The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1899-05-05

regimental fnneral-a finer one than
they would have given the colonel had
he died just then. They got bullock
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 were cremnted
Two-thirds of the regiment followed
There was no band, but they all sang
1.-The 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 armfuls Of roses to
cover it, the farrier sergeant ripped out
an oath and said aloud, why, it ain I
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 horses 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.
nus WAS lut uIun uOISt OI lut
White hussars buried-the 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 in 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 ont his notion
thoroughly That Monday was one of
the hardest days in the memory of the
White hussars. They were thrown
against 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forward and withdrawn and dismount-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 ppon the battery Of horse ar.
tillery and chased it for two miles. This
was "A personal question. and most of
the troopers had money on the event.
the guuners 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 its 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 | think
Many regiments possess special rights
such as wearing collars with undress
uniform, 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
regimental 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. Only one tune is played and
that tune never varies. ! don know
its real name but the White hussars
call il Take Me to London Again "
1t 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 hel.
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
ly as much as he values himself, and
believes, or should believe. that the two
together are irresistible where women
or men, girls or guns, are concerned
Then the orderly officer gave the or
der water horses, and the regiment
loafed off to the squadron troughs which
were in rear of the stables and between
these and the barracks There were four
huge troughs, one for each squadron,
arranged en- echelon, so that the whole
regiment could water in ten minutes il
it liked But it fingered for II, as a
rule, while the band played
The band struck up as the squadrons
filed off the troughs, and the men slip
ped their feet out of the stirrups and
chaffed each other The sun was just
setting in big, hot bed of red cloud,
and the road to the civil lines seemed to
run straight into the suns eye. There
was little dot on the road 1t grew
and grew till it showed as horse, with
a sort Of gridiron thing on his back,
The red cloud glared through the bars
of the gridiron Some Of the troopers
shaded their eyes with their hands and
said what the mischief az that there
orse got on imT
In another minute they heard a neigh
that every soul-horse and MANN the
regiment knew and saw, heading
straight toward the band, the dead
drum horse of the White hussars
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