The Red Cloud chief., 1897-06-11

that brilliant panorama o< military dis
play that. unrolls with marvellous. and
b~ewildering rapidity before tho eyes
J of the visitor at The Point"
Now. the Military Academy is nat, the
army, and. army life. al the average
military post is widely different from
l1e: at West Point. So far as the
cadets are concerned their life. is that
Of a student-one' Of preparation. As
for the officers on duty there. they
have, as a rule, heartily welcomed. the
order that transferred them from an
Isolated frontier post to West Point.
the most attractive station in the army,
and though the duties peculiar to that
post are not by any means always
agreeable the officers manage 40 make
their tpur Of duty there one long holi-
day:
But for the army posts, nearly every
n of them is quite a distance from
any center Of civilization. and is. of
course; very much isolated. This con-
dition of affairs was worse before the
War of the Rebellion than II is today.
when the railroads practically shorten
the distance between most Of our r
risons and the nearest, yet still dis
ant towns. But even as it is now. the
people of the garrison are. to a great
extent. cut off from society at large. II
by nothing else than the difficulty ex-
%perienced by civilian visitors in the
effort to reach the post.
But army life, like other lives. ia iust
what n makes It.. You can extract
from 1t enough commonplace discom-
fort n annoyance to crafty. satisfy
and in every way accommodate the
most exacting grumbler, who IN always
lying low In wait for a grievance, and
who, like Mrs. Gummidge. in David
Copperfeld," is never happy unless she
Is miserable. On the other hand, II.
as the Holy Scriptures say: "You have
the kingdom Of heaven within you" In
the guise of a good digestion, a hope
full and always cheerful heart, you can
find n abundance Of real fun in a gar
rison life.
Thrown together in q comparatively
isolated situation. the garrison people.
unless very near a large city, come to
depend almost entirely upon them
selves for social enjoyment. Sociables.
whist parties. sewing circles for the
benefit OF neighboring poor, and gath
erangs together for progressive euchre,
are organized, and under the influence
OF a lew OF the most energetic among
them, generally prove to be successful.
With all this friendly and frequent in
%tercourse the usual courtesies OF psiite
society are far more strictly observed,
In my opinion, and as a matter OF duty,
than they are in civil life. AS stric,
an observance of formal calls, and re-
turn calls is kept up as IL the, parties
were but slightly acquainted and sep-
arated by half the breadth ORA city.
This intimate social intercourse,
tempered by the formality of good
breeding, results in a comradeship and
mutual respect from which spring the
friendships OF a lifetime. The indi-
viduals OF this little community have
common interests. They share alike
In the discomforts Of the not infre.
quent changes of station. with the con.
sequent and unavoidable transfer n,
families and household goods.
With all this there is, of course. a
readiness on the. part of each to helr
the other to whom has come a time
of trouble or anxiety, or who NAV be
inconvenienced by some unforeseen
complication Of unavoidable events
This mutual. %helpfulness often has 3
funny side to It.. l remember at on
post where l was stationed there wa.
an officer who prided himself on beins
the happy possessor of the best arm,
overcoat and cape in the garrison
This was during one of those time,
when congress had failed to appropri
ate money for the pay of the army, an,
the oflcers were moi buying as man!
suits Of clothes as usual.
This particular overcoat and cap
were borrowed so often that the owne
was never quite sure whether eithe
article could be found In his quarter
when he desired 1t for his own use
The cape was in particular demand b,
the youngsters who were bent girlward
ohu WfscoS pay Wao uot thCH ulOTc lIldi
half as much as 1t is now.
Another officer got into the habit O
loaning his steamer trunk, which. b.
the way, really belonged to his wife
1t was a very handy thing for one /
take along who was going on court
martial duty to another station, beinI
small and light and yet large enougl
to hold a full dress suit and a chang
OF clothes. One day his wife was her
self called upon to take a short jour
ney and desired to Use that particula
trunk. After considerable searching 1
was found In the quarters of anothe
officer, a grizzled old veteran, who hal
been the last to use It In Its roun,
through the garrison, but had ~forgotte,
} to return 1t. But 1t was so plastere
over with a picturesque pattern O
baggage labels pertaining to places @
which the lady had, perhaps, oal