The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-03-09

the officers and enlisted men are as
rule of the most friendly nature, ant
they frequently fraternize in hours O
recreation. OF recent years athletic
sports have been widely encouraged
so that to day there is afoot ball team
or base ball nine made up of officers
and enlisted men at almost every army
post in the United States. This ref
erence to sports is made to show thai
the soldiers life is not altogether ar
unhappy one in time Of peace. Oh
course the soldier is required to per
form certain duties, sometimes he is
subjected to hardships occasioned by
severe weather, disagreeablc surround
ings and other discomforts, which
every soldier, be he officer or private,
must expect to encounterat some time
in his military career. Il is in time
Of war that the hardships fall heavily
upon the officers and the enlisted men
alike, and only those who have passed
through active campaigns can appre-
ciate the horrors Of destructive,
bloody, demoralizing war.
In making enlistments for the in
fautry and cavalry branches of the
service the same methods are employ
ed as in the artillery. Of course the
duties of the infantry men are not as
exacting as those Of an arsillerist. 1t
is true an infantryman in time of
peace is further removed from general
civilization than his brothers of artil-
fery and cavalry, and consequently
the natural hardships which arise in
modern army life fall most heavily
upon the infantry arm Of the service.
Under the head Of hardships in army
life it is sometimes necessary to separ-
ate a married man f fy6m his family.
To that end marriages among enlisted
men are not encouraged, and in max
ing enlistments it is considered de-
sirable to select single men in prefer
ence to men with families, all things
being equal. At many of the army
posts enlisted men are married and
live with their families. AS far as he
is able, the commanding officer Of a
post gives the married people quarters
by themselves, and the wives perform
various duties around the post, such
as washing, dressmaking, ETC., and in
that way many happy little family
is kept united. 1t sometimes occurs
that Cupid breaks into the ranks Of
the enlisted men at a military post
and then the victim of the god of love
is required to notify the commanding
officer Of bis intended plunge into
matrinony. AS far as he is able, the
commanding officer usually endeavors
to discourage marriage in the ranks,
but if the victim is persistent, the
commanding officer generally gives his
consent and manages to find quarters
for the newly welded pair.
Gen. Miles, in his last annual re-
port, paid high compliment to the
character and efficiency of the enlisted
men Of the army, and he said that it
had never been higher than at the
present time. The short term of ser
vice and liberal discharge by purchase
or order, of mcn who find themselves
unsuited hns eliminated from the army
most of those who are disadvantage
Gus element. Under the army regu-
lations every post is recruiting sta
ton. the object being to effect saw
ing in transportation. If vacancies
occur in one of the frontier regiments,
the officers of that post are allowed to
fill such vacancies locally, or as near
the post as possible. So it is with
the stations along the coast. If re-
crnits needed for duby in New Y York
harbor can be secured in Greater New
York, it is not necessary to go to the
Pacific coast fer them.
During the past year the recruiting
service has been conducted with un-
usually good results under the system
of sending the troops enlisted at the
various stations to regiments and posts
with the least prastical delay. Not
only have assignments been regularly
made from recruiting stations aud rem
devious every ten days, but very
large proportion of the men enlisted
at city stations have becnscnt at once
from the place of enlistment to the
post where they were to stay. SO
great has been the number of men Of
fering to enlist that recruiting at all
stations has been restrivted to enlist
msnt Of exceptionally desirable men,
without prior service, and to former
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