Evening star., 1896-10-31
SOLDIERS HOME.

HOME.
of the provost sergeant. who is also the
regimental tailor" and whose quarters
adjoin the guard house, in order that he
may the more faithfully perform his police
duties.
When the delinquent old soldier-or
whom, as has been said. there are fewer
every year-has been kept lin quod' for a
day or so. he is taken before Gen. Stanley,
the governor of the home reprimanded,
and perhaps given a few days on the
dump, which means a few days Of in
voluntary indulgence in the mild pastoral
pastime OF picking weeds along the gravel
ed walks or some other simple penitentiai
occupation.
Early Morning Hours.
The routine of the day at the home re-
sembles that Of the regular army in all
save it's &C Imperative and necessary laxness
The first thing in order after the blind
reveille. within a short time after which
all of the old soldiers are astir, is the ma
tutinal wash" There are a great many
people comfortably situated in life i'll
Washington who have nothing like such
luxurious facilities for the making OF their
morning ablutions as the inmates of the
home. In each of the buildings used as
quarter: there is large wash room, beau
tlfully fitted up for the purpose. mosaic
hoored. and with marble and porcelain
wash stands and running hot and colo
water. In each of the wash rooms there
are couple of dozen porcelain bath tubs.
1t Is curious to observe how old habits
stick to tie old soldiers in their way of
going about this before breakfast wash
The regular army soldier probably never
nved who did not tuck his personal towel
In the strap at the rear of his trousers
while on mis- way to the company wash
room, and every one of the old-timers
whom the reporter for The Star observed
t, al tne mo. ming cleansing performance the
other day unconSciously followed the GUS
tom. which. in view of the fact that there
are always several hooks above each wash
stand, Is quite unnecessary.
Each OF the old soldiers carried in q lit
tie tin tobacco box his personal piece OF
soap-of which the high-priced and highly
scented varieties were much IN evidence
and his individual comb and brush. Every
man gave himself scrubbing and a dry
Ing such as is dominated military wash"
kind of thing that brings the blood ting
ling to the cheeks.
BY the time the wash room Is cleared
mess call is sounded by the trumpeter
c'wind jammer," In the army vernaeuiar)
at the adjutants office. The inmates of
the home are not Obliged to "faH in
and march to the mess hail, as each of
them has probably done for many years
in the various posts at which he has SOL
dlered. But all of the men generally
to be found in their places when the break
fast bell rings The mess hall in gen
eral OF the home. where all of the inmates
eat, is in the Scott building. The first
thing that will occur to the visitor who
steps into this mess hall is that it is the
most baronial affair he has perhaps ever
seen. No other word than baronial will
describe the vastEess of this gigantic, pill
Jared room. One will volun tarily look to
the entral ce to the room for the trooping
in of scores and hundreds of burly knights
with the clatter of mail and side ar,ns-
the goodly trenchermen" of Sir Walter
Scott Instead, he sees the business-Ike
entrance in twos and threes and half
dozens of Dlue-coated men of middle age
who although Eeither burly nor Gathering
have for the most part seen harder and
more responsible service than Scott's blus-
terers ever did.
In the Mess Hall.
This mess hall at the home resembles the
great consolidated mess halls which used
to be maintained at recruiting stations of
the regular army, like David's Island, n.
V, and Jefferson barracks Mo- Vast as
the room is. it is thickly scattered with the
long rows of pine tables, the surfaces of
which scrubbed to the 'whitents ss Of
clean linen. There is a plate, knife ami
fork and coffee bowl for each man. and
every man knows his place at his respect
i've table and goes TO it. Even the bliud
men. OF whom there are nearly Dozen
walk to their table places without assist
ance and with unerring skill. sergeant
known as the mess hall. steward is in
charge of the room, and the meals pass off
without confusion or disorder, and with As
lively, and often as witty, a seasoning of
conversation as may be heard in the BAH
quet halls of the festive.
The soldiers are waited upon by scores of
their comrades. extra duty men, who are
paid for this extra service. and who in
spotless aprons, are kept pretty busy dur
ing the progress of the meals, for the CID
soldiers are accustomed to alertness on the
rt,.;~ ..lr;t ,ol;.
which are served in this mess hall are as
we'll cooked, varied and we'll served as those
placed before the guests OF any first-clas.;
hotel.
While the breakfast Is In progress, the
sergeant in charge of the mess hall reads
from list the details fer the day These
details are of men who have been singled
oct for various kinds of fatigue duty The
great difference between the Soldiers
Home and the regular army in the matter
of fatigue duty is that, while soldiers in
active service are obliged to perform ia
tlSue duty, some OF IL of a very onerous
character. as part of the regular routine
OF the military uay. the old soldiers at the
home are not obliged to do any sort of
wcrk whatsoever unless they wish to. and
when they do perform any extra work they
are paid for 1t.
. A great number of the old soldiers are
detailed every day for various little tinker
ing jobs around the home and the grounds
thereof, and they are paid for this extra
uuty dt inc rate OF from thirty 10 nfty
cents day. In making these details the
preference is generally given to the vet
Grams whose pensions are quite small, or
who receive no pensions at all. Besides the
members of these daily fatigue parties,
there are great many of the old soldiers
who hold permanent positions, known as
extra duty jobs the men performing
such service being generally mechanics
plumbers. painters. carpenters. etc, who
keep the various buildings of the home In
first rate repair, and are paid for thei
work at the rate of SIS per month
Then Comes Inspection.
For the old soldiers whose names have
not been read out as members of the ia
tigue parties. there is particularly nothing
to do but amuse themselves until the din
ner hour. Each man is obliged to do a
little policing" In the immediate radius
of his bunk. which. by the way. he makes
himself. The sweepings from around the
bunkS In each squad room are carried to
the center of the room-there are eight or
ten hunks in each room-and this is dis
posed OF by the room orderly" who is ap-
pointed each day from among the occu-
pants of the room by the sergeant of the
squad.
AT o'clock every morning there is an
inspection of the rooms by the governor
or deputy governor. and everything apper-
tanning to The veterans living and sleeping
space around his bunk, and the chest for
his clothing and other gear at the foot
of the bunk fnuSf he arranpad ;, pror.r