The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1897-06-16

agreeable the officers manage 10 make
heir tour OF duty there one long holi-
lay.
Bat for the army posts. nearly ever
)ne OF them Il quite a distance from
any center Of civilization. and Is. OF
course. very much isolated. This con-
Hilton Of Affairs was worse before the
War Of the Rebellion than Il Il today.
ghen the railroads practically shorten
he distance between most Of our gar
fisons and the nearest. yet Stlll dis
ant towns But even as Il Il SOW, the
people Of the garrison are. to a great
sxtent, cut on from society At large. II
BY nothing else than the dlficulty ex-
perienced by civilian visitors IN the
effort TO reach the post
But army life. like other lives a iust
what one makes Il. You can extract
from Il enough commonplace dlscom-
fort and annoyance 10 crafty, satisfy
and Ia every way accommodate the
most exacting grumbler. who Il always
lying low In walt for grievance. and
Who like Mrs. Gummldge. In David
copperheld Is never happy unless she
Is miserable. On the other hand. II
is the Holy Scriptures say. "You have
the kingdom Of heaven within you" IN
the guise Of a good digestion. a hope
lul and always cheerful heart. you can
ind an abundance Of real fun In a gar
fison life.
Thrown together IN a comparatively
Isolated situation. the garrison pcople
inless very near a large city. come 10
iepend almost entirely upon them
selves for social enjoyment. soclables
whist parties, sewing circles for the
benefit OF nelghboring poor. and gath.
rings together for progressive euchre
are organized, and under the influence
II few Of the most energetic among
hem. generally prove % De successful
With all this friendly and frequent In
,eroourse the usual courtesics OF polite
society are FAR more strictly observed
IN my opinion. and as a matter OF dutv
han they are In civil lie. As strict
an Observance Of formal calls and re-
turn calls Is kept up as Il the parties
were but slightly acquainted and sep
grated By half the breadth Of city.
This intimate social intercourse
tempered by the formallty Of good
breeding, results IN a comradeship ana
mutual respect from which spring the
friendships OF a lifetime. The ipdi.
viduals OF this little community have
common interests. They sharr Alike
In the discomforts OF the not lnfre.
quent changes Of station. with the con-
sequent and unavoidable transfer Of
families and household goods
With all this there Is. OF course a
readiness on the part OF each 10 helm
the other 10 whom has come a time
OF trouble or anxiety, or who NAV be-
Inconvenience by some unfores.s,
complication Of unavoidable events
This mutual helpfulness often has a
funny side 20 H. I remember Al one
post where was stationed there was
an officer who pFided hlr self on being
the happy possessor OF the best armv
overcoat and cape In the garrison
This was during one OF those tlmcs
when congress had failed 10 approprl.
ate money for the pay OF the army. and
the officers were not buying as MANY
suits Of clothes a. usual.
This particular overcoat and cane
were borrowed SO often that the owner
was never quite sure whether either
article could be found IN his ouar,ers
when he desired Il for his own use
The cape was In particular demand by
the youngsters who were bent elrlwar,i
and whose pay was not then more than
half as much as Il Is now.
Another officer got into the habit O,
loaning his steamer trunk. which. hy
the way, really belonged to his wife
Il was a very handy thing Tor one ID
take along who was going on cart.
martial duty 10 another station. h5lnr
small and light and yet large enough
60 hold a fun dress suit and a chang,
Of clothes. One day his wife was her.
self called upon 90 take q short Jour.
noy and desired 20 use that particular
trunk After considerable searching h
was found In the quarters az another
oihccr a grizllcd old veteran. who had
been ths last to use % On ls round
through the garrison. but had iorrottou
TO return %. But q was so plastorcl
over with q picturesque pattern OF
haggage labels pertaining 10 places OF
which the lady had. perhaps. onls
heard In n vague sort Of way that e
was with some difficulty she Identified
her property.
Into such a flock Of intelligent. cdu-
Gated and highly bred people It Is but
natural that there should. now and
then. but rarely. as sometimes happens
In other societies. come an ohstrcpcr-
Gus sheep or several Of them. whose
antics attract al the more attention
and an the more newspaper notoriety
because OF the Official position and the
necessarily well known names Of the
officers OF the post where such a thing
may possibly occur. But army officers
are rather remarkable for being Just
that Is, for attending to their own busl-
nees-and, as a rule. are unsusplclous
Of conduct that, while Il may some.