO far records went roughing
| it on the frontier.
How does it benefit me- he would say
| TO have been on a dozen Indian campaigns?
| When they want a man for a four years
| detail in the east do they pick me out be-
| cause I've done gore than my share of In
| dian fighting? Not bit of it. If I went
| out single-handed and whipped a tribe of
reservation jumpers back to their agency
| no one would offer me snap detail. Oh.
! no; not unless had the influence of an en-
| ergetic Congressman. But, never mind,
my turn will come some day"
When the commanding officer at Barren
all detailed officers in charge of the relays
| for the President, Grower made a special
| request, so the colonel said, to be given the
escort that would bring the party into the
post. This would be Growler's chance ev-
| cry one thought. He would do things in
| style; put up a tent on the prairie. serve a
| luncheon and cool drinks and then gallop
| the refreshed party into the post. In this
way, his brother officers reasoned, the
party would be grateful, the Presidents at
| tention would be attracted. and then
| GROWER would be at liberty to ask for any
detail he wanted.
| But. to every ones surprise. the grum-
| bling lieutenant made no preparations for
| the Presidents comfort. He took nothing
| but the rough ambulances furnished by the
| government and the detailed escort Of cav
| alrymen. When the second relay turned
| the august parsonage into the wagon, and
| gave the teamsters orders to make the best
possible time He had several extra horses.
| and, as ill-luck would have it, the staff Off
Ger decided to ride one of them.
| Gust what conversation they had said
| the colonel. will never be known, for
| GROWER always silent on that point.
| 1 have my own opinion that he got in one
| of his laxative moods, and ranted on the
| doings of staff officers in general. until
| this particular officer ordered him to stop.
And I'll wager that this staff officer lis
| tened to the pros and cons of every order
| and decision that had emanated from
| Washington during the ten years previous.
| Changing the infantry trOuser stripe from
| black to white. and adding lot of fancy
| gew-gaws to the blouse were changes made
! in Washington that but poorly suited the
| men who wore them in the west, and it is
| safe to say that these and everything else
| that gave GROWER a chance to grumble
! were laid directly at the doorway of this
| Inflated staff officer
| Fort Barrenall, according to the colonel,
| was about the same in those days as it is
| nova little oasis at the end of eighty
miles of sandy desert. On the way from
| the railroad the traveller could see one
| ranch, one white man, numerous half