The evening times., 1899-09-04

figure of that kind of a burlesque- Major
Simons telegraphed: by no means obey
such an ORDER adding that he himself as
commander of the artillery in the State
knew nothing OF an order having been
issued through the regular military chan
nels-
There seemed to be mystery about the
thing, and Major Simons accordingly sent
TO Adjutant General Nalle the communica-
tion he received from Captain Warren and
enquiring il such an order had been issued
General Nalle replied that nothing of the
kind had passed through his office, and he
was not aware that any had been issued
He thought there must be a mistake some
where. Shortly after this Major Simons
receiv ID a communication from the adju- =
tant general saying that he learned that
an order directing that Captain Warren
lead out his battery to protect an umpire
had been issued directly from the Gov
ernor himself. rather spicy correspond
ence between the adjutant general and
Major Simons followed. and the latter sent
a dignifed communication to the Gov
ernor announcing that if the artillery OF
the State was TO be used as Punch and
Judy show, he would resign his command,
and he intimated that the other commiS-
stoned officers would follow his example.
1t appeared 10 the adjutant general as
well as to Major Simons that the Governor
arose as to how he should get 1t out. At
first Major Simons was not easily concil-
lated for his dignity was well nigh out
ragged when his telephone rang and a voice
came over the wire saying that the uptown
and downtown Chinese laundrymen were
going to play a game of ball for the hene-
fit of Wah Chang's unpaid funeral ex-
penses and wanted a battery to protect
| the umpire.
Governor Tyler then softened his heart,
and wrote 10 the Elks' committee of ar
rangements and countermanded the order
/ to bring out the artillery, adding that
rather than offend Major Simons and
| Captain Warren, he thought 1t would be
better not to furnish the battery as body
guard to the umpire. After several further
| official communications, the matter was
| dropped, but not until the facts leaked out
| and set the military tongues to wagging.
| Governor Tyler's opponents have made
all the political capital they could out OF
| this incident, but it is noticed that few
members of the old Richmond Light In
! fantry Blues Battalion Joined in the oppo-
sition. Naturally, there were enquiries
| about this, and a well-known mill
| tary man here has endeavored 10 explain
| it, According to his statement, the Blues
| are among the greatest paraders in this
! country, except that variegated organiZa-
| tion uniformed after a method suggest
| ed by Joseph's coat of many colors, and
| pompously known as the Ancients and
| Honorables of Boston. When the Blues
| threw of the hardtack and discipline near
| Havana and returned home, they were only
| a little ahead of Memorial Day. For many
| years they had formed part of the pro-
| cession to Hollywood. where lie the re-
mains of 80, 600 Confederate soldiers. This
| time the question arose whether they had
a legal right to parade with arms before
| they were duly reorganized.
The ladies Of the Hollywood Memorial
Association were exceedingly anxious for
| the Blues TO take part, and so were the
Blues. They always are Governor Tyler
was appealed to- He felt that 1t would
| be an unwise movement on the political
checkerboard to antagonize the ladies,
and so he asked Attorney General Andrew
Jackson Montague to let him know If he
/ could legally order out the Blues. Mr.
Montague wrote him that the law on the
subject was so clear as to require no opin-
| ion from him. Governor Tyler insisted
| upon a legal opinion, however, and the
attorney general took the position that
no body of men could bear arms in the
| State unless duly organized under the
laws. The Blues were not organized and
hence could not legally parade with arms.
"Tell Jack Montague he must decide my
boys to parade
But the Attorney General declared he
could not decide the question, except ac-
cording to the law existing.
well, I'm going to let 'em parade, any
how" declared the Governor, and the Blues
| showed up in the procession smiling to
the ladies'. The Blues like the Governor
pretty well now and the Governor likes
the Blues.