Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1899-05-20

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cart and some sacking and mounds and
mounds of roses, and the body, under
sacking, was carried out to the place
where the anthrax cases we're cremated,
Two thirds of the regiment followed,
There was no band, but they all sang
tThe Place Where the Old Horse Died
as something respectful and appropriate
to the occasion. When the corpse was
dumped into the grave and the men be-
gan throwing down armfulsN of roses to
cover it, the farrier sergeant ripped out
an oath and said aloud, ''Why, it ain |
the drum horse any more than it's
mel" The troop sergeant majors asked
him whether he had left his head in
the canteen The farrier sergeant said
that he knew the drum horse feet as
well as he knew his own. but he was
silenced when he saw the regimental
number burned in on the poor, stiff,
upturned near fore.
Thus was the drum horse of the
White hussars buried-th e farrier ser
geant grumbling. The sacking that Gov
cred the corpse was smeared in places
with black paint, and the. farrier ser
geant drew attention-to this fact But
the troop sergeant major of E troop
kicked him severely on the shin and
told him that he was undoubtedly
drunk.
On the Monday following the burial
the colonel sought revenge on the White
hussars Unfortunately. being at that
time temporarily III command of the
station, he ordered brigade field day.
He said that he wished to make the
regiment ''sWeat for their damned inso-
lence, and he carried out his notion
thoroughly. That Monday was one of
the hardest days in the memory of the
White hussars. They were thrown
against a skeleton enemy and pushed
forward and withdrawn and dismount-
ed and scientifically handled" in eV-
cry possible fashion over dusty country
till they sweated profusely Their only
amusement came late in the day when
they fell upon the battery of horse ar
tillery and chased it for two miles. This
was personal question, and most of
the troopers had money on the event,
the gunners saying openly that they
had the legs of the White hussars They
were wrong. A march past concluded
the campaign, and when the regiment
got back to it's lines the men were
coated with dirt from spur to chin
strap
The White hussars have one great and
peculiar privilege. They won it at Fon-
tenoy, I think.
Many regiments possess special rights,
such as wearing collars with undress
or a bow of ribbon between
the shoulders, or red and white roses in
their helmets on certain days Of the
year. Some rights are connected with
saints and some with regi-.
mental successes. All are valued highly,
but none SO highly as the right Of the
White hussars to have the band playing
when their horses are being watered in
the lines. J, Only one tune is played and
that tune never varies | don t know
it's real name, but the White hussars
call it "Take Me to London Again /"
It sounds very pretty. The regiment
would sooner be struck off the roster
than forego its distinction.
After the ''dismiss was sounded, the
officers rode off home to prepare for
stables and the men filed into the lines,
riding easy-that is to say, they opened
their tight buttons, shifted their he'll
NETS, and began to joke or to swear as
the humor took them, the more careful
slipping off and easing girths and curbs
A good trooper values his mount exact
y as much as he values himself, and
believes, or should believe, that the two
together are irresistible where women i
II men. girls or guns, are concerned.
Then the orderly officer gave the or
Ter water horses, and the regiment
oafed off to the squadron troughs which
we're in rear of the sta bles and between
hese and the barracks. There were four
luge troughs, one for each squadron,
arranged en- echelon, so that the, whole
egiment could water in ten minutes if
t liked But it fingered for II, as a
ule, while the band played.
The band struck up as the squadrons
lied off the troughs, and the men slip
Jed their feet out of the stirrups and
.haffed each other. The sun was just
etting in a big, hot bed of red cloud, |
md the road to the civil lines seemed to
un straight into the sun s eye. There |
vas little dot on the road. 1t grew
md grew till it showed as horse, with |
sort of gridiron thing. on his back
The red cloud glared through the bars
f the gridiron. Some of the troopers
haded their eyes with their hands and
aid, What the mischief as that there
orse got on i'm p
In another minute they heard neigh
hat every Boul-horse and MANN the
egiment knew, and saw. heading
traight toward the band, the dead
rum horse Of the White hussarsl
On his withers banged and bumped
he kettledrums draped in Grape, and
n his back, very stiff and soldierly, sat
bareheaded skeleton.
The band stopped playing, and for
there was hush.
Then some one in E troop-men said
t was the troop sergeant major swung
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