The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-05-26

other countries. have been bestowed, as
special marks OF favor. on men Of mill
tary rank or distinction. who aave been
retired with decorations and with titles
OF honor. John Is content with a small
pension. and with the recollection that
he has met men Of all ranks. and from
al nations. and has treated them all
on terms OF absolute and impartial
equality. while the highest among them
would not nave dreamed OF addressing
John other than as an equal. John Fa-
gan for ten years had all sorts and con-
ditions Of pilgrims to deal with. He
met queen and prince. soldier. sailor.
tinker, tailor. poor man. rich man.
pillow boy and an the rest He Is
CHEEKY lrishman. and he lives with a
CHEEKY little wife In CHEEKY little
home.
Some OF the Worlds Fair visitors to
Riverside Park wondered why they
found only a plain. gray-coated police
man At the tomb. instead OF a gaudy
commander and a SNOWY guard from
the Regular Army. Or
The authorities did try the Regular
Army. o." at the tomb for awhile. but
when Il was found that old John and his
comrades did as well. the regulars"
we're Withdrawn.
Mr.. Pagan sometimes talks about his
experience at the Grant tomb. aud this
Ia the record o; one conversation:
yes. sir. yes. sir. was right by the
tomb az ali times Of the night and At
all times Of the day and at all seasons.
You Gee. there were three shifts OF
duty. and had my turn at each and
all Of them. They had a company OF
soldiers there from Fort Hamilton for
the nrst ten or eleven months. but even
while they we're there. there we're al
ways some Of us park policemen there
with them was there with the SOL
diers from the beginning. The funeral
was the Sth OF August 1885. and on
June 90. 1856. the soldiers were with
drawn, and Il was on that day that /
was regularly assigned 10 duty at the
tomb. viii never forget the night Of
the funeral. There had been lots OF
excitement All day. with the bands end
the marches. but by 7 or s o'clock the
crowd thinnec away. Then the xork
OF saaling-in the steel casket into the
inner place-far beyond the reach Of
robbers-hcgan. The workmen were
hammoring away In there until
o'clock IN the morning. You could looi
IN and see their little forges blazing
and hear the bellows pufing. There
were four or i've workmen there and
they were sometimes smoking theli
pipes as they worked. smoking and
blowing up fires. and hammering and
chatting. Well. we'll. I suppose Il was
all right. but II made the watchers out.
side feel queer. don't mean only on
account Of the smoking and talking. but
on account Of all the things that you
writing men would write about-sh,
loneliness outside. and the river. ant
the recollectlons Of the day, and know
ing who the corpse had been. and The
gllmmcrlng Of the fires and the clans
OF the hammers. and the hour Of night
DO not believe that ever felt as lone
come as | did az midnight. aud that
mind you. with the workmen inside
they made me feel more lonesome thar
ever. They appeared TO be so uncanny
MY" continued John, whit crowd
there were during that hrst ycarl 70
The first month and more We park polio
had to have extra men TO help keep tn
crowds In line, particularly on Sundays
whom the people would come by the
was going TO say by the million. We'll
Il looked like that. anyway. Nobody
either on the other side OF the water o
On this. ever saw anything like Il be
fore. and possibly nobody ever vii
again. The crowds used to keep pour