San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-08-28
PASSING OF THE DRUM.
II VIII Soon Disappear in Connection
with Army Life.


think few know that of all the time
honored equipments of war which these
days of military progress have left us,
the drum is the oldest; but, like the
sword and the bayonet, the drum is fast
disappearing. Its companion, the fife,
hallowed by traditions of valor even in
our own history from Lexington to Get
tysburg, is already gone, and another
decade will still forever the inspiriting
martial music of the drum.
What boy has not felt his pulses
thrill and his heart swell with patriotic
pride and martial order while gazing
upon the well-known picture of the
revolution, the Minute Men of re" for
salxing the plowshare and flying to take
down the old fintlock at the tocsin of
Wharf.-The throbbing of the drum and
the shrill screaming of the fife, sounded
by two Scared veterans, bare-headed,
white-haired, and in their shirt-sleeves,
marching through fields 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the revolution repealed alone an attack
of the British by beating furiously an
old drum and blowing a fife. The Brit
ish troops, who were about to land, hur-
ried back to their ships, thinking the
whole army lay in ambush to repulse
them.
Thus did fife and drum drive off the
Ill
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 adopted by
armies. The drum of to-day differs lit
tie, and IN appearance only, from the
earliest form. 1t consists, as'every boy
knows, of two pieces of parchment, or
batter-heads, stretched over the ends of
ahollow cylinder, and struck with sticks.
For ages this instrument has been
known among savage tribes and bar
barrie nations who use it's weird music
to accompany their religious rites, as
well as for war purposes.
The tom-tom of the Sioux Indian is
good example of a primitive drum.
In civilized warfare the drum has
ever been connected with deeds of mar
tial valor, and its voice is dear to the
heart of the soldier who has fired its
pulsing into the deadly fire of battle, or
even in reviews and military parades,
when rank upon rank sweep up street
keeping perfect alignment and step to
the drums inspiring beat.
1t has found place through the dar-
ing bravery of more than one beardless
boy who has sounded at the critical mo-
ment the pas de charge or rally" just
in time to turn the tide of battle.
Johnny Glenn, the ''drummer-boy of
Shiloh" who beat the rally without or
ders 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 valiant
deeds of men. Rudyard Kipling's pa
thetic little story of THE Drums of the
Fore and Aft" two courageous drum
mer boys who, at the cost of their own
lives, led the charge and saved the
honor of their regiment when rout-
ed by the Afghans, tells of deed
such as is to be found in history
as well as in fiction. More than once
has the drum claimed a place in the
front rank of storming battalions, or
led desperate charges in the van of
victorious army.
What wonder, then, thatrve look sor-
rowfully into the future, when battling
will no longer be inspired by the war
drums throb;" for we know that the
advance of military science, with all its
death-dealing machine-guns, magazine
rifles, and its smokeless powder, will
surely sound the knell of the drum
Lieut.. Con Marratt Perkins, in st. Mich
olas.