Evening star., 1898-07-23

| of the soldiers to the skipper up in the pilot
| house, turn this thing AROUND and let US
| off right here. This Is good enough, say
| don't You see those girls beckoning to us?
| Wen, why don't you stop then? Why,
| man won't let US off. Swim out here and
| Wen take you alongl Goodness gracious
| me! What larks! We want somebody to
| play with
But the boat whizzed past and left the
| girls waving their handkerchiefs rather
dismally.
Points of Difference.
When the boat reached the point where
the river began to widen out the men from
| the Mississippi and Missouri valleys began
| to make comparisons of the Potomac with
| the streams they were brought up alongside
of.
Yes" said one of the eastern soldiers,
.'if the Potomac was yallery in color and
full O. sand-bars and snags, it 'ud be just
| like the Big Muddy or the Mississip," and
then he got chased up forward to the eyes
of the boat.
II spose this boat could go right on over
| to Spain?" asked a guileless-looking young
fellow of one of the deck hands.
"Whut, dis heah boat?" was the reply
of the darkey, who happened to have been
a deep-water man IN his day; Go way.
sojer. yo' alrs on'y foolin'. Dis heah boat
I'D git all knocked to teenchy kindlin' wood
befo' she dun got outside de Capes."
We'll, I'll be durned," said the soldier.
When the steamer pulled UP alongside
the pier at Colonial Beach and the gang
plank was placed the rush of the soldiers
for the pier was like a dough-boy charge.
The men were hungry. Arrangements
had been made for feeding them at all of
the public houses along the beach front.
They knew it. They didn't know where to
go, but they were corralled by guides and
distributed in punches.
"Will you fellows take a swim before you
eat, or afterwards" asked one of these
guides of his gang of twenty and odd SOL
oiers.
IF there's any afterwards after we get
through eating" answered the spokesman,
wen go in swimming; but / don't figure
right now that there's going to be no af-
terwards."
Hearty Appetites.
To man with a jaded appetite the sight
Of tlysse men eating couldn't have been
ether than diverting. a batch of two doz-
en- Of them walked into dining room,
der escort of the proprietor and when their
eyes caught sight of tables loaded down
with big platters piled high with fried oy-
sters, fried fish that had only finished
kicking half an hour before, broiled spring
chickens. crabs, hard and soft, just yanked
This is a trance. 1t amt right, that's all.
sorts to match. the four in the van
of the party put their hands TO their heads
as If they Wer3 dizzy, reeled. and then
turned around to the men following them.
Boys" they said, we've been doped.
This is a trance. 1t amt right, that all.
It's one of these here mearages that we've
heard the old-time regulars tell about.
Watch the whole layout disappear and go
I'D in mist"
They made queer moves of the magician
sort with their hands pointing in the di-
rection of the tables, but the tables remain
ed They had not been doped. 1t was
true. And in another second they were re-
ducing the platters. The boss of the house
was out in the kitchen experimenting the
frying Of more platters full The black
servants were peering in through thu
cracks of the rear doors, watching the
n en- in blue eat.
1T sut'n'ly do cah'y me back to de wah
t see dem po stahved chillun eat dey Wit
tles,' said an old black nanny, with a red
bandanna around her head, in the kitchen.
I'm, um UNI Lookee yondah at dat red
hatded boy chew up dem chicken bones!
Well, fo de Ian sakes! He dun eat tree
O. dem chicken, All know. An con! Eff
dat boy hain't dun eat seben years o con,
Abs uh ohdnah'y yalluh niggahr'
The old nanny watched the red-haired
soldier with q fascinated gaze during the
remainder of the meal, although he didn't
know he was under such delighted obserya-
ton.
In the Water.
Soldiers In the field have often been called
upon to swim rivers by regiments right af-
ter mess, and, consequently, soldiers are
not supposed to regard and such rules
of health as that, for instance, which re-
quires folks not to swim for at least an
hour after eating. These soldiers didn't re-
gard it, anyhow. They made q break right
from the tables to the bath houses and