The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1897-07-29
BOMB" NO MORE.
PASSING OF THE DRux.
It Will Soon Disappear in Connec.
tion with Army Life.

tion with Army Life.
Neao York Dispatch.
i Lieutenant Con Marrast Perkins q
the United States Marine Corps write
an article entitled "The Last of tb,
Drums" for st. Nicholas. Lieutenap
Perkins says:
thluk few know that of all th,
time honored equipments of war whicl
these days of military progress hav,
left us, the drum is the Oldest; but
like the sword and the bayonet, til.
drum is fast disappearing. Its com
panion, the fife, hallowed by traditions
OF valor even in our own history, from
Lexington to Gettysburg, is already
gone, and another decade will still for.
ever the inspiring martial music of the
drum.
What boy has not felt his pulses
thrill and his heart swell with patriotic
pride and martial ardor while gazing
upon the well known picture of the
Revolution, the minute Men of '76"
forsaklng the ploughsbare and flying
to>take down the old fllntlock at tne
tocsln of war-the throbbing of the
drum and shrill screaming OF the fife.
sounded by two SCARED veterans, bare
headed, white-haired. and in their
shirt-sleeves, marching through fielcs
and along the roads, calling the patriots
to arms.
Every New England schoolboy has
read the story of Abigail and Elizabeth,
the sisters of Newburyport, who during
the Revolution repelled alone an attack
OF the British by beating furlously an
old drum and blowing fife. The
British troops, who were about to land,
hurried back to their ships, thinking a
whole army lay in ambush to repuIse
them
Thus did fife and drum drive off
the enemy and save town from pill
lage and ruin.
The military drum is supposed to
have been introduced in Europe by the
Moors and Saracens, during the middle
ages, and was quickly adnptad hy arm.
les. The drum of to-day differs little,
and in appearance only, from the earl.
lest form.
It consists, as every boy knows, cf
two pieces of parchment, or batter
heads, stretched over the ends of a hol-
low cylinder and struck with sticks.
For ages this instrument has been
among savage tribes and barbarlc ma
tions, who use it's weird music to ac-
company their religious rites, as we'll
as for war purposes.
The torn-tom of the Sioux Indian is
good example of primitive drum.
In civilized warfare the drum has
ever been connected with deeds of mar
tlal valor, and its voice is dear to the
heart OF the soldier who has followed
its pulsing into the deadly fire of battle,
or even in reviews and military pa
rades, when rank upon rank sweep up
a street keeping perfect alignment and
step to the drums inspiring beat.
It has found a place in history
through the daring bravery of more
than one beardless boy who has sound
ed at the critical moment the pas de
charge or "rally" just in time to turn
the tide of battle.
Johnny Glen, the drummer hoy of
Shlloh," who beat the rally without
orders when his regiment had broken,
panic stricken, and thus helped to save
the day, was made an officer for his
heroism, and is now major in the
United States army.
In fable, song and story the drum
has ever kept pace with the most val
liant deeds OF men. Rudyard Ki2llng's
pathetic little story OF "The Drums of
the Fore and Aft" two courageous
drummer-boys, who, at the cost of their
own lives, led the charge and saved the
honor OF their regiment when routed
by the Afghans, tells of deed such as
is to be found in history as well as fic-
ton. More than once has the drum
claimed place in the front rank of
stcrIning battalions, or led desperate
charges in the van of victorious army.
What wonder, then, that we look
sorrowfully into the future, when bat
tling will no longer be inspired by the
"war-drum's throb ;" for we know that
the advance of military science, with
all its death-dealing machine-guns,
magazine rifles, and its smokeless pow
der, will surely sound the knell of the
drum.
Something to Know.