The Van Buren press., 1895-06-22
FORT SMELLING.
rast and Present Of Historic MiIitery
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Were you to mix we'll together lows
stories and tales of war, o century Of
history, songs Of children and war cry
Of Indian, blare Of bugle and chant Of
priest, rattle Of drum and orchestral
strains, crack of rifle and boom OF cam
non and dirges for the desd--were you
to blend these well together You might
then paint from the pigments picture
Of old Fort Smelling, ono OF the historic
places Of western America, long prom
inent in northwestern annals in times
Of peace and times Of war. n ,siH
The fort lies shout midway lbetween
the cities OF Minneapolis and St. Paul
IT is the scene of many charming so-
cial events, the summertime affording
opportunity for witnessing the elabo-
rate evening parades which form an TN !
teresting feature Of the close Of every
military day in such q post as this. In
the winter seasons there are delfghtfulA
receptions and balls, and the post col
ony itself has many events Of its own.
30 large is the number Of officers And
their families. 80 t,ss.5 .,s.s,s ,isasa
From the time the reveille sounds ~
ak o'clock in the morning, winter and :
summer, until taps ring out at eleven
at night, the fort Is beehive OF Life
and activity Everything is cenductedg
on the strictest military lines. Tbs
men are taught discipline atsevery !
step They are bound by such rules
and restrictions an the civilian Is who'll
ly ignorant OF, such rules and regnlh-
tions rs are essential to the efficiency
OF the army, small though II be, and
insignificant in the sight Of the armies !
of the other nations Of the world. n
is such discipline as makes band of
marauding Indians run to coveri that
brings cheer after cheer from the pave
ment throngs as regimento OF regularss
swings with rhythmic tread d0wnlthaa
street; that treasures the citizen, when
he reads of the militarism ofTNurnDe,
with the Thought Of the naenifnen1s
influence, which this disciplinesWualaz
exert did the horrid front Of was11f
pear in his owf, couhtry;t that 6uat}
: regiment Of troops to Hold u =
ten thousand mob-xuled men,
scatter them, when suiIenness de6P6As
to riot, like SO many scared sht@ps tn9ex
mows down horde of anarchists and
asserts the splendid supremacy o{ Nd
tional law. II * -
An incident, which. tof obyiQgs sres:
sons, did not fnd its way iAto prlpt ~
the daily newspapers 1t the taNe At
| itspoccurrence,l but which l. LlpetshepQa
brisflys recount without tnnysvin1 0ti1uAa
Of condolences, illustrates shoMttnlgtyH
tant factor this fort has beoenas slhz
the civic as well Is the military life Of
the northwest. fvHs HFsat's8'f ~ - :.
In the dark days Of nitdsummefsss
lsst, when, the whole country was v fst;
intense anxiety awaiting the outcome
of the great railroad strikes Eol
Mason, the commandment Of the tort.
received, q teiegram6whils he MeA ut
church one sunday morning, order1n9.t
the Third under arms, for call 10 Chi.s
cago at moments notice. In less
than an hour from the time the tele-
gram was received the regiment wna
equipped for the Aeld; all the Aecoutre-
ments, all the munitions, all tho inis
pedimenta OF war We're ready, ThiAI
was a precautionary move; it wpp jns
| possible to tell, 50 cloudy the skfess ~
Chicsgo,a how so0n'g there might ~
need Of moto TROOPS. bna aszf ss't ssAla
But 1t was learned about thia tinei
that there were threats--by NO means
open, but more or less ssri6dh 7-thaS ~
soon as the Third regifheht 1eft Fort
Smelling mob would seiTe The dep8tA
Of thn cities OF st, PHuil and Mitneap6.
lis, take complete controf cf 'ttek I
1 prevent the arrival or depaftuFe ,ot
trains, and thus cut. of the posaibl llity
OF the troops being returned from CHI
cago. With mobiip control Of tlaaal
cities it would be difficult I'd say wha$'
the outcome might be; IT. might dc
much to complicate the case from > na-
tional as we'll as local stsndpoint r.
formation came to the war department
that such move was In cohtempla-
tion, the Third stayed at Fort Smelling,
and the mob was checkmated. - Har-
per's Weekly.