The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-09-21
PASSING OF THE na..Aa

PASSING OF THE DRUM
&c WIZ Soon Disappear In Connection
With Army Lro.
Lieutenant Con Marrast Perkins
of the United States Marine corps
writes an article entitled Tho Last
of the Drums for St. Nicholas.
Lieutenant Perkins says:
I think few know that of all the
time honored equipments of war
which these days OF military prog
reSs have left us tho drum is the old
est; but, like the sword and the bay
onet, tho drum is fast disappearing.
Its companion, the fife, hallowed by
traditions of valor even i'll our own
history, from Lexington to Gettys-
burg, is already gone, and another
decade will still forever the inspirit-
ing martial music of the drum.
What boy has not felt his pulses
thrill and his heart swell with pa
trlotic pride and martial ardor while
gazing upon tho we'll known picture
of the Revolution. the "Minutemen
OF 1876" forsaking the plowshare
and flying to take down tho old
1intlock at the tocsin Of war-the
throbbing of the drum and the shrill
screaming Of tho fife, sounded by
two SCARED veterans, bareheaded,
white haired and i'll their shirt
sleeves, marching through fields and
along tho roads, calling tho patriots
to arnsl
Every New England schoolboy
has read the story OF Abigail and
Elizabeth, tho sisters Of Ncwbury
port who during the Revolution re-
PEELED alono an attack Of tho British
by boating furiously an old drum
and blowing II fife. The British
troops, who were about to- land, hur-
ried back to their ships, thinking IL
whole army lay in ambush to re-
pulse them.
Thus did fife and drum drive of
the enemy and save town from,
pillage and ruin.
The military drum is supposed tc
have been introduced in Europe by
the Moors and Saracens during the
middle ages and was quickly adopt
ed by armies. The drum of TO-DAY
differs little, and in appear anct
! only, from the earliest form. 1t con
sists, as every boy knows. Of two
pieces of parchment or batter heads
stretched over the ends of hollow
cylinder, and is struck with sticks
For ages this instrument has beer
known among savage tribes ant
barbario nations, who use its weirt
music to accompany their religion.
rites, as we'll as for war purposes.
The tomtom Of The Sioux IndiaI
! is good example Of a primitiv.
drum.
In civilized warfare the drum ha.
ever been connected with deeds O.
martial valor, and it's voice is dear
to the heart of the soldier who ha.
followed it's pulsing into the deadly
/ fire of battle, or even in reviews ant
military parades, when rank upor
rank sweep up Il street keeping per
feet alignment and step to tn,
drum g inspiring beat.
1t has found a place in history
through the daring bravery of more
than one beardless boy who hat
sounded at the critical moment thu
pas de charge Or rally" just il
tine to turn tho tide Of battle.
Johnny Glenn, the drummer boy
of Shiloh" who beat the rally with
out orders when his regiment hat
broken, panic stricken, and thu.
helped to save the day, was made M
officer for his heroism and is now O
major in the United States army.
In fable. song and story tho drum
has evor kept pace with tho most
valiant deeds of mon. Rudyard Kip
ling's pathetic little story of ''Tht
Drums of tho Fore and Aft" two
courageous drummer boys who al
the cost of their own lives led the
charge and saved the honor Of thei,
regiment when routed by the
Afghans, tells Of deed such ns j.
to be found in history as well as in
fiction. More than once has the
drum claimed place in the front
rank Of storming battalions and lee
desperate charges in the van of {
victorious army.
What worder. then, thet ,ge Ice!
sorrowfu1ly into the future, whe1
battling will no longer be inspired
by the "war drums throb," for we
know that the advance Of military y
science, with all its death dealing
machine guns, magazine rifles and
its smokeless powder, will surely
sound the knell Of the drum.
Tho Tsrun fIaa ~ Tr.o cruts,s<v