Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1895-06-27

comrades, or at least those who
once were comrades during those
four long years of alternating hops,
fear, JOY and sorrow before the cir.
cumstances of this changing life
dissolved the partnership, and left
their less fortunate comrades out in
the cold.
The old Confederate soldier, IS
he sees them today, particularly il
from the Home and in uniform, is
mostly "bum," and if he calls at
the place of business of his one time
camrade and seeks TO air his gram
mar, or ask favor, is seen under a
cloud-if he asks for a quarter to
buy square meal, his better-off
friend (?) thinking he knows it will
go for ''pain-killer," and he dent
get it, feeling it is better and more
humane to risk the old fellow go
ing hungry than risk giving the
wherewithal to get soaked; for he
knows he has good Home, with
kind and indulgent Manager, for
he has been there and seen for him
self; where those old fellows in the
decline of life have ample food,
suited to their condition, and espe-
cially selected for their played out
digestive powers, with nothing to
do but lazily enjoy the few days re-
naming to them, and after which
flowers will adorn their graves.
If anyone does not know this
from his own personal inspection,
under the guidance of that brave
and gallant captain specially de-
tailed for this service, who tells me
"that Col. Wheeler has his record
and told him it was the very best
one he had yet seen, and that he
was proud of It," | expect the
Col. keeps it safely in his refrigera-
tor and on ice, for fear it might
spoil or evaporate, if exposed to the
air. They can inquire Of the Man
ager or the Board. They will, like
ly, tell them so, and they are re-
spectacle gentlemen, whose veraci-
ty is undoubted, and / know it is
so, for | heard one of its prominent
members tell prominent politi-
clan that his old friend chad moth
ing to do but read the books, with
which the library shelves sra am
ply provided, smoke his 6ii pipe
and play the fiddle" And the po-
litical gentleman's friend did not
contradict it, so that must be so.
But, even il it be true, as he af-
firms, that he has to do little
work in the fields, how can they
expect to have things to eat with
out they are grown, and how can
they grow without they are culti-
vated And such labor as they
are called on to do, only five or six
hours a day, in the bracing air,
where they can enjoy a sun bath
and acquire an appetite for the
toothsome breakfast hash, or the
delicious and aromaticaily favored
veal stew for their dinner, that is
supplied by the attentive, liberal
minded CommissarySergeant, meek
ly following in the footsteps of that
gallant Southern soldier Col. North
rop.
There are only ten or q dozen,
anyway, on the Alliance and Flow
er and Lawn details, AID ten in the
dining-room. One of the i. A.
men from Penna. would rather work
in the sun than in the shade. lie
knows what ID good for him. Then
there is another who has nothing in
his upper story that the sun is like
ly to injure. Those on the d. r.
detail have, | suppose, some consti-
tutional trouble; the representative
from Va, the one from S. c., the
one from England several from Ma
ryland are in the last stages Of
physical dissolution, and require a
quart of milk per day to keep them
up. So the inhuman wretches on
the Alliance should not grumble
about that bringing their allowance
down TO a couple of glasses per week.
About the only strong and vigorous
man on the ID. Il. detail is Major
Atkinson. Formerly he was on the
Alliance, where he handled the hoe
with such activity, broke up the
un-baked clods with such savage