Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1897-07-01

were crammed into every obtainablc
vacancy in the horse and artillery
when incompetents were ordered be-
fore a board OF examiners and given a
chance to defend their commissions
while-oh, the black shame OF It'll
others, gallant fellows who had fought
all through the war, but had been at
some time or other in the past at
odds, personal or official, with certain
of their superiors, now, without word
of warning, without opportunity OF de
fense, without knowing who were their
HCcusers or what the accusations, found
themselves summarily dropped from
the rolls and their places promptly
flied. The needed reduction by fair
means proving too slow, the methods
of foreign despotisms We're resorted to;
CONFIDENTIAL reports" we4e solicited
from commanding officers, some of
whom, disdaining such lettre-de-cachet
business, promptly consigned the of
Tending document to the flames or
"pigeon-holed" il without reply, while
others accepted eagerly the oppor-
tunity to undermine the men whom
courts had honorably acquitted. In
some few instances there We're gentle
men thus disposed of who never knew
they had been accused of misde
meanor until, amazed, they saw their
names upon the published list. Among
these thus given their congo was Breyet
Capt J. ?. Close, first lieutenant
--teenth infantry, ut the moment ex-
pecting his promotion to the captaincy
of company c. The old man." as
his soldiers called him, had returned to
duty after his six months leave, with
eyesight permanently impaired, and
had been received with cordial and
avowed esteem by Farnham and Kinsey
and with open arms by Lambert The
manly fellows in the regiment followed
suit, and they had done much to rub
off the uncouth edges, to polish the
roug' exterior, and so reveal the value
of the gem within, and Close was plod-
ding contcntedly along as quartermas-
ter OF four-company post, when the
blow fell. Minor, now lieutenant
colonel, was In command of the
-teenth, the old ndiutant and quarter
master in command of him. There was
no need Of asking whence the unseen
allegations came.
An Ill wind it Is indeed that blows
nobody good. In the general shake
up" there came colonel to the regi-
ment whose first official act was TO ac-
Cept the designations Of the two staff
officers and to appoint Lambert ad-
jutant. 81 wish you had gone in for
a commission" said be 10 Floyd, whom
he had known in his sergeant days in
Texas, but Floyd replied that if this
treatment OF Close was "a specimen Of
army justice he reekoned railrouding
would suit him better, Whercupon the
new colonel swore that If Close were
only back again he'd make him quarter
master and let his Oppressors see the
othcr side of his story; but Close never
came.
With certain other wronged and as
tonishcd men, he had gone TO Washing
ton and pleaded his case before a most
harassed and unhappy cabinet official
who was no longer able to undo the
mischief, the senate having confirmed
the nominations 10 the vacancies thus
created.
'IIo allowed that he guessed n few
mistakes might have been made long
of his putting too much faith in what
some officers told him." wrote Close
TO Lambert, but that in nine cases out
of ten the thing was all right. ! told
him ! hadn't come to talk about any
body's rights or wrongs but my own;
what | wanted was the captaincy l
was clean billlcd out of. He said that
he couldn't fix that anyhow. The only
thing was TO take n second lieuteuaucy
and start back at the bottom Of the
ladder again. Some OF them-poor fel-
lows who'd been so long in the army
they didn't know amy other way Of
living and supporting their families
was fools enough 30 do il, but I'd see
him damned first, and nigh onto told
him SO.
81 guess I've had bout enough OF il
anyhow, Lambert. | did my best for
the government in the days when If we
fellows hadn't done our best there
mighty soon wouldn't Of been any
government 'cept JeT Davis, apd If