The National tribune., 1901-08-01


hight of an ordinary mans chin when
standing on the outside.
RAIDING A Suffers STORE.
Business is soon .fiourishing. Every
thing is going on swimIningly until the
proprietor-obviously ratified at the in
creasing demands of trade, replies to the
eager quest for eatables that I'VE have
got nothing more; we are all sold out;
Won have got the last there is in the
place" For answer there is an ugly
murmur of dissent Someone of the crowd
with the mischievous,. inQuisitiveness of
a Pete Skidmore," or Il ''Sandy Baker"
has climbed up on the counter, and look
ing under il discovers there a row of bar
reIs filled with bread. cakes, etc, seeing
which he calls out, Boys, they are lying
to us; they've got barrels rof cakes here
under the counter" That was enough.
The embers of their wrath, that had been
smoldering ever since the visit to the
MarShalS office, burst into flame at this
duplicity of the sutler. Instantly there
arose the cry, .iRally on the sutlcr.'
There is a spontaneous rush toward the
building. Some of us try to dissuade the
men from carrying their purpose into eff
feet As well try to bridge the Potomac
with straw as attempt TO stay that on
rushing human tide. There is a ripping,
Il cracking of boards crashing of tim
bcrs, a caving in of the falling roof. In
less than 10 minutes from the first at
tack the structure was raZed completely,
and the frightened proprietors were skur-
rying up the railroad track toward Har-
per's Ferry.
gaze with dismay upon the wrecked
shanty. The lOotinS progresses. Rapid
ly haversacks are being stuffed with
anything and everything, digestible and
ndigestible. As / ruminate upon the pos
sible consequences to ourselves of this
rash act Sergeant of Duryea's Iouaxes
reports that some of the men have found
case of liquor, and are drinking freely.
Aroused to action by this new danger,
| ask if any of his men are armed. Sc
curing an affirmative answer, | direct that
he take three or four of the most trust
worthy, place two of them on guard over
the liquor case, with positive instructions
to allow no one to take any of the CON
tents. he. with the other guards, to move
among the men and take from them any
bottles found in their possession. Among
the Sutler stores were some firklnS of
butter. This was rare find, but how to
carry it was the dilemma. Some had
tin covers and pieces of broken crOckery,
but most of them had nothing suitable
until struck with the happy thought that
Il shingle would answer the purpose. Tear
ing each shingle from the fallen roof,
the soldier placed thereon his Eat of but
ter.
ENCOUNTER WITH THE PROVOST GUARDS.
While the men were gathering in the
spOils an attache of the Provost Office
rides up and demands in general way
that we fall in and go with him to Har-
per's Ferry under arrest. TO this de-
mand the men reply in tones of derision,
ARREST -. We refused to surrender to
Lees army. We are not surrendering to
one Major "Oh, chuck him in the
chinkw Let US capture him and take
his sword as a trophyw AS some of them
advance to put their threat into execu-
ton he wheeled his horse and made
mastery retreat, reaching headquarters
without the loss of man. know this
to he true, as | saw him later.
Shortly after this episode we espy
line of infantry approaching, their bayo-
nets glstening in the sun as they rise
and fall to the rhythmic cadence of the
march. We watch eagerly the develop
ment of this new phase in the events of
the day, confident that in some way their
coming concerns us. Upon a nearer view
this force is found to be about 100 sol
diers under the command of a Captain of
infantry. Their object is obvious. TAX
ing counsel of ourselves, we decide not
to submit to arrest. When within a few
rods of us the Captain manuyered his
men into two ranks in open order. Call
ing upon us to consider ourselves under
arrest, he orders us to fall in in the open
space between his men. As our party
make no move to comply with his order
he declares that he has been sent out to
arrest us, and that if we do not submit
and obey his orders his men will be or
dered to open fire upon us. At this out
burst of the Captain the Shakespeare Of
our party replies: THAT is your game,
is it? Very well.
on MocIt1ff
And damned be he who first cries hold,
enough"
At this he swings his battalion into fine
fronting us and orders them to load and
take aim" AS this is going on, the
Shorty ElliOts Of our detachment are cir
culating among the crowd, encouraging
them to resistance and cautioning them
to keep cool As the Captains orders
rang out sharp and clear one of these
leaders calls out, You who
have got arms, follow that Captains Or
ders. Those who have none, get stones
from the bank of the river. Three or
four of you aim at the Captain (every
gun pointed in his direction), and when
he gives the order to fire blow him to
smthereens."
OF course, his men are not ordered to
fire; instead, they are ordered to ''recover
arms" and are marched back in the di-
rection W. ence they came. Looking back
from the standpoint of nearly 40 years
experience, our action on that occasion
was foOlhardy in the extreme, as the pre-
mature discharge of a gun in the hands
of an excitable, nervous, or over-ZealOus
comrade might have been fraught with
the most direful consequences; but as a
comrade has well said
'Tn those days we were boys,
Boys with all boys ambition; !
Ready with an equal relish
Either for frolic or fight"
Even then the gravity of n situation
forces itself upon US, and we determine
to place the Shenandoah River between
us and Harper's Ferry as quickly as pos
sible even if we have to force the guard
at the bridge. Forming ranks, we are
soon following in the Captains wake. 1t
is our purpose to march boldly to the
Provost Marshal, ask for pass or an
escort by which we can get across to
the other side of the Shenandoah, and
failing in this to effect a crossing at all
hazards.
1t is a mirth-provoking lot of men in
appearance that line up in the street
fronting the Provost Marshals office. To
the description previously given stuffed
haversacks and pieces of broken platters,
old Tin covers and shingles (mostly
shingles), upon which is pat of butter,
is carried by each and every soldier in
the ranks, may be added. / was earnest
in my attempt to prevent the demolition
of the suffers shanty, but being human
was as amenable to the pangs of hunger
as the others, and the pat of butter upon
my shingle was as large and cleaned as
I,,.f,, L..