The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-07-25
THE FATAL UNIFORM.
COLONEL SEXTON TELLS HOW IT
CHANGED HIS LIFE.

S"cers Clothes-She Relentcd q Lit
io "hen Her Admirer Was Wounded.
THE only bad feature Of this thing
=. aouIesslng the school children" said
Ooionei James a. Sexton, the former
postnaster, lis the fact that they al
wy Wnya want me to wear my regimentals.
q Tvs thing l haven't the courage to do
%A9eps When I'm among uniformed
my aversion to wearing uniform
epoue IN public dates from my boyhood
uays. Upon that aversion is based an
early incident that may have had
good deal to do with the course of nv
subsequent life.
enlisted as q private at the outbreak
VI the war, being then boy of II;
Iasher mature looking, however, for
snose years. Like all boys Of that age,
was or romantic turn, but exceed
imgiy bashful in the presence Of women.
Aho one woman in whose presence was
especially shy was dear girl whom I
USED TO sec home from prayer meeting.
NO parting i'll all that time of part
ing was more affecting than was ours
When my regiment started for tho front.
When, year later, I was sent back to
Chicago to recover from wound in the
jaw, found myself us dear to her as
ever, and she as dear to me, it goes
without saying. I was i'll tho hospital
ut Camp Douglas. My wound healed
rapidly was allowed to go about the
city very much as 1 chose, and prayer
meetings, with their escort privileges,
claimed great part of my attention.
About that time the Y. M. c. A.
was organizing q regiment, to be COM
posed exclusively of men who professed
religion. The scheme naturally attract
ed great deal of attention The papers
were full Of it. 1 was selected to cap
tain one of the new regiments compa-
MES. Protest against tho selection was
made on account of my age-then just
10. The matter was carried up to the
adJutant general of the state, who final
ly decided in my favor. My age, the
singular character of tho case and the
popularity of tho regiment caused such
an amount of newspaper gossip that it
seemed as though everybody must have
heard Of the matter at least All this
time l never wore my uniform outside
OF camp. The dear girl, therefore, new
10 ''>' AAiO N-N-Spo III SlUlLCH ClObuCS.
It's all outrage. she said just after
we met very youthful looking man i'll
captains uniform OIL one of our walks,
that such young men are trusted with
the responsibilities of command don't
know what the country is coming to-
For moment 1 was overcome by
the shock. When recovered my breath,
told her that youth did not necessarily
debar a man from possession of the
qualities of commander. She declined
to be convinced, and the conversation
became decidedly chilly. Instead of
making my customary call when we
reached her house, / stopped at the front
CUTE.
Laura, said, L must tell you
goodby. My regiment has orders to
leave for tho front tomorrow. 1t may
DO that we never shall see each other
again.
" But wo did. All fashionable Chicago
came to Camp Douglas the next day to
see the final dress parade of the much
talked Of Y. NJ. Q. A. regiment, and 1
could sec the dear girl among the crowd
My new captains uniform gave me a
good deal of satisfaction just at that
time, l can tell you. Tho colonel of the
regiment had asked me, OH account of
the power Of my voice, to act as adju-
tGnt for the occasion. That furnished
additional qualification. The parade had
tho magnificent splendor that only
dress parade can have, and the solemnity
OF this occasion was vastly increased by
the reflection, not to be dismissed, that
many of those among regiment and spec
tators were seeiug each other for the
last time on earth. The band played as
though speaking our last farewell to
our friends. Every one, am sure, was
deeply impressed. 1t was at this time
that tho dear girl had her first and last
view of me in my captains uniform.
Officers to the front and center!
Marchr I ordered, with all the dignity
I could assume. AS they reached the
center they saluted me.
Sir, the parade is formed, said,
saluting the colonel.
"The colonel returned rs grave a sa-
Lutte as he had received and put the reg
iment through tho manual of arms.
Meantime I marched few PAGES be-
hind him, turned squarely and took po-
sition almost within arms length Of
the dear girl. There l stood at parade
rest, with my back to her, until tho
regiment wheeled into column to march
off the field. AT that juncture I took
command of my company and went
with it aboard an Illinois Central train.
Between the dear girl and myself there
passed no word.
ga few months passed and 1 received
slight wound. The circumstance was
mentioned in the Chicago papers. Then,
for the first time after my departure
he Ill