Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1900-01-02
.GIJIILIBLE ]MARINES7
NOT ATT. AL; THEY ARE "a PRETTY
!. } u FoxYi LOT OF HusTLERs. A ", n

| /, FOXY LOT OF HusTLERs.
One OF Uscle Sans Old WARRANT On
N GERS RELATES an Inciaent to show
| How Wide Awake They Car he
i B when the Occasion Demands 1t. a
I b "Whenever you hear 4 man employ
\ the expression Tell that to the Marines
I; with an intopation that attempts to pic
|. ture the sea soldier as the most gullible
OF human propositions. In uniform or out
| OF IL. you may safely conclude that that
man doesn't know what he lis talking
about sud q warrant officer of the navy
who served for many years as q master
at arms. When l was Jimmy Legs, az
the bluejackets call a ships master 1t,
arms, I came very close to losing the rat
ing badge off my sleeve and the brass
| buttons OF my blouse through the foxi-
ness Of pair Of marines on board my
ship. t ! & .''[ '.S;< .''r&%.ss
:~..One Of the best sea soldiers + was
ever shipmate with was an Irishman-
call him Jim Corrigan-who had the cor
poral's chevrons when he joined the ship.
/ was the Legs of. He came aboard at
the Mare Island navy yard before we
pulled up our mud hook for cruise down
the west coast of Mexico aud Central
and South America. He was a rafting
good soldier, u clean, spick and span man
who had in his ,ditty box a degree that
he had taken at the University OF, Dub
lin. He had but one apparent fault,
the one that doubtless worked him into
d sgoyernment straight uniform as SOL
der Of the ssea-which was an abiding
love for hot and rebellions liquors. He
kept this rum passion down while on
board ship, but whenever he hit the
!, beach be drank five glasses of liquor to
the one glass tossed off by any Of his
companions. marines or soldiers.
. ':From az quiet. reserved man he
changed into a. fighting smaniac when
drunk. .Corrigan didn't 60 ashore from
. the time he Joined the ship until We
pulled into the harbor, Of Acapulco. Then
: he went over the side. and within 20
minutes after he put his foot on the
beach he was fighting drunk on mescal
and knocking down Greasers in sets of
fours, He didn't show up aboard for
four days, breaking his liberty three
days. He was still drunk and ugly when
he reported himse to the officer Of the
deck. The officer of the deck said to
him, well, Corrigan, you've made a mess
of it this time-three days overdue and
still in your potations.' And Corrigan
made, for him:
ut means death In some of the worlds
naYies even in time Of peace for an en-
listed man to raise his hand to an officer.
but the punishment is bit less severe in
our outfit. Corrigan was beaten down
and overcome after terrific struggle.
He was put in double irons in the brig,
and general court martial charges We're
Immediately preferred against him. He
was to be shipped up to Mare Island,
with an escort, on one of the up going
Panama boats, for his general court mar
tial, and the least he could expect was
dishonorable discharge and three years
at the smallest calculation at hard labor
in the Mare Island naval prison. There
wasn't to be a boat up bound for San
Francisco for ten days or so, and we
were booked to remain at Acapulco for
couple of weeks. :: = ..'.- 49,.
Georgian was quiet and incidentally
pretty sore in more ways than one when
he came out Of his mescal trance. lnas-
much as the temperature of the brig was
about 100 degrees and the steamer would
not be along for ten days, he was given
the liberty Of the ship during the day
and only confined in the brig after pipe
down. The top sergeant OF the marine
guard and myself were ordered to watch
him closely to see that he didn't 90 over
the side.
"Corrigan's only chum and confdant
aboard was another marine, also an
Irishman-call him Mike Gallagher
who, like Mulvaney. had often been re-
jooced' from the corporal's rate. He was
then private. Corrigan and Gallagher
were noticed to have their heads together
a good deal while the former was wait
ing for the steamer to come along and
take him up to the navy yard for trial,
but l didn't suspect anything.
"0ne' afternoon. Gallagher put in for
liberty, Liberty parties used to leave
the ship in that port shortly before 6
O'clock in the, evening. On the afternoon
before Gallagher put his name down for
liberty young ensign had Joined the
ship, arriving on a south bound Panama
boat. When the new ensign, who was
the officer of the deck, started to call of
the names Of the men in the liberty par
ty, among the first was that of Michael
Gallagher. When Gallagher's name was
called of, Jim Corrigan, spick and span
in his best uniform, stepped forward, sa-
luted, said Here, SIR and walked down
the ladder to the launch. The ensign
didn't know his face from Gallagher's,
having just joined the ship the day be-
fore. The Is men in the liberty party
knew, though, and the audacity Of Cor
rigan's move stunned them. They under
stood it instantly, however, and it wasn't
up to them to say anything.
1.-THE liberty party was checked off on
the book. and away went the cutter to
the shore, Corrigan sitting in the stern
sheets as cool rs a cucumber. The other
men in the cutter didn't say anything to
him. Men-o'war's men are not talka-
tive under such circumstances. Corrigan
stepped off the cutter. made straight for
a place where he knew he could hire
horse, and within half an hour after he
left the ship he was striking into the in
terror for the railroad. He had $500 in
gold, the savings Of a former enlistment,
along with him. He has never been heard
of since. ,
when the liberty party left the ship.
Gallagher was hiding under a tarpaulin
on, the to'gallant fo'c'sle. When dark
ness fell with tropical suddenness. he let
himself down the anchor chains, swan
ashore, and the next morning he returned