The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-10-15
{" OLD BLOOK."


The colonel was very, long and gaunt
Ditto his mustacle, which was as black as
his wig, and II was whispered that the lat
ter, as well as many another which his
customers wore, had been manufactured
with his own fair hands long before grim
visaged war had called him TO the
"wrinkled front" His pamcS Well, IL
began with B. What the rest OF IL was
Is not to be told here, but his signature i'm
its general illcgibility suggested Bluchcr,
and this stuck to him, until. through mere
erosion, IL became Old Block
It would be a delicate matter, or the re-
verse, to describe by what species OF polit-
zeal bird lime tho silver eagles Of ascoloncl
had been fastened 70 his shoulders As the
Turk has it-cherchez In femmel At first
the officers, who were n swell lot of fel
lows, used to jest cynically at the prospect
Of being led into the fray by one whom
they had dubbed as "The knight of the
Shining Shears" And the men, who
were OF that polyglot order only to be me:
with in a regiment that had been evolved
from the slums OF New York, when sreak
ing of him dropped easily into ycrnacu
lar that can best be- left to the imagna-
ton.
But this did not last long. The first as
sault on Port Hudson found the One Hun
dred and Something New York endcayor
ing To flatton its numerous noses against
the glacis OF that fortress in more or less
unsuccessful cndeavors TO avoid the assort-
mcnt of battle and murder and sudden
death that was being served up by the gen
tlomen on the other side OF the parapct.
But the colonel was standing upi One OF
the two smiles ever seen to fit across his
rugged features impaired a sort Of flicker
to his dyed mustache, as his high pitched
voico drawled, "Youse fellers seems TO be
a little skcered, b'gosh!"
The colonel, always terse was never
euphemistic. Yet 10 may be doubted II
William tho Norman's per la rcsplcndar
Del" meant more than the two corrupted
words In which this more recent paladin
was wont TO emphasize the little he had to
say
At this moment one OF tho many bud
ding Napoleons who then infested tho
service displayed the flag Of truce that put
temporary stop 60 our advance and gave
tho chivalry an opportunity 10 stick it's
naughty head above the breastworEs and
respond TO the "Hey Johnnics!" of our
affablc hoodluNs And during this inter
mission OF 20 minutes for refreshments the
colonel, who had slowly realized that "the
shootin had quit, as leisurely turned his
back upon us all and went to the rear,
where the cooks were making soup for the
survivors
Just as tho ball rcopened the colonel's
call form rcaprcared on the line of battle.
an his right hand he bore a tin cup con-
tanning n quart OF stcaming bean SOUP
his left sustained IA bit Of hard tack. In
the midst OF the leadcn hail, the shower OF
fractured iron, the smoke, the yclls, the
cheers, the groans, he calmly stood. now
slipping the scaldlng SOUP now nibbling
the brittle bread and occasionally (for tho
soup burned his lips little) murmuring
"B goshv'
At the close of the fiery debate, some
seven weeks aftcrward. we had forgotten
that he had ever been n barber, and the
men, who still spoke of Old Block in vary
ing forms OF profanity, now added slum
favored notes Of admiration. We now had
few days of rest, during which the colo
mel redyed bis inustache, but his profes-
sional hand had lost its cunning, for somo
of the pigment got upon his nose and be-
meath his eyes, so that he looked as if he
had just 'madc up for a part In drama
that was less real than the one in which
many of us were then playing what might
bc our last engagement
Next came the Red river fasco of 1864,
and through its disasters the colonel ad-
vanced To tlv command OF his brigade
This was. at Canc river crossing, whero
the cxultant enemy had intcrposcd TO pro
vent our retreat Tho position was a com.
manding one, and just rs our attack upon
il had begun, the brigade commando
dropped with shattered leg The colonel
galloped 20 the front and center. where he
rcincd back his big ungainly chestnut till
that usually scdatc beast assumed the atti-
tudo ascribcA by Sergeant BuzfuZ 70 the
late MIR. Pickwick--that Of "a being erect
upon two legs, The old man yelled
Come onl'' and, rs tho rolGxcd rcins
suffered his stood to become quadrupcd
s.ld move forward ne trot, tho brigade
followed with cheer. Oar color bearer
the fifth in as many wccks--holding Old
Glory with his right hand, his left being
occupied with the regimcntal goat, who
always stood ,by the colors, kept close Mt
the colonel's heels
a shell burst in front. The color bearer
pitchcd forward with so wild shrek that