The times., 1899-05-15
QUEER NAMES IN TIE ARMY.
Many OF Them Invented by Would
We Soldiers,
(From the New York Sun.


Uncle Sam has to be mighty particular
when he picks out his first sergcants."
said a battle-scarred old fellow who
wore the yellow chevrons CT hrst SER
geant OF cavalry
"'Tisn't every man in a company can
twist his tongue about the names t at
come up in roll-cali. and al things equal
the chap with the handy tongue gets the
diamond above his three stripes
If anyone doubts the necessity fer ea5e
and fiexibillty OF speech just let him gst
a muster roll of one of the regular regi-
ments in the service and try to read tee
names of the enlisted men hurried y. A
knowledge of English, Irish, Pol .sh, Rus
sian, German. Swedish, Italian, Norwe-
gian. French. and haif DOZEN o;her Ian
guages would be OF great value, for all
these and many more nationalitie5 are
represented and SO mixed up in the ar
rangenent of the rol that man needs j
ready adaptability OF speech to make the
quick changes from German gutturals to
fluent French or from Norwegian aspi-
rates to Welsh consonants.
Uncle Sam cares not a rap for the name
his soldier bears; the man behind the cog
nomen is what the Government looks at.
The doctors who examine lin fnd cut all
about an applicant SO far as physical con-
even the shrewGest officer on recruiting
duty is not able to tell whether a man
gives his real name or has mad enc up
on the spur of the moment. Here are a
few taken from the rolls of an infantry
regiment quartered at some o. the po.ts
in this State which snow a fairy wide
range of speech: Gsnireaux, York. Nora
gong. Munskofsky. Nuno. Vlvcores,
Weirschwrack, Bryiski, Jrs, Piehko ~sky.
Huic, Sikora, Wilkaitis, Upa;ke, Smink.
Fenafeather, Sch!ehr, Adamiah, Eohonan,
Szekely.
In the cavalry branch of the army there
are a notable four who rejoice in these
names: Shoemaker, Shoecraft, Shine, and
Shoesmith.
Looking over the hospital roster one is
struck by some queer freaks in nomeneia-
ture. This part OF the army is compara-
lively small, yet il the corps are found
such apt names as Health, Payne Pummel
Livengcod, Eillsinger, Leech Joy, Strong.
Haliwell. and Uppencamp
1t would be a mighty sick man that
couldn't make pun with those names,
and. when well enough to hohb!e around
the cooks tents. have some fun with Bak-
er. Phair, omeiette. Tee, Beer Rice, Wood,
Ash. or Chip Nlecum, all of whom are
mustered as company cooks, and are show
ing the natives in the West Indies or the
Philippines how Yankee soldiers are fed
In the artillery branch. which, by reason
of being stationed cE the coasts, is largely
recruited from the foreign element. odd
sounding names are frequent. The follow
ing are samples Omensetter Gackiewicz.
Sherfesee. Boleriack. Swantak, Henwetter.
Prochaska, Zwoboda. Yourt Hightower.
Twellyan. and Zuanzig.
There Is of course no way of knowing
what a mans hp ba 10
he chooses to be known by and gives at
the time he enlists. By that name he is
called unless, as sometimes happens, SOL
dier becomes tired of using an assumed
name and applies to the authorities at
Washington and has his own name substi-
tuted On the records. But 1t is easy to
guess that many names are hastily assum-
ed In the presence of the recruiting officer
For instance. it is not hard to understand
the emotions that actuated the men who
gave these names on entering the army:
job Love. Hope, Snap, Pluck, Beginner
Done, Trump, and Lost.
A few years ago the army was full OF
Sullivans, then came a crowd of men who
gave their names as Corbett when making
application. Every prize fight of any i'm
portance results in large percentage of
the men who present themselves for ex-
animation giving the name of one or the
OtilCI VI lIIG pIlENlDdlS l1GSe
candidates are of class that lead lives
which thoroughly unfit them for soldering
and they are rejected. Just now the ia
verite names Of this class are Sharkey AMI
Sloan.
Such names are common in the infantry
as Foot, Walker, Leggitt; in the cavalry as
Rider, saddler, Sword; in the artillery and
ordnance as Ball, Gum. and Cannon. Per-
haps these are genuine, and ii so the COIN
cidences are more marked. Perhaps the
names were taken by recruits in a spirit
of jest or with desire to conceal their
identity. for it is 4 fact that many of the
best men in the ranks of the army have
gone into the service to avoid some trouble.
real or fancied, under assumed names. and
once in full touch with the life OF a SOL
dier have re-enlisted, using the false name
in order to reap all the benefits that accrue
from continuous service
Recruiting officers all over the country
now report that a better class of men than
ever before are presenting themselves for
enlistment, and probably on this account
the old aliases will gradually be obliterated
from the rolls with the muster out of the
present holders.
The rapidly increasing population OF Germany
Eecessitatss i corresponding increase in the i'm