The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-01-08
The Soldier !. -.
Who Laughed.


One day there came to 10 OF the Third
regiment, down at "she 'front.' q re.
cru!t who entered camp with q grin on
his face aud Il ehuel;le IN Ills throat.
and 1--WE minutes after he had been
turned over to US by the tiuarG no put
his hands 60 his side and began laugh.
ing, lie laughed like u mar who was
ucRled 10 death. Ills face got red as
paint, tearG ran from Ills eyes, and he
.semed about TO choke when n sergeant
gave him q lslSl; 70 s%traighscn hiRi up
and then Indignantly demanded:
what sot, Of u llamed fool are soa,
mud what are sou laughing at"
rIt's 30 fuany-lrs 80 iunnyl' saap-
cd the 10
whats so tunhyW
"Why, my being down here. "A week
agoI was loeinS corn on the ~farin-ha!
ha! hal"
The sergeant said he'd be hanged Il
he could see where Shc laugh N In,
nor could any Of the rest OF us, but II
was halt an hour before James ThurB-
tor could sober up his face. THAT was
his debut. Within three days he had cy-
cry man in the company. officers lnclud-
ed. down OH him for being a laughing
man. His face was in rcposc only when
he slept. The rest OF The time II wore a
broad grin and The most trli!laE thing
brought n laugh. lie was too sooa.na-
cured. lie had such u Et;flaw OF 4
laugh that he disturbed everybody In
the company when he started. We call.
ed him names, and he laughed. We
threatened him, and lie laughed the
harder. He was licked and cuiled and
ne roarcd: "tIa! la! hal" till men came
running from the other companies. We
demanded that the captain suppress
him, end that officer called lin In and
began:
Look here. Thurs.on, what Is all this
nonsense about?"
what n%onsense?" asked the recruit,
with grin.
"Why, your laughing 70 much. What
% you see TO laugh at SO mueh?"
why lots OF thlngs-ha! lis! hal"
shouted Thurston, as lie got hold OF his
ribs. cit ceetas SO queer .ot TO be milk
ing the COWS and feeding the hogs, and
-and-ha! ha! hal"
sand YOU laugh about that. do your"
"Yes-1 can't help it-ha! lia! hat"
"Do you know that you come mighty
neal being n fool" exclaimed the pro-
voked captain. as the guGaw died away
into q gurgle.
II don't see whV'." answered Thurs
ton. trying his best to look serious for a
minute. when I think Of lioeiny corn.
painting the barn, washing sheep and
wh!tewashing the cellar. anu then look
around inc here and see a lot Of soldiers
and tents and mules, why. I-1-ha! hi!
hal"
III you don. stop that n send you
to the guard housed"
"I'd stop. captain. Il I only could, but
I cant do IL"
And the recruit laughed and easped
and surgled until he fell down, and the
captain sent for q corporal and had him
taken to the guard-house. He was prob.
ably the only soldier In either army. who
was punished for laughter. Il sooered
him up for only L Few minutes. Then Il
struck him rs awtully funny that he
shouldsbe In the a~uard-h5use down at
the front Instead OF %ciopning out weeds
In cornfield in Connecticut. and he
laughed until the indignant captain or
dered a sag placed in his mouth. He
didn't laugh any more for five or six
hours, but his guards insisted that his
face wore q grin all the time--hs rnucl,
OF a grin as could be worked up under
the circumstances. 5
After n few days, In which James
Thu-ston did NOT cease TO laugh, the d.
vision commander asked Tor scouts, and
the new recruit was detailed 10 report
as one OF them. The sole and simple
idea was TO either get rid OF hin or so.
Der him up. lie had Z broad grin oh his
face when he entered the generals tent,
and the general hadn't spoken ten
words TO him when he had one OF his
nnt.."
What do YOU mean by. such cons
duct?" demanded the high and mighty
pflcer. in his sterncst tones.
ITS al! so fuanv!" gasped Thurston.
Only a few days ago I was helping
dad to out new shingles on the corn
crib. aud to-day TIN way down here,
talking with you-hn! Ia! hal"
The general happened to have q finer
appreciation OF huinor than our captain,
or else he reasoned that a laughing
scout could yet the information he
wanted better than q sober-mlndcG one,
Al any rate 1t was reported that he
finally g:lnned In unison with Thurs.
ton. and sent him on through the lines
to discover what the enemy were do!np
and report. As q scout Thurston wore
the blue. and was armed only with q
revolver. The idea OF his accomplish.
sng anything was considered ~preposter.
s'us. but he not only made his. mark
out did It with that laugh OF his. Whilc
ne was scouting close TO the enemy's
Hines lie encountered q Confederate col.
onel and his orderly. who were bound
Tor a certain farm house. In fact
Thurston stepped Il OF the roadside
pushes almost In front OF the horse.
HIS uniform gave him away. and M
was at once held up by the colonel. i
struck Thursson as very funny that n,
should be Grcas!ng the farm wagon n
connecticut IN May. and acout.ng dowr
IN Virginia in June, and he began Il
laugh. He laughed until he cr,ct-rn.
III the colonel said to his ordeclv:
"Ihis poor fellow has been wounded
IN the head and is crazy. You mac
pest take him into camp and be Ec,:tli
with him." "'
But as the colonel put up his ,eyol.
yer II the orderly got down from hi.
A Ola