Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-05-15
A CUP OF TEAj
"Or n Hot Time in the Old Camp
(Staunton NeWSO

(Staunton News)
II is scarcely necessary in this connec
ton to state that the coup OF Tea" al.
luded to here is purely an imaginary one
as n real cut at that time was an I'M
known quantity. remember no ship:
that ever reached our camp from far.
away China.
The campfire CLOVIS again tonight,
AS / sit with My pipe and dream.
And among the ftful shadows
1 can see the bayonets CLEAN.
The gentry walks his frozen beat,
AS he guards the tent Of his chief,
And waits the slow and tagging hour
That brings the next relief.
without the camp the snow lies white
The wind keens Ger each crest;
The pines bend low with angry swish,
The Storm King is our guest.
Old Rapid Ann is mad tonight.
| can tell by her angry growls;
The slash and crash at the broken ford
AS the wind in its revels bowls.
Within the camp, now PROSTATE lies
A giant blackjack tree;
And Starr awakes the hour with Jest
To make "Cup Of Tea"
a giant lItt, IL Bldnl lIlCs
Against the trunk grows up;
or sap and limb and bark
In grew--to make a single cup.
Hunger cannot check the play
AS round the blaze they gather
From mountain home to valley farm,
True men In gray forever.
Now noble Johnson talks once moro
From out the shadows streaming,
Decked with strings of moss and bark
OF phosphorescent cleaning.
And Kirby strikes the string again
To "Lubly as De Day."
And Hamilton sings the grand old song
OF "Stonewall Jackson's Way"
Brown and Haines and lobe are there,
With Sinner Bell, and Way:
AS brave band. as merry a band,
AS ever wore the gray.
Jim Miller is in camp tonight,
And he has his old banjo
And the yellow Rose of Texas" blends
With Louisiana Lowlands. Low"
The men who sing these merry songs
Around the camp-ire's rudy glow,
Can give the widest rebel yell
That e'er struck terror to the foe.
Struggling down the rugged road
Our teams have come TO grief.
We long to hear the welcome cry
OF Jennings, here's you beef"
The fire burns low, the lights go out,
l roll up in my wraps;
Darkness settles on tent and field,
AS Spider beats the taps.
ANY of the boys who survive OF Com
pany A will recognize the names and
general features OF the foregoing lines.
Some OF the actors have passed to the
Great Beyond, Of course, but the few old
Confederates that are still in the land OF
the living will agree with men when /
state that there were some pleasant
things to be found roughing it with old
Stonewall. War was not at all times
the horrible thing IL is painted or sup
posed TO be- and as the years roll on
and we grow farther and farther away,
things appear differently. Time softens
things down, so that many OF us, no
doubt, look back on those days with a
great deal OF pleasure. instead Of regrets.
know that / do. / borrow the following
lines TO conclude with:
when tho tide goes out. and years roll
by,
And life sweeps on to the outer bar.
And ] feel the chill Of the depths that
lie
Beyond the shoals where the breakers
will not rail- mt kindly fate.
Or welcome age with a peevish pout,
But still with the heart OF youth await
The final wave when the tide goes out"
Fall In line and use Elastic Starch.