The herald., 1898-07-15

he is six feet tall. His coat, built by
some prairie post tailor, wrinkles over
his back and chest; but his back is like
the, side. Of. a, house, and under the
wrinkles there is. chest like hogshead
of Burton beer. His brown canvas leg
gings do not fit him very we'll; but that is
because his calves are too big for any
reasonable size of Logging.
No; he is certainly not a good sample OF
the ornamental army officer; but he is a
perfect picture Of health and strength
and vigor and condition. When he
moves it is with the easy, graceful free
dom Of the athlete. When he rests there
Is the athletes easy grace in his attitude.
If he is not ornamental he is impressively
picturesque, and, if / were, Spanard, or
two, or even half a dozen Spaniards,
fancy should be anxious to keep out OF
his way.
He received his military training at the
West Point Military academy. He has
learned his trade in a twenty years ap-
premiership out west, fighting Indians
and-which is just as difficult-keeping
Indians from fighting. He has dis
tinguished himself dozen times, does not
know the meaning of fear, hardly knows
the meaning Of fatigue, is as simple and
honest, and truthful and modest as he is
tall and straight and strong and brave,
and is lieutenant still, after twenty
years service, not because he has not de-
served promotion, but because in this
democratic land, they are So fearful Of
promotion going by favor, that, they make
promotion a hard and fast matter of
seniority.
The. stoutl solid, looking. elderly gentle
man in a straw hat, who, in his severely
plain blue uniform, looks like a. metropol-
itan police superintendent. is the general
General Wade. The other placid, stout,
solid, elderly gentleman, who also looks
like metropolitan police superintendent,
is the other general-General Shafter.
They are not glittering ornaments; but
General Wade is known throughout the
army as Fighter from Bloodvile," and
General Shafter, though he occupies so
much of the space in his rocking chair,
has been famous ever since the war, for
the vigor and dash Of his fighting meth
DDS.
The tall, spare, gray, elderly man, who
keeps a cigar wagging between his teeth
all the while he is talking, is colonel.
Except for his riding boots and the
straps across his shoulders, and the yell
low stripe down the seam Of his trousers
leg, he looks like gas meter inspector;
but he is as hard as wire rope, and is,
they say, the very perfection of cavalry
officer. The men who stand or sit about
in groups looking like overgrown school
board men are all officers-majors and
captains and lieutenants. You could not
describe them as snowy; but they all
stand liks athletes and they all have the
easy, confident style of the man who
knows his business and who knows that he
knows 1t.
The rank and. file would not fetch fancy
prices as works of art. You may see
hundreds Of them walking about on the
wooden platform Sidewalks of the little
town. They wear brown laced leggngs
like their officers; rough blue serge
trousers, generally the worse for wear;
loose serge shirts Of a shade darker blue,
and soft felt broad brimmed gray SLOUGH
hats, with a narrow, pinched up fore and
aft dent in the crown. They remind you
of the men who do the rough work In a
circus-hard faced men, with square jaws
and proving eyes. They smoke inces-
sanity, there is reason to suspect that
they chew q. good deal; in conversation
they necessarily invoke holy name and
every time they invoke 1t they spit. But
their average height is five feet eight
inches, or five feet nine inches, and every
man looks like an,athlete. Afoot they go
with great, swinging strides; mounted,
they sit in their saddles as If they had been
born there. Physically, they are as fine.
soldiers as one could wish to see-every
man a picture Of health and strength.
TITS like this says my lieutenant. I'VE
don't keep any big army, but what we got
gets big money; 20 we only want the
best, and we can AFFORD to be very
sohoosy' ii our recruiting. And when q
good man joins the eutdt he lives good,