The age-herald., 1900-12-14
SKETCHES FROM
 EVERYDAY LIFE

lustrate this will mention little Incident which happened at Jacksonville during the Spanish war. I was in the First Alabama Regiment, which, with the First Louisiana and First Texas, were brigaded together. Our brigadier general, Lloyd Wheaton, was a fine looking fellow and rode his horse with the ease of an Indian. The Second Ala bama, Second Louisiana and Second Texas were formed into a second brigade, and the two brigades were in one division, under the command of General Keller of Ohio. Gen. eral Keller weighed about a ton, and at division review it took all his energy and attention to keep his balance on his horse. So busy did this keep him that I don't think he ever saw any of the reviews he attended. We really felt sorry to see him puffing and blowing and holding on to his saddle, but in spite of this sympathy none of our men were inclined to like him, as we knew he was Yankee and a West Pointer, and therefore not apt to under stand the dispositions of our men.
 "Out of the two brigades men were se- lected to do various work around the gen. erals headquarters, as well as the regular guard duty This guard duty was very mo- notonous kind of work. Aside from keeping off the mosquitoes, there was really noth- ing to do. One night two of the sentries went to sleep; one of them was a mem Der of the Second Alabama and the other of Louisiana regiment. This is quite se- rious offense during war times. felt sorry for the men, but often wondered why more of them did not succumb to the ennui of guard duty and the 1anguor of the south- ern climate. Well. as I say, this was a se- rious offense, and a court martial was con- vened and a trial begun. Some of the of- f1cers who were West Pointers were for hanging the men as an example It was the only way to promote discipline, they ar gued, and it was the best thing to let the men understand at the outset what they had to expect for offenses of this kind. Other officers who were not such sticklers for discipline, and in consideration of the fact that the men were volunteers, were in favor of ten years imprisonment as the minimum punishment. When the matter came to old Keller to decide lots of our men thought the hanging proposition would be 'go.' Gentlemen said Keller, you are all too severe. You can't take greenhorns and make soldiers out of them in four months. I will give these men as punish ment two days extra work The officers particularly the West Pointers were dis gruntled, and the two sleepers, I supposed were delighted.
 ''The two men who had thus escaped death or long Imprisonment were put to work the next day at building a house. l think it was a store house to be used by headquarters, but that is immateral. The remarkable thing is that the two men had not been at work half a day when they struck Damn it. said one, throwing down his saw, I'm not any carpenter, and I didn't come in the army to do this kind of work and what's more, I'm not going to do it. With that he sat down in the shade and began to fan himself with his hat. His co-laborer entertained similar views and he also quit work and began to to take life easy. The matter was reported to Keller and every one who knew of the strike thought it would certainly go hard with the men this time. The general thought the matter over few moments, Tell the men to go back to their regi- ments,' he said, and not to let me hear of any further misconduct on their part
 This incident became known in the camp and the general became very popular. Tho two men became good soldiers, and tho whole affair, while not strictly according to military demands, perhaps, illustrated that the general realized there was a diff ference between the regular and the vol unteer and that the same standard could not be applied to both."
 People resort to all sorts of schemes to get women to marry them," remarked a man with bristly whiskers who looked as if he was considering the advisability of trying scheme of his own. Tn cient times the matter was very simple. The groom merely carried off the bride by force. Generally some artifce was neces- sary to entice her from home, as the games the Romans arranged for the Sabine women This plan is most too simple to meet the approval of modern ideas, and the force element has to be a secondary matter. I heard of a man who had been counting a widow for a long time without success. He finally came to the conclusion that the only way to induce the lady to take up her abode in his house was to
 
 so that nothing would be left for her to do but follow. He therefore hired a fur niture van, and stationing himself on the opposite sidewalk, watched the womans house. As soon as she came out and went down town he entered the house, and with the aid of the furniture men, took all her furniture and clothes and moved them to his house. This scheme, however, did not work. The woman on her return was not only surprised but indignant, and instead of wanting a marriage license she wanted a warrant, which she obtained, and had him arrested.
 Another similar instance was where the would-be husband stole the wouldn t-bs brides bicycle. She wanted it back, but the only condition on which he would re- store it was her agreement to marry him. This did not suit her, so she had him ar rested. Both the man and the woman In ,hie ;,stanca bap a be deaf muteS,