The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-07-02
TAMPA LIFE AS 1T is.
Sense of Humor Touched Despite
These Trying Times.

panorama, as 1t has now fully opened
and in spite of the going of General
Skaters army, may still be considered
in its flower and bloom, is a subject
that cannot with the consent of the
censor be literally described. Notwith-
standing this fact, even a glimpse is
sufficient to prove that the world has
nothing to equal it and never did have
anything that could hold a candle to it,
Without meaning or intending to be
anything but ultra patriotic, certain OBJ
serYatiOns invade the soul Of man at
this place Many are enthusiastic in
their effects, others are slightly de-
pressing, while still others might
sphynx, or, in 1atter-day phrase, make
a monkey laugh. You can stand on
any down town street corner in Tampa,
if you can succeed in digging one out of
the sand and preempting it., and the
beings that parade before your eyes
will have a. place in your memory as
long as you maintain a. mental set OF
books.
They are imposing in the main, but
gFotesque around the Puffies. 1t is easy
to see that there are any number of
people in the United States who are
bent on fighting something, no matter
how it comes about, and have spent
great WadS of their own money IN or
der to make their appearance fornlda-
bic, if not ridiculous. 1t is like a great
international Costume ball, without any
hddlerS. The scene is at it's height,
when brilliantly set off by the regular
Tampa morning thunder storm, which
brings everything, besides rain. that
storm can bring, The morning matinee
usually begins with a dash Of Rough
Riders, who are early getting out or
late getting into their camps, away OH
somewhere on the other side of a heat
cracked riVerbed. They are about the
toughest looking lot of mortals ever
harnessed up for daring deeds. Their
trousers are lined with Whang leather,
and their ranger hats bent over like
shelter tents give them a bushy dime
novel aspect. They are all on gaunt
mustangs that seem to know their bus
mess, and so ricochetting among Vege-
table wagons, street cars and other We
hieles without the latest possible harm
to hores or rider. These gentlemen are
gloved and spurred desperately, and
wear savage muStaches- Two rode into
the Indiana camp yesterday, and it
was learned that one had been school
teacher, with decided incllnatiOnS tow
ard tracts, while the other had been
a lawyer in Arizona, which, by the way,
may have been an excellent primary
course for any kind of active hostili-
ties. Among the rough riders not an
easy rider has yet been sighted. Many
cling to the Old-time western hair hab-
it, overlooking the fact that the hair
'hold-out" was years ago exploded, and
does not go in any reputable Arizona
poker games. But the best thing about
the rough-Fiding complement is the
reckless spirit with which it absOrbs
out desi gning to lombard the fountain
from which it fuses and flows.
The doughty, fat, little, tightly laced,
recently made subalterns fished out Of
private life by a kindly disposed presi-
dent add to the United States army
an nlustrious effect. This particular
limb Of the defense is mostly taken
from squat third-StOry law Offices, front
ing the town pump and public square.
Talk about equipment! These are the
boys that have it right on their we'll
fed, oval backs, around their stocky
stomachs, and drawn up to fever heat
about their wabbly legs. Their faces
are always flushed, and they sweat all
day, very theoretically. After supper
the basement of the Tampa Bay hotel
finds them buried in mush ice, turned
up to the glow of boiled Holsters, still
trying to be military. It's a, crucial test,
for, try as they may, it can't be done,
and whether in the reception room, the
camp, field or action, lawyers and poll
tlcians they were, are and will remain.
The military air cannot be bought at
any price, and Is not inherited 1t is
seWed on, ground and pounded in from
barracks to guard house. Behind every
military acquisition has been a sledSe
hammer at some time or another
The regulation volunteer private is
the man who fills up all the breaches in
the Tampa panorama, and il must be
admitted that he looks just a trifie sor-
~ about the cheeks, eyes and mouth
Already he has worn the neWness off
his clothes that made him look so war
like at the old state camp where he
held up his hand and SwOre he would
diet himself on hard bread, salt pork
and heartless beans for two years. His
bed upon the earth has been interview
ing his bones and the gloss of his but
tons is corrOding. The glamour of eve
rything IS cOrrOding. The volunteer
priYates tramp through the town in
squads and fill up every saloon with
their distracting songs and attempts at
gayety. Here they cut no figure. Not
any more than the heads of mules, and
just now a mule storm is on. First
comes a distant rumble like an earth
quake in felt slippers. Through it is
the liquid tinkle of a bell. This is fol-
lowed by a cloud of dust, behind which
come stalking perhaps a thousand
mules. They are loaded with baled haV,
straw or camp equipments and keep
step like regulars. Their heads hang
down and their ears wabbie but all in
unison The mule is a private, so to
speak. He Is not looking for promo
ton, or the worst Of it, and will kick
if he gets either one; a natural stickler
on army regulations. with a gnaW in
his heart for quartermasters. He is
ready to take anything from a cannon
to a brick house over a mountain range
without making any great ado about
il, and when the day comes on which
Uncle Sam peels that eagle off the
shield and places there the image of
the country's best defender, the army
mule will be one days march nearer
his merits. Many of them have been
pensioned for fidelity and hard work
by the government, but, unlike the rest
of his fold, Uncle Sam allows them to
go to the front unfettered. Here is
where the mule gets the best Of tie
retired officer who is sent back home
on fractional pay. Mules and men, men
and mules, up and down the streets
they go, walking and talking, and wait
ing Tor something to happen. INTO the
panorama rumbies the canvas-covered
government wagons, upon which the
plnched-faced mule skinner is king.
Gf @ Trr
trim little cross of blood swings into
the procession, like the simple answer