The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1898-01-22

on the political horizon, and then, one
day, as we were just going to parade, |
saw the newsboys in a state of great eX-
citement, and heard one crying, ''Decla
ration Of war with Russia = 1t made
my heart jump into my mouth; and, while
other men were rejoicing at the prospect
Of active service, had hard work to con-
ceal the state Of abject fear | was in
When | came off duty, and had a chance
of looking at the paper. found it was only
declaration of war by Turkey, in which
we had not joined; 50 breathel freely
again, and my spirits revived. The fact
was, Russia having occupied the prov
inces of Moldavia and Wallachia. which
at that time belonged 10 Turkey, the
Turks had no choice but to fight. OF else
see their whole country overrun by the
Russian hOrdeS The ostenSible cause oi'
the Russian advance was Ia protect the
Greek Christians at .Ierllsalem-the real
cause was a desire to get hold of one more
slice OF Turkish territory. The war be-
tween Turkey and Russia broke out in
October, 1868, and for some time England
looked on and did nothing. and my peace
of mind returned. began to think that
England would do the looking on. and
nothing else At this time | tried with
all might to shake off my terrible weak
ness, but it was no use; the more thought
about it, the more my fears of fighting and
death increased, 50 at last gave up think
ING about it, as the best thing | could do
Some months passed, and then came an
evening | well remember Mess was Just
over, and we were lighting our cigars, and
those of us who had been out hunting
(there had been Il splendid run that day
were recounting our adventures. when 4
grim old sergeant entered, and, salutin%.
handed some dispatches to our dear old
Colonel. 1t was an unusual occurrence,
and all eyes were turned ON the old man.
and noticed that he looked very grave
as he read; but when he had finished
saw bright smile come over his face as
he rose and said ''Gentemen, | regret
to tell you that England and France have
this day been forced to declare war against
Russia Something like cheer ran
round the table, in which, to save my life,
could not have joined; but nobody no
ticed me- Raising his hand for silence,
the Colonel continued Eyes, gentle
men, | know, like good soldiers, you are
longing for active service, and it has been
the hope of my life to have the honor of
leading my fine regiment into action; but
still war is a terrible thing, not to be light
ly entered upon. [ suppose you all know
that our regiment is almost the first on the
list for active service, 50 we may be called
on to be off at a day notice.
Shortly afterwards the Colonel rose
and left the table, beckoning to the major
and adjutant to follow him, and very soon
afterwards all the senior officers left the
table, and we subs were left to our own
devices, and roaring time we had of it.
More champagne was ordered, and war
songs. with rattling choruses and noisy
applause, were the order of the day. For
once in my life found myself drinking
champagne for the sake Of getting what
is called 'Dutch courage ; it had the de-
sired effect, and soon | was as noisy and
as ripe for mischief as any of the rest.
After a time we found the mess room
oppressive, and agreed to sally out, and
see what fun we could get out Of the
streets of the quiet, country town in which
we were quartered. As we entered the
barrack square we found to our surprise
that it was full of our own men, very
unusual thing at that hour The sight
rather Sobered us, and the senior sub asked
what it meant. \ sergeant came forward,
and said that the men had heard all sorts
| of rumors Of war, and were i'll a state of
| great excitement, and he would be much
obliged if we were at liberty to do so, if
we could tell them what had happened
II think, gentlemen. he added, they
would 90 more quietly to their quarters if
| they are told - He was answered that
| the news was no secret. and that England
and France had declared war against Rus
| sia The men raised wild cheer. but to
nv ears it sounded rather hollow, and
somehow when we got out of the barracks
| half the fun seemed knocked out Of us,
and we did not do much more than give
the townspeople some harmless chaff. To
be sure. Charlie danced a polka in the
market place with Il gypsy woman, while
an old man, seated on barrel, played the
fiddle. But then Charlie was bound to
do something out of the common, though
there was no harm in his fun; and we
ended rather tamely by going quietly back
to our quarters earlier than usual.
A few days after this came orders tC
march to our port of embarkation, where
a transport was waiting to take us in the
first place to Malta Nothing occurred
worthy of note till we were halfway across
the Bay Of Biscay. Then one morning,
when it was blowing rather stitf1y from the
west with a high sea, there was a cry Ot
..man overheard. = | was on deck at the
time, right aft, talking to Charlie, but
most of the fellows were below, hardly
able to crawl out of their berths. Look
ing over the side, | saw one Of our mel
struggling in the water Two life-belt'
had already been thrown to him, but beins
unable to swim, he could not reach them
and it was evident he must drown long be
fore boat could reach him; for although
our engines were reversed, we should carry
our way another quarter of a mile.
was strong swimmer, so seizing ;
life-belt that was close to my hand.
dropped overheard just as the man hac
passed.
A few strokes brought me to him, an'
then came the difficult job of getting th'
belt over him. for the man was struggling
dangerously. managed it at last, whel
he was nearly drowned, for it was not til
then he had the sense to see that his bes
plan was to keep quiet. When | looked
about for the ship she seemed very Ion:
way off, and often we lost sight of her al
together as we sank down between tn
wayas T was UattinU exhausted myself