Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-04-03
AN ARMY STORY.

Wilson Joined the battery at Fort Candy
IL little while before the territory of Wash
ington became Il state. He had enlisted
at Seattle as recruit and was therefore
classed as "prairie chicken" as soldiers
then were who took on anywhere west
of the Mississippi. We all had good
many reasons for believing, however, that
Wilson was not quite SO much OF recruit
as his Seattle enlistment record showed on
its face. None of us could remember hav-
ing soldiered with him anywhere, and his
from the day he arrived at Candy in charge
of tho Seattle batch of recruits-o of which,
according to the list he handed to the Off
Ger of the day, he was one-he carried him
self too much like soldier to fool those OF
us who had been in the outfit a long time.
Old Sergeant Fisher took the recruits
out to the parade ground the morning
after their arrival to begin to lick them
into shape in the awkward squad. Wilson
was among them. He tried hard to assume
the recruits clumsiness, but we could see
that the job was little too much for him.
He was too naturally graceful a man in
his carriage for that and his shoulders
were too square, At the command of ex
ecution he forgot himself every time and
stepped out with the left foot. A recruit
never does that. 1t takes at least six
months to teach IA recruit that he is pos
sessed of a left foot. Old Fisher gave ''To
the rear. marchr' suddenly, and it caught
Wilson mapping. Alone of the squad, he
whirled Oh the ball Of his left foot and
took step rearward, while the rest of the
squad ignorantly plowed on. 1t was a
bad give away, and Wilson'S dark, hand
some face flushed Old Fishers eye was
sharp if he had been canteen sergeant for
six years.
"Halt!' he commanded the squad of re-
cruits, and, in their own time, one by one,
they halted. Wilson, fall out. Wilson
fell out and for time stood by watching
old Fisher drill the rockies in the facings.
After awhile the sergeant, having brought
the squad to rest walked over to Wilson,
looked him over for a minute with sort
Of half smile, and said, "What's the use?"
''None, said Wilson, probably seeing
that the game was up SO far as old Fisher
was concerned.
All the same, not to make the officers
suspicious, the drill sergeant took Wilson
out with the awkward squad every day for
time. 1t was a fine thing to see Wilson
handle his rifle when the guns were dished
out to the rockies for the first time. A
young lieutenant, fresh from West Point,
happened to drop into the dayroom, and
he stopped for awhile to watch the new
men trying to get through the manual.
His eye naturally drifted to Wilson, who
would have attracted attention in the mid.
die rank of a regiment, for he certainly
was fine looking chap. Wilson was'try-
ing to handle his gun as IL he had never
seen one before. We couldn't help but grin
enthusiastically as we stood around, although
we were careful not to let the little West
Point shave tail see lis do it, for we all
liked Wilson and didn't want to see him
get into any trouble. Wilson tried SO hard
to make it appear that he didn' t even know
what rifle was made for that he dropped
it while the squad was standing at rifle
parade rest. 1t made the DEVILS own clat-
ter, and the little lieutenant eyes snapped.
''Gawkn he muttered, while Wilson,
red and nervous, reached out and picked
up the gun.
Attention" shouted the drill sergeant.
Wilson alone of the batch was like a ram
away in the dayroom.
"Right shoulder--humsr Wilson's gun
came to his shoulder with snap, the three
movements perfect, while the other fell
lows Of the squad were sluggishly coming
to port, a. present, a carry, everything
but right shoulder.
"Fix-bay -o-nets!" Wilson'S was fixed
with the rapidity and precision of an ex-
pert.
"Well!'' said the little lieutenant under
his breath, as be turned away with kind
of puzzled twinkle in his eye.
Wilson was put to duty the next day and
caught commanding officers orderly the
first time he went on guard. All of us
who occupied hunks in the old timers
squad room had to confess that Wilson was
as fine a soldier as we had ever seen.
None Of us ever asked him what outfit
he had been in before he came to our lay
out as recruit. Wilson was very quiet
man, we'll educated-we used to see him
reading queer looking books in foreign
languages, as he lay on his bunk on rainy
afternoons-and we didn't care to bother
him with questions. 1t was none Of our
blasted business, anyhow. A young whelp
of a rookie was Watching Wilson daddyack
his cartridge belt one day, and, like the
pup that he was, he said so that the other
fellows IN the room could hear him:
"Oho, but hasn't Wilson done that a
lot of times before, I'd just like to know!''
One of us reached over, caught the cub
by the scruff of the neck and dropped him
over the banisters Of the double decker
quarters Wilson said nothing, although
there was an odd sort Of CLEAN in his black
eyes. There were no illusions to his past
after that, you can bet
Fort Candy is beautiful, gloomy post.
1t is at the mouth of the Columbia river,
under the shadow Of the mountain that
forms the extremity Of Cape Disappoint-
ment. Oh, but the Pacific batters wildly,
wildly at those black rocks! In the quar-
ters we could always hear the roar of the
sea. The sound used to break some Of us
up little, kind of, at night, after the
lights went out. / don't know why. The
sea Is mournful anyhow, think. A hun.
dred salmon fishermen from Astoria and
II Waco got upset and drowned on that
wicked Columbia bar while we were there.
Well, anyhow, Wilson used to spend
nearly all Of the time that he wasn't on
duty down by tho sea. He had big
dragon tattooed on his knotty left arm
and barkentine In three colors on hts
breast. Besides, he knew great deal
about japan and South America, AZ soins