Arizona republican., 1899-02-11

them by the two singers lC whom i
 had been suggested by the first aer
 eeant. and they decided to hit nj
 TIuachuca. just for lucl1--aot that the.
 considered the sergeant eligible to tall
 for the whole post, but 1t was . las
 resort, and they were in bad hole Two days later the whole outfit, witt
 the first sergeant at the front and sor
 Of acting as scOut arrived on the out
 skirts of the post. There were four
 teen bucj1bo9Tds. each holding tWt members Of the company, behind him and behind the buckbOards were si1
 four-mile road wagons, loaded dowT
 with the company's trunks and tho
 scenery and properties. The top ser
 geant paid the big railroad and wag0l
 transportation bill out of the winnings The officer of the day met the curious looking cayalc3de on the garrison out
 skirts
 What the devil is this. sergeant? | he asked drawing the top soldier a lii | tic away from the crowd.
 Comic opera outfit I've brought down from Deming,' said the sergeant
 and he toid tho story The officer went away. grin@ing, to see the com lnanding ofiicer-cre of the finest sol GicTs and gentlemen that ever looked from beneath . peaked cap.
 " Sergeant COnrOy's got a bunch Of thirty comic opera singers, just in from Deming, down near the corral, said the officer of the day to 'Che beak. Do they get in. sir?'
 'fThe cid mans face was wre8thed ir smiles.
 I wonder what that confounded ruffanl be doing next?' he exclaimed. Why, the devilish nerve of him! Do they get in, sir? Of course they get it! NOW. At once. They'll be a godsand in this general dosolation. Just what this command would do without that bIackguard of a first sergeant-you may just bring the whole outfit to me ct once. sir
 By the time the twenty-eight mem bars of the company. with the ser geant still It their head. were drawn ID in their buckbOards in front of the comDany's quarters the whole com mand officers and their families and enlisted men. lad turned out. The old man received the singers cordially and tho officers and their wives got in to conference with him. Ten minutes later all Of the seventeen women-a mighty good looking, well behaved lot Cf women, toe, they Were-.weTe slugly chartered with the families of the mar ried officers, and ten eleven male sing e1's-a gentlemanly set of fellows were comfortably fixed all to them selves. in an unused hErrack room.
 You never saw a. post liven up like Huachuca did from Inc moment the company got in. The enlisted mon spent all their time carrying Sergeant Conroy around on their shoulders and blowing him off at the canteen, and the officers and their wives told each other Of the hundred and one occasions on which ConrOy had always done just the right thing at the proper moment. When you reflect upon what lone scme, dreary, off-the-earth garrison Huachuca is ycu'u understand what godsend COnfOy's cO-ralliEg Of the opera company for us was.
 "A big detail was set to work to rig up 2 quarte-master's storeroom for . theater, and on the next night The Mascot was given amid scenes Of en- thusiasm such IS never saw before CT since. The company was really admir- able. l don't understand yet how such clever people ever got down in that country. Some of lis hadn't seen 9 shaw Cf any kind for year, and you can imagine what children we were when these people, with first-class c-s- tunes, properties and scenic effects, gave Us such tunefal pretty thing as The Mascot with finish beauty and effect. The members of the company, too, seemed to be having just as much fun as we Werc-We were So tremend- oUsly appreciatlve. they said
 The next night they did 'Olivette for us. I've seen that opera in good many swell theatecs, but it never sounded SC well to me as it did at Hua- chuca. We were all thoroughly mashed on the members of the company by this time. and hated to think of them leav- ing us. If the men had yielded to our persuasiOns not Q one of 'em would have been sober during the week they spent with us and our wives made much of the women singers and grew very fond of them. They stayed with us week, giving us two more operas, The Pirates of Penzance' and To- lanthe, and they had $2,809 Of the posts gladly given money when they left US, cheering for Sergeant Conroy and Huachuca. They were all posi- lively in tears when they quit us, and it took us all week to recover from the Jumps after they moved out