Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-06-05
MARTIAL LAW APPLIED TO PIES.

| A petty war has been WaglnB at Fort
| Mcpherson, Ga, and pie has been the
| casus belli. Three thousand troops were
| quartered on the reservation at that
| place, and when we say 5000 troops like
number of fine, large appettes is. Of
| course implied. These soldier lads, at
| times yearning for the comforts of home
| life and maternal attention, once be-
| thought themselves to purchase pies from
| a certain enterprising baker who supplied
the camp with patisserie.
The experiment was a highly successful
one. which Is a dignihed way Of saying
that the pies proved most palatable, If
not digestible. SO other pies and tarts
took the place of those that had first
fallen in the frightful onslaught Of
healthy, lusty youth, but these, too, in
turn were swept away by the devouring
hosts And through it all the baker
smiled, and his heart was glad, for theI
soldiers looked not into the genealogy
Of his pies, but took them on faith and
placed them near to their hearts.
But all good things must have an end.
4 cloud came DER that pie-spangled sky,
and for time threatened trouble and
disaster. One day the Colonel, while
strollng over the reservation, noticed
unusual activity among his men. There
were hundreds in all sorts Of toggery,
but in one thing they were uniform-every
man had pie. Exasperated at the sight
the grim old soldier yelled, Drop those
piesw And fully 1000 men let slip the
sweets of war.
But the cruel officer was not satisfied.
He at once issued an order interdicting
the presence OF pie, and a wall Of dis
tress resounded throughout the reserva-
ton. The baker was undone, and finan-
cial ruin, with great, burning, pie-shaped
eyes, stared him in the face.
But, at the last minute a new Rich
mond entered the field and restored the
status quo. After little skilful recon-
notering, he devised a scheme to outwit
the Colonel and supply the soldiers with
pastry. He discovered a public road
which skirted the reservation, and was
only separated therefrom by a wooden
fence WITH many dpcl luIcSs LullHCl TINS
crafty fellow dispatched his wares and
sold them with alarming rapidity to the
men who thus found an opportunity to
eyade the order of their command.
The Virginia troops at Camp Lee have
had no such difficulties to contend with,
and martial law is not applied to their
appetites. While some of them aver that
the menuistic features of military life'l
are not suggestive OF Delmonico's, they
nevertheless fare well, and are often re-
membered by their friends on the out
side Hundreds of boxes have been |
sent them by lady friends. and there is
hardly a Richmond household that does |
not entertain at least one soldier every |
day. And in addition to this, the gates |
outside of their reservation are thronged |
with pedlers, who dispense almost every |
conceivable article of diet. Red lemon |
ade has flowed in rivers, and in addition |
TO this the eye pleasantly rests on long |
arrays of pies, chicken-legs. and sand |
wiches, which, though of doubtful an
tiquity, are none the less appetizing and |
seductive Grim-visaged war at least has |
the merit Of being the greet creator OF |
healthy hunger.