The Worcester spy., 1898-11-01
A ROYAL RECEPTION.
Private Hill of Wellington Rifles Returned
Home Yesterday

Frank Hill, private in the wellington
Rifles, who has been in the Roosevelt
hospital in New York, suffering from
q complication Of diseases contracted
in the fever fields of Cuba, arrived
home yesterday afternoon on the New
York express, which reached Worces-
ter at 2,1S O'clock.
At the depot the soldier was met by
the entire membership of his company.
and they made his arrival feature as
nearly possibly like an ovation as
| his wearied condition would allow
! The boys all left the armoIy at an
| early hour and were at the station sew
| eral minutes before the train bearing
| their comrade reached its destination
| As the train came to standstill, the
| boys were lined up near the place
where their comrade was to alight, and
when he was sighted they gave rous-
| ing cheer of welcome.
| The soldier is looking in fairly good
condition, but not by any means in a
way which would make one imagine
| he was a healthy person. He was dis
| charged from the hospital in New York
and is back again in Worcester, glad
enough to get here, but more like the
image of the soldier boy who went
away in May.
Immediately when the train came to
a standstill, the comrades of Private
Hill gathered around his car, and he
was the lion of the hour. The strong
hands Of his fellow soldiers proffered
assistance, and he was shown to a.
hack, amid the cheers of the entire
throng. From the depot the soldier was
taken to his home in a hack, and there
is where the most interesting feature
of the journey was brought to a happy
ending.
A fond and happy mother greeted her
soldier boy, and the day. which was the
harbinger of joy in the hearts of so
many Worcester people, was one of like
condition to her. Her boy, after his
long and honorable service in the army,
had returned. With all the joy that
the soldiers return brought to the
mother no one was more pleased than
the veteran himself To him the sight
of home and familiar scenes, the grasp
from the hands of friends. were truly
gratifying, and last evening, while the
boys of his company We're enjoying
themselves around the banquet table,
he spent q happy night at home.
OF course the hardships of the Gu
ban campaign told on Private Hill. Like
a true soldier, he battled along through
the dread work Of the war. and COM
ing home with the boys from the scene
of strife, he was taken with that disease
which has caused so many deaths, ma
laria, and landed at Montauk. To a
soldier, broken down in health and spir-
its, the sand dunes of Montauk had no
charms, and he was sent to the Roose-
Welt hospital in New York.
Here all that could be done for the
Worcester boy was done, and slowly
but surely he gradually recovered until
yesterday he received papers of dis
charge, coming to his home on the first
train out of the city. The journey
from New York to Worcester was one
of considerable length after his close
confinement, but he stood the trip in
good shape, and the excitement tnciden-
tai to his royal reception from COM
rades of Company II, buoyed him up
wonderfully.
He is not quite so strong yet as one
would hope, but the condition Of his
new surroundings, coupled with the
fact that he is now 'at home, viii
have a tendency to build him up