The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1898-07-09
LEROY FARMER, Special Agent
BLANKET ETIQUETTE
There Is a Right and n Wrong Way to
behave While Being Tossed
in the Air.

While packing the box to send to the
front to the gallant soldier with red
flannel and socks and light underwear
and other things which are more album
dant here than they are in Tampa or
Jacksonville the wise parent might In
close a little pamphlet on How to Act
When Tossed in a Blanket" The sol
disr who has never been thrown in
the air by his comrades in jovial spirit
has something to learn Of the joys Of
soldering, and II can never be learned
outside Of the blanket. There are GER
tain rules and regulations, unwrItten,
20 be sure, but none the less part and
parcel Of the army regulations, govern
ing the pleasing custom of blanket
ing" soldiers, instructions as to how TO
hold the blanket, how TO capture the
victim, the number of times a man of
q certain weight can be tossed and also
a few instructions to the fellow who
goes up in the air.
II these could be collected and issued
In pamphlet form IL would be n good
thing, for now and then some little
trouble ensues when either party TO the
blanketlng expedition does not know
how to act. There are two lines Of con-
duct open to the man in the blanket,
and one OF them is eminently correct,
while the other may lead TO disaster and
trouble.
When q squad OF soldiers is seized
with a desire to speed the COLDER mo-
ments by tossing somebody, the u ual
course is TO wait until all the officers
are gone from the company street and
then secure a blanket from a tent.
Aboutl5 strong-armed men then lounge
toward the unsuspecting victim, the
blanket being concealed lest the game
be flushed. When they are directly be-
hind him the blanket is spread open in
Ttingly, while a couple of soldiers
"stall"-that Is, engage the victim in
conversation to distract his attention.
When all is ready one Of them pushes
him suddenly, he falls on the blanket
and he is lost. There Is no use to weep
and there is no use to moan when this
happens. The soldier who Is to be tossed
might as well make up his mind to take
his medicine gracefully, with the re-
Election that he will have a hand In
tossing some Que else as soon as his ex-
ercise Is over. The proper thing to do
instead of grabbing the edge Of the
blanket and trying to climb out or
struggle with those nearest him is for
the soldier to curl himself up in a ball,
clasping his knees inside his locked
arms and ducking his head on his
breast Then let the rough workers 20
ahead, and there is little chance for
trouble. This might be designated "the
right way"
The man who spraddles himself all
over the blanket, tries to seize the edges
when he comes down and grasps yio-
lently at the air when be is up above
the tents, is likely to have trouble. As
soon as he is dumped into the sagg!ng
blanket the men give 1t n quick yank
and he flies in the air like n stone from
a sling shot. The blanket Is held taut
TO receive his fall, like the net under
the trapeze performers at the circus,
and as he strikes II another yank sends
him up again and half n dozen times the
toss Is repeated. II he manages TO
grab the edge Of the blanket he is liable
TO be spilled out sidewise, which is no
good way. There is only one thing 10
do when the blanket committee arrives
and that is TO grin and stand IL and try
to get your moneys worth.
When the first man has had all the
tossing that is coming TO him he ia
dumped out OF the blanket and quick
as a flash some n else follows him.
usually n of the blanketers who
helped toss him. A couple of willing
arms grab a victim previously desig-
mated and he is dumped into the blan-
ket head first and away goes the game
again. 1t is kept up until the "com-
mittee" is too tired TO do any more work
and then everybody lies down for
awhile.
Some officers frown upon the sport as
being childish and dangerous, for nov
and then a man misses the blanket on
his downward trip and strikes the
ground with a force which jars a whole
county.-Chicago Chronicle.