Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-06-14

Maybe you have served In the ranks
and know all about it; but. If not. let
me tell you that war develops strange
things in men. In a company of 100
men you will find more love, romance
and sorrow than you would hear Of
among 1000 men at home. 1t was
comrades pleasure and duty to share
these things with comrade. At home
a man would not have talked of his
love, his hopes and fears even to a
brother. Down there In the enemy's
country, In hut or tent or lying under
the same blanket after the days fight
or march, man turned to man and whis-
pered his secrets. 1t was because we
marched together, fought together, ate
together and the shadow of death COW
cred US all alike.
You like man who has shared your
hardships; you love him when he has
shared your dangers. So 1t was that
one might sit down with the company
roster before him and tell of those who
had left wives behind them, and those
who had left sweethearts, and those
who had found correspondents and
were mingling romance with war.
1t was known, as If it were family
matter, that the orderly sergeants wife
had died since he left home, leaving
four children motherless; that Private
Hayes had quarreled with his sweet
heart; that Corporal Johnson's farm
was going to rack and ruin since he en-
listed. We heard these things and
thousand others. and we stood always
ready to congratulate or sympathize
with each other. | have known the big
sergeant to come rushing into a winter
hut occupied by six men and wake
them all up that be might read letter
from home telling that the baby actu-
ally had taken three whole steps all by
himself. We were men as to war, wo-
men as to gossip, children as to tribes.
1t was so with all of Company g ex-
cept In one single instance. Trooper
Haskins was a stranger among US
when he enlisted. He continued to be
a stranger to his last hour. When we
sized him up, as men size up each 9th
er we knew that he had some secret In
his life which he did not care to lay
bare to the world. One could see by
the stoop of his shoulders. by the look
in his eyes and by the wrinkles on his
face that he had been hard hit and
would suffer to the end.
As men we respected his secret and
praised his courage in bearing up un-
der his sorrows, but as soldiers we felt
that his lack of confidence In us was
an imputation. We stood ready to con
dole and sympathize, but be kept us at
arms length. We felt sorry for him at
first that he received no letters-that
there was not one single person in all
the world to write a word of cheer-but
his careless indifference soon provoked
our Indignation. We gave each other
the gossip of country and village as we
marched; we read each others letters
as we smoked at the campfire; we
whispered our condolences in the dark
ness-all except Private Haskins. He
had no friend. He had comrade, but
only in the sense that he shared the
same fly tent and the same rations
When the comrade had failed to dis
cover whether Haskins was married or
single, divorced or q bachelor, a man
who had been deeply wronged or a
cynic-when he could get nothing what.
ever from him as to his past-he turned
away from him and said to US:
Boys. can't make him out, and I'm
not going to try any further. If be
don't want to be one of US, let him
slide"
We got down ON Private Haskins to
the extent that he was socially out
lawed. That meant more than | can
explain to you. We gave him credit
for his soldierly qualitles-and 1t was
useless to deny that he was a brave
man-but he was forced to live alone.
as 1t were, in the midst of thousands.
He noted every move made against
him, and many of them must have hurt
his feelings and added TO his burdens,
but no one ever heard him complain.
believe he secretly was glad of his iso-
lation. 1t gave him time to think and
mediate. and he would do this by the
hour. We didn't misjudge the man.
am glad to recall. but we simply ostra-
eized him in a social way, just as socie-'
ty crowds out the man who tramples
IN the conventionalities. On his part
he must have felt that no words of
sympathy from us could have made his
case better, or he would have "chum-
med up" and been one of us.
By and by. after two or three bat
ties. strange whispers were circulated
about regarding Private HaskIns He
courted death. He had gone down into