The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-02-16
Copyright. 1890, by Edgar W. Nyc.l

n SNAP SHOT AT A YOUNG SOLDIER.
But civil war is not pleasant thing
to contemplate, even in the past tense.
Even with the mist Of 80 years over the
long line of messy graves intervening,
with the softening light Of ebbing sea-
sons upon the grim picture, it has little
in it that we care to look upon unless it
be with the stern joy Of the victor How
would we regard this picture were we
to look back over the SCARED and broken
history. across the bitter years of blank
despair and death, down to the quiet
valley where lie our dead, dearer to us
because they died in vain?
But started out to say something
else. L was going to recall some of the
old pictures-the tintypes, as it were
of war.
Do you recall the early picture of the
volunteer soldier made by strolling
artist with chemicals in his hands clear
to his shoulder blades? Do you remem-
Der this gentleman who came and camp
ed with you and pointed n camera at
you just after you had received your
new uniform? He was man who was
thoroughly imbued with his art and
some other things that they use in de-
veloping pictures. He placed his victim
on retired chair, put cold, iron prong
in the back of his neck and kept him
there until his eyes started from their
sockets. I have seen several such tin
types lately taken by this same artist
In fancy l can see him in his studio
on hot day. He has begun work on
young soldier whose military coat
sleeves are too long The young artist
puts the man in q comfortable attitude,
where he looks as though death would
be welcome. He then inserts the cold,
cast iron firedog down the back of his
neck After that he feels of the young
soldiers chin with burnt lumber hand
and Egyptian mummy's fingers with
saffron nails. Then he sticks his head
into the large beehive Oh legs, puts a
shroud over himself and gets the war
rior into focus, SO that his hands will
take up the entire foreground of the pic
turc, with n middle distance of hand me-
down blue clothing and background of
tented field and cold relentless head rest
few days more, and young looking
| gentleman, wearing Il look of inexperi-
ence and long wasted coat with gilt
buttons on it-gilded after the picture
was made-with one largo hand insert
eel IN the fiabby breast of this Same coat
| and the other resting on the hilt Of al
overgrown sword, enters the homo cir
clio through tho medium of the United
States mails. 1t is wildly grotosque, but
deeply pathetic. The careless person
sees only the picture of green young
man who has only just begun to sniff
the holiday atmosphere of war. He sees
a tall youth with red and menger neck,
wealth of taffy colored hair and
hand that in the amateur artists nor
trait looks as though it could itself
crush an ordinary rebellion if it could
have fall enough
Those were tho days when the volun-
teer armies started out to battle, each
soldier carrying knapsack, valise
and large zinc trunk with plug hat
IN 1T. Those were the days when the
war was n picnic and every man wore
his good clothes on weekdays What q
sad moment it was when tho soldier who
had lived for 20 years under the protect
ing roof of New England home, with
a clean, white shirt TO put on every
Sunday, learned mt last that he must
abandon his Gothic trunk and 90 forth
to march hundreds of miles without it!
War is indeed stern experience. 1t
involves haste. danger and surprise. 1t
means annoyance, discomfort and incon-
venlence. Imagine soldier OH the eve
of long, hot march behind tree
changing mis- clothes, with the contents
of his trunk scattered all around OH the
grass and with his head no doubt hone
lessly driven into a freshly Numbered
and carefully welded shirt. He is fling
ing his arms wildly about trying TO
draw himself up through the garment
SO as to hang his grinning chin over the
battlement. He smells the hot starch.
His eyes hang red and CLASSY from their
sockets. He sports "a pair of low sum-
mer pants aud makes another wild strug-
gle to emerge through the top of the
shirt when the picket guard rushes into
the apartments with wild, elocution
airy cry Of: "To arms! They come The
Greek The Grcck!" Such is war
J grim, dusty, inconvenient war;