Evening star., 1896-11-07
A View of the Quarters.

which to "hit his bunk''-the passive act of
reclining known In the army vernacular as
bunk fatigue"
But all soldiers commissioned and enlist
ed. possess strong preferences as to posts.
The old-timers in the service may have
soldiered in all of the prominent garrsons
and In many of the isolated ones, from
Maine to California and from Michigan 10
the gulf. end they are thoroughly familiar
with the various advantages and draw
backs Of each. Every soldier has his favor
ite post, and in conversations with mess-
mates and "bunkies' exalts 1t to the skies
take him back there. Many Of the soldiers,
especially those in the cavalry and infantry
arms, prefer frontier service.
They have got the sweet breath Of the
prairies in their nostri1s, their gaze has be-
come used to the focus of. a sweeping hori-
zon, and they claim to be unable to sleep
comfortably O nights without the bowling
of coyotes outside their quarters The ar
tillerymen prefer to put in their soldering
at posts either within or adjoining the large
cities-a sufficiently natural preference, con.
s;dering that the majority Of artillerymen,
especially those belonging to the heavy bat
teries, have never had any experience In
frontier service, for the Headquarters of the
five United States artillery regiments are
all on sea and river coasts, none of them
far distant from a major CITY, The light
batteries, Of which there are two in each
regiment, are for the most part distributed
among large interior posts.
Popular With Artillerymen.
Ask almost any old artilleryman, officer
o. man, what post entirely given over to
his arm he prefers, and in nine cases out of
ten he will reply, with soldierly brevity,
washington barracks" Ask him Why
and he VIII tell you that the soldering at
the old arsenal is and always has been
tip-tOp soldering, that the posts situation
on the beautiful Potomac peninsula offers
how mt ffnc 1I,,l
invite their souls, while it gives them con-
tiguity to the handsomest city on the
continent--a universal opinion among ar
tilerists, and. because they are critical,
Travelled men, valuable and we'll worth
having-and finally. because there being
no great guns mounted at the Washington
barracks, they are sent every summer for
great gun drill to Fort Monroe an annual
picnic affording tremendous relief from the
monotony of continuous year-in and year.
out soldering in one post.
Washington barracks is now the regi-
mental headquarters Of the 4th Artillery
are stationed there, with the regimental
band. Light Battery E Of the 1st Artillery
arrived at the barracks last week from
Fort Sheridan. near Chicago, relieving
Light Battery Z Of the Sd, which was sent
across the continent to the Preside of
San Francisco. There is. besides, medical
corps Of instruction for enlisted men, max
ing the total force at the arsenal, officers
anu Hieil, uedTly fOU
Life Mt the Barracks.
There is good deal of cakes and ale in
the life of the enlisted artilleryman at the
Washington barracks. His life is easy,
comfortable and complaisant enough, COM
pared with the hustling hardships in the
existence. as it was up to recent years, Of
the "doughboy" infantryman and the
rough-riding cavalryman on the border,
who. when they were not rounding up
renegade Apaches or thieving Sioux, Of
ten had small intervals of garrison re-
pose before they were bundled out on foot
blistering practice marches in the case Of
the infantryman, and bone-jeopardizlng
monkey drills in the case of the wearer
Of the yellow cape Innings
A Star reporter recently spent an entire
military day at the barracks, under the
protecting guardianship of the soldierly
looking adjutant of the 18th Artillery, Lieut.
F. s. Strong. The reporter was on a quest
for information, gained at first hand
through actual observation, as to how SOL
diers soldiered. He saw and heard the
whole grind from first call in the morning
to lights out" at night. It was reyela-
ton In human alertness. discipline, order
and organization.
First call for reveille is sounded during
autumn and winter months just when the
eastern sky begins to fame with orange.