The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-10
THAT MUSTARD PLASTER.
Those Dreams Came True, but Only
After Four Years.

Washington Star.
II had a dream once that I died from
pneumonia, said well-known Southern
man VINO made very creditable record as
an officer in the Confederate army to a
Star reporter. 1T was one of those per-
sistent dreams that could not shake off.
While under its influence think l suffered
as intense pain as afterward did when l
had real case of pneumonia. The dream
so controlled me that spoke about it to
the members of my family, to the exclusion
OF almost everything else. for several days.
In a few weeks the war broke out and
with the young men of my section of North
Carolina / entered the Confederate army
as private, though / held commission
when the war ended. When the day came
Tor me TO leave my home my mother, who
had packed up about everything l thought
| should need, much Of which had to drop
by the Wayside soon after, asked me- if
there was anything else that / could think
Of that / would need. In an apologizing
kind of way said yes, that l would like
box Of mustard for use in case L ever got
the pneumonia, such as l dreamed of, for
l forgot TO say dreamed that after 1 was
dead mustard plaster on my side cured
my pain. When | looked into my KNAPP
sack | found it so full of stuff that 1 could
not find a place for the box of mustard
and thought would have to leave it. My
mother, however, said she would manage
it. That night l started out to conquer the
whole Yankee army, and just as l was
about leaving the door of my house a pain
fected in the attack of pneumonia from
which had my dream death. 1t passed off
In an instant, not, however, until | had
asked my mother if she had found a place
for the mustard. She told me she could
not find space in my knapsack, but that she
had seWed up bundle OF mustard in
parchment bag in the lining of my over
coat. / carried that overcoat four years
and had felt the mustard sewed up in the
breast lining hundreds of times, but never
supposed / would have to use it.
1T was four years to day from the date
of my enlistment when / was taken sick
and with me a man in my company, for by
that time / was an officer, we were bundled
off to field hospital, neither one of us hav-
That night the doctor, the surgeon of a
South Carolina regiment, visited us. He
told us bluntly that we were suffering from
pneumonia and that the chances were all
against us. If / could put mustard plas-
ter on you l could save you BOTH he said,
but, as you know, mustard is a rare pos
session in this part of the South now,
grain Of it equaling in value grain of gold
and scarce at that All of sudden the
and / asked if my coat was handy. I was
told it was. and in a few moments the doc
tor had it ripped Open Mixing it up with
some bad bran, he divided it up at my re-
quest into two plasterS, and my comrade
and myself have been able to eat three
square meals every day since, barring the
remainder of the war, when we were rather
high toned and only INDUCED in one regular
meal day and ate the rest in our minds
Though pneumonia killed me in my dream
the same dream furnished me with the am
tackled us. My mother went to heaven
without knowing that the bag of mustard
she sewed in my coat saved my life and
that of my cOmrade."