The age-herald., 1898-07-31
WEALTH, WAR, AND
 SOME FUNNY STORIES
BY LULU HUDSON.

l the matter there is no more reason why l a poor man should volunteer for service
 in the army than a rich man. It may be
 said that the former is glad of the soldiers pay that the latter does not need, but there l are very few men who could not make more money any other way than as serv-
 ing as privates in Uncle Sans army Gen
 erally speaking, it comes to a question of
 patriotism-of doing ones duty to ones country-and of course the obligation is
 on rich and poor alike.
 
 Admitting this to be true, it is one thing | for man who is accustomed to being poorly housed, ill-fed, and meanly clothed | to enter into conditions little if any worse than those to which he is used, and quite a different matter for man who has been reared in the greatest luxury who has
 unlimited means at his disposal and every comfort and pleasure that money can pro- cure, to cheerfully and of his own free will
 and accord, turn his back on these things for a life of hardship among surround
 ings with which his experience has ill-fitted him to contend. Neither can the possibil- ity of death on the battlefield have quite the same horrors for the poor fellow who has had hard time to get along and has
 little or nothing to live for, that it has for
 the men of wealth and position who has at his command everything that is generally
 supposed to make life worth the living The papers that seem to have taken such
 delight in pointing the finger of scorn at
 those enormously wealthy Americans whom
 they choose to term the leisure class, can nd mo wit the record Of
 John Jacob Astor from the very beginning of the present war. As soon as he re-
 ceived his appointment as colonel on Gen eral Shafter's staff he went to work for his
 country and no poor man toughened to the hard work he has had to do could have kept it up with better will than he has, Usually at this season he has been tray cling in Europe sailing about in a yacht
 amidst cooling breezes, or enjoying the
 delights of Newport, which is thronged
 with fashionable people at this time of the year. Neither in all that throng is there
 a couple who have a better time than MT. | and Mrs. Astor, for he is an attractive
 man with unlimited wealth, she has great beauty and charm, and both have the best of social positions. Instead he has passed
 the summer first working early and late at Chickamauga, and since then sharing with the soldiers at Santiago the untold hard ships of that campaign Instead of the luxury of a marble bath room, his ablutions have been performed in a tin basin-and
 mighty lucky he was if he had that. h. stead of terrapin, patti defoie gras, cham paigne, etc., Colonel Astor has dined upon hard tack and bacon and no doubt partook of both with an excellent appetite He has given his means, his time, and if neces- sary his life to the cause. He IS no hero.
 He has only done his duty. But how
 many of us in his lucky shoes would have done the same?
 Then there was poor young Hamilton Fish, who gave up his life so bravely in that terrible onslaught of the rough riders. A great stalwart fellow, six feet or more in height, in the front of the fight, he was an easy mark for Spanish bullets Who had more to live for than he? Heir to millions and ilustrious name, adored by his family and beloved by his friends, it was precious life-blood that flowed from his veins on a Cuban battlefield that fatal
 day. There was nothing of the dude or "chappie about young MT Fish. His father urged him to secure commission
 which family influence might easily have procured, but he refused declaring he was better fitted to be private. He was urged to take some money with him, but he re- fused to take penny except what he earned as a common soldier His mother begged him to take some things for his comfort, but he said he did not want them q will go down there among the boys without any coddling" he said. T am
 going as a private and I expect to share the
 hardships that belong to private's life. I'll not take a cent. l am going to live on
 my pay What Uncle Sam considers good
 enough for the other boys is good enough for Hamilton Fish"
 His father begged him to take some hi-
 tering paper to protect him from the poi sonous water of the tropics.
 .tNo." he said q am not going to take
 any Altering paper, either. l Will pot be
 made Molly of by my father or any one
 else. I am going to do the best l can and
 am going to do 1t without Altering paper
 or any other nonsense"
 The brightest reports came to MT. and
 Mrs. Fish of their sons gallantry. He
 had been made a sergeant. He was in the
 thick of the fight He had saved the life
 of a little Mexican girl. Then there came the time in the middle of the night when
 Mrs. Fish as awakened and told that her son was dead.
 Though poor man comparatively, it is doubtful if any one has made greater sac rifices in joining the army than w. J.
 Bryan. As a lawyer, MT. Bryan has al-
 ways led a more or less sedentary life It
 may not be generally known but it is said to be a fact, that when he accepted his commission he knew nothing whatever about horsemanship. As for military drill,
 he did not know the first principles. To
 make his task harder, he has all his life felt the greatest aversion to firearms of any description whatever. When he per- sonally took charge of the Third Nebraska regiment things were in very bad shape, in- deed. Scarcely any effort was made to observe military methods. Salutes were unknown, challenges were laughed at Re- cruits rushed the pickets when they de- sired a night off. All of this was quickly changed. Hard studT soon made Colonel Bryan fine drillmaster Despite the fact that when his horse was first brought to him he attempted to mount from the right instead of the left side. Browning test of a mans ignorance of horsemanship) On military day in Omaha he was said to be the most graceful horseman to be seen. The regiment is no longer disorderly and