The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-09
WOMEN IN ARMY LIFE.
The Pleasures and Trials of Officers
Wives in Garrison.

New 1Ork ITlDuue.
Mrs. Elizabeth b. Custer, whose books
dealing with military life at the frontier
posts nave fascinated many thousands of
persons wholly unfamiliar with that life,
which makes what she says rank even
above her literary style in interest. In
speaking to the writer last week about the
peculiar conditions which govern the social
life of women in the army, she said, laugh
ingly:
1T is really hard to find any points of
likeness between social intercourse at a
military post and that of civil life. You
may judge how great the difference is when
l say that upon my first appearance socially
in the States after my years of soldering,
l scarcely knew how to act or how to ac-
custom myself to the greater formality all
around me. For that is the keynote of the
matter. Army life is informal to the last
degree. Why, the custom of using cards
when calling is only Of very recent date
rison we should never have dreamed of
such a thing. Our method of announcing
ourselves was to walk in at the door, as if
the house were our own, and call until the
friend whom we wished to see responded.
On the whole, this is still the most common
practice, too.
1T is only at a few of the larger posts,
near the cities, where there is anything
like the formality of civil life. The people
Nothing that deeply concerns any member
is a matter of indifference to the others,
and the spirit of good-fellowship is univer-
sal. That great test of intimacy among
Women-the borrowing practice-iS met with
everywhere. ANY article of especial service
or desirability which belongs to one house
hold is practically at the service of the
whole post. My sewing machine and my
piano went on many a visit to other homes,
and in return l knew / could have any
thing my n~eighbors possessed, from their
best cioaks to their s~aucepans, If | wanted
them.
In times of sickness the friendly helpful
ness of the women for each other is shown
strongly. In the frontier posts trained
nurses, or any nurses at all, for that mat
or u Rn ifYnTAOGcTh1n 20 frnf Mo rx-nn,,nfHTIsk
falls upon the various officers wives, and
they answer to it nobly, though without a
shadow of self-consciousness, feeling they
are doing nothing more than their duty
as women and friends. Each has some
suggestion as to the cooking of dainty food
for the invalid, or the relieving OF her suf-
fering in other ways, and there is always
some one to look after the duties of the
house until its mistress is able to be around
Der of women to detail themselves, in regu-
lar military fashion, to duty in the house
of k at certain hours, relieving one
another through the day and night with
absolute precision, so that the sick person
should never be left without an attenoant.
with all this close intimacy there is sur
prisingly little friction or i'll feeling. There
are, OF course, at every post a few people
who are disagreeable or hard to set along
general than they do in their own house
holds. They belong, we feel, to our army
family, and their shortcomings must be
overlooked just as we should overlook the
faults of a husband or brother or sister.
Official jealousies of various kinds there
may be, but every one in the army or con-
nected with it is careful to keep these en-
tirely apart from the social life of the post.
Perhaps one lieutenant'S wife feels ag-
grieved because another lieutenant has been
promoted to a captaincy instead of her own
husband. Or it may be that a captains
wife is dissatisfied with the special service
to which her husband has been detailed.
But such cases are not allowed to interfere
with the garrison intimacy of the families.
When a group of women are talking to-
-4+ Al a-1 W - Foo arrA+- hA-nDIf as
TO refer to the\ forbidden topics, some one
will say goo~d-naturedly:
oh no official matters! Let us leave
those out, and there is invariably a prompt
recognition of the suggestion.
Many things depend altogether upon the
personal example of the post commander
and his wife. Civilians have no idea what
ever of the extent to which this is true.
For instance, If everything in the way of
officers house there will be little of it
anywhere in the garrison. General Custer
had Such a dislike for the idle chatter which
is filled with disagreeable personalities that
he would rise and leave the room in silence
if any gossip was begun in his presence.
Very little of the story survived after that.
In the matter of calling upon newcomers,
too, every one waits to see what the chief
will do. There is a close watch kept from
the several windows and piazzas, and when
the commanding officer and his wife have
been seen to enter at the strangers door
every one at the post prepares to toddle aft
er them within tWenty-four hours"
Then there are cases occasionally where
there is a question about calling upon new
arrivals, are there?" asked the writer.
"Once in a while, yes, replied Mrs. Gus
ter; but the instances are so few that
they are almost unknown. You know, when
there is such a question it is solely on ac-
count of reputation and honor. No distinc-
ions between rich and poor are ever OBJ
served: the poor lieutenant who has not a
cent besides his pay. and whose dress uni
form is shiny at the seams is just as well
come a guest at the generals table as the
richest officer at the post. But if there
has been anything discreditable to the good
name of an officer or his wife, the circum-
stances must be investigated before other
families of the post will call"