The Portland daily press., 1899-06-08
ROUT CAUSED BY BEES.
Consequences In the Civil War of One
Soldiers Unrestricted Appetite. Z

Washington June g. -"Soldiers when
in the field are more apt to be governed
by their appetites and personal desires
than by any abstract principle of right.
II something TO eat Is within reach they
appropriate it first--and who can blame
them ?-and consider the prop riety of the
thing afterward. I've been hearing so
much OF their deprsdations around Chat
tanooga last summer from some .frien DIS
ofSmine who suffered thereby thstsl am
reminded of an incident along tina same
line which happened in the civil war
when was county lad, said man
high in official life to some listening club
aoquain tances, the other evening
During the civil war we live in the
end house of little village of dozen
families. An infantry regiment halted
in field just back of our house late one
summer afternoon. We had large gar
den full of vegetables, and in few min
utes fully half of them were yanked out
of this ground by the soldiers. My
mother sent me to the Colonel to ask pro-
lection. This was promised and a guard
'We.also had u number of beshives at
the foot OF the garden. A private
thought to supply his comrades with
some delicious honey by slipping up
and capturing hive. it had been rain
ing little, and as 1t was about dusk,
the bees were all inside the hives. The
private climbed the paling fence, spread
a blanket upon the ground, carefully lit
ud lt Iva frnt re tn t.Io 10
the centre of tue blanket, grasped the
four corners tightly and flung 1t over his
shoulders. He got safely over the fence,
and to get back to camp had TO cut GROSS
the only street OF the town, just in front
OF where the town pump was placed. A
large trough had recently been built at
which to water the horses of a couple of
cavalry regiments stationed 70 the south
of us. AT this hour the troughs were
surrounded by tho horses shaking their
thirst The private had to run TO make
his way past the horses, the bees got con-
siderably shaken up, and some found an
exit from the blanket and vigorously at
tackled their captor. With yell of pain
he dropped the hive and sprang into the
water trough to drown the bees that had
invaded his clothes and hair.
Most of the bees, having gained freq
dom, at once attacked the horses, which
stampeded in all directions. Several en-
tered our garden and rushed along madIy
until they knocked over the bench en-
which were all the beehives. OF course
the poor hcrses were thoroughly mad
dened with pain, and broke dawn all the
fences in the neighsorhood in their furi-
Gus galloping, and dashed through the
camp followed by whole swarms of bees
that invaded the tents and gave battle to
every living thing. Many soldiers were
rendered helpless by pain from the stings.
Those who could lied across the fields
for miles before the bees abandoned pur-
suit and returned to their hives which
my father, with net drawn over his head
and hands, had readjusteu.
ssSome of the cavalry horses were never
recovered, as the Regiments had &c, leave
in fsw days, but the infantry was
forced to remain in our neigh orh ood
nearly a week until the soldiers got over
their stings."