The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-02-06

= vice of Uncle Sam is but
vaguely understood by ci-
villains, says W. ]. Rouse in
the New York Recorder. Many peo-
pie imagine that the enlisted man has
nothing much to do but to loaf around
in warm barracks, eat good food in
plenty, draw and spend his pay and
worry his mind about nothing. His
position is secure and his salary is Ger
tain. therefore what better could q
man want? #..
: This is doubtless the opinion OF
many men when they enlist as re-
cruits, but before the two years neces-
sary to the making of q good soldier
have elapsed he finds that soldering
is anything but a bed of roses. l..
After citizen has signed the en-
listment papers at the recruiting Of
fcer's Office in the city, has been ex-
amlned and accepted and assigned to
q troop in the cavalry service-assum-
ing that he has enlisted in that arm of
the servioe-he is sent to theHpost
where his troop is stationed. At Fort
Riley (Kansas) there are detachments
of recruits now in process of training
for cavalrymen, and it is of their daily
life that this article will treat. r.
The recruit is either sent to the post
from Fort Sheridan, Jefferson Bar
racks, David's Island or Columbus
Barracks, according to the locality of
his former home, and when he arrives
at the post is sent to the recruit bar
racks. Lieutenant Lewis, of the Sec
ond Cavalry, is now in charge of re-
cruits, and Sergeant Dolan, Troop I,
Seventh Cavalry, one of the Oldest
men IN the cavalry service, is their
drill master. If the recruits arrive in
citizens clothes, uniforms and other
clothing necessary to the soldier are
given to them. The clothing is warm,
substantial and we'll made.
The newcomers are put through
thorough medical examination by the
surgeons, Immediately upon their ar
rival and are all vaccinsted. When
they are ready to begin soldier life in
earnest they are issued arms and
equipments and their education fairly
begins. But the, do not have q fine
horse to ride, nor are they placed at
once in the ranks of the troop to which
they have been assigned, by any
means. There is probationary period
averaging sixty days, during which
the poor recruits wish they were safe
at home again every time the sun goes
down. Their instructions begin in a
very tame manner. A drill master
takes them out upon the broad pa
rade ground, surrounded on three
sides by the quarters of the cavalry
men, and there puts them through
their PAGES, in full view of the old
soldiers, who ''guy" them unmerci-
fully at times. After they have been
taught to stand in a comparatively
straight line, to march in fours and
in single file, they are taught ''set-
ting up drill" which is series of cal
isthen exercises, tending to strength
en- the muscles and give agility and
suppleness to the body. They are a
queer looking lot of men, when one
sees them in the forenoon, IN the
parade ground, pumping their arms
up and down like the fans of wind
mill and turning this way and that as
the drill master utters his sharp,
authoritative commands. If the re-
cruit is cumbersome or sluggish in
his movements, or is inclined to be
funny, means are always found to
make him look upon the serious side
of the businessand that without delay.
One of the first facts that dawn upon
the brain of the new men is that there
is very wide gulf between an officer
and an enlisted man. He is educated
to this fact carefully and thoroughly
and is shown how properly to salute
an officer when necessary. This is 8
lesson he never forgets, for it is put
into dailyus as long as he is soldier.
After marching, and facing, and
wheeling, and walking over the rough
parade ground until he is tired and
stiff and sore, the recruit is given his
arms. He is taught the sabre and
carbine drill dismounted and later the
manual of the pistol is added. Days
elapse before he progresses to this
point, however, and they are days of
the hardest sort of work, which seem
never to have an end. He eats raven
ously at the big mess hall during this