Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1895-01-10

passing OF the brave men who fought
The battles Of the Union, and who
have survived the dangers Of the march
and field, Is to be found in the late res
port Of the Commissioner Of Pensions.
from which it appears that at the end
Of the fiscal year the total number OF
pensioners was 96O, ga. Atthe close
OF the previous fiscal year there were
$685. 12 names upon the lists. During
1S93-94 there were added to the roll
30, 0S5 e pensioners; 2,30S previous-
~ dropped pensioners were restored to
it, and 37.05l were removed from it by
death or other cnuses. The new
claimants decreased from 1853, 100 in
1884 to 40,116 in 1893-94.
These figures unerringly show that
the ranks OF the veterans have begun
to grow thinner, that their numbers
are decreasing. They mark the be-
ginning of the rapid passing Of the
brave survivors Of the great armies OF
the north that turned back the rave
of secession. that maintained the in
tegrity of the Union, that made the
human chat:cl not only q man, but q
sovereign citizen.
Assuming that no new classes will
be added to the pesion list, it is evil
dent that, year by year, it will speed
lily decrease. The men who entered
the army in 1861 and who still sur
vive, fixing their average age at %,
are o nearly 60 years old, and
among men of that age, death is al
ways busy. Among those who suif-
cred tho exposure OF the camp, the
march and battle, and especially
among those who were wounded, the
burden of 60 years is one that is hard,
often impossible to carry. Even those
who enlisted in 1864 are similarly we'll
advanced IN years. As a rule they
were the elders of those who entered
the army during the first years of the
war, as the ranks of the young re-
cruits We're largely drawn upon in The
beginning of the contest. and the la.e
leyies were made in notable degree
from among older men.
From 1879 until the end of the last
fiscal year there had been an increase
in the number of pensioners, but from
the latter date q certain and material
decrease has occurred. This decrease
must inevitably continue unless Con-
gress broadens the present pension
laws, and SO adds new classes to the
lists which time and death are mex.
orably shortening. Exchange.
"Wo X a. 4. sutlcr.
A sutler, the purveyer to a New
York regiment, kept in his stock a
barrel of really very fine whisky. The
price of it was a little high for pa
triots wearing corkscrew hats and get
ting ION the books $l3 a month, but
they wanted some of that whisky. A
smooth-faced, boyish young fellow
proposed q plan. A crowd of his COM
panions in wickedness got into the
sbanty and kept the sutler busy. Even
that usually respectable parsonage,
The orderly sergeant, sat on the barrel
and Joked and laughed in his loudest
key. Into the cellar under the shan
ty went a few Of the boys" with camp
kettles. The instigator of the plot
had an anger, and the orderly SER
geant's voice above told him where to
locate the cask. 1t was the work OF a
few moments to bore through the
floor and into the key, and draw all
the precious fluid into the kettles. As
the thieves sneaked back INTO the
quarters they could hear the o'her
folks quarreling with the sutler about
some mistake in giving change to one
of them the day before. And it was
severy hours later, when a darby
brought a flask from the colonel to be
filed, that the this time victim discov-
cred the outrage. 1t was too late
then, but doubtless he got back on
'em" before he was through with that
regiment. Incidentally, / may say
that the chief robber on this occasion
is now the much loved pastor OF a
church ont in Iowa.-Blue and GRAY.