The Washington times., 1901-09-06
THE RUSH TO THE RANKS.
Mr.. Roosevelt Addresses Civil Wnr
Veterans mt Burlington. VI.

veterans at Burlington. VT.
BURLINGTON. VT. Sept. 5.-vice Pres
| ident Roosevelt was the guest of honor
at the thirty-eishth annual meeting of
| the society of Vermont officers held here
today. rousing welcome was given to
him. Mr.. Roosevelt was accompanied by
| Senator Proctor whose guest he was at
| luncheon this afternoon.
At the station he was met by the OFF,
GERS of the society. He was escorted by
a squadron of cavalry from Fort Ethan
Allen to "overlake.% the summer home
| of Col. lie Grand b. Cannon. where he
| will remain overnight.
| The Vice President this evening deliv-
| cred an address before the society at the
| opera house. He said In part:
\ The lesson taught by the great war
| could only be inperfectly taught by any
| lesser war Nevertheless, not a little
good has been done even by such strug-
| giles as that which ended In ensuring indie
| pendence to Cuba and in giving to the
Philippines freedom to which they could
| never have attained had we permitted
them to fall into anarchy or under
tyranny. 1t was a pleasant thing to see
| the way in which men came forward from
every walk of life. from every section of
the country, as soon as the call TO arms
occurred. The need was small and easily
met and not one In hundred of the ar
dent young fellows who pressed forward
to enter the army had chance to see
any service whatever. But it was good to
see that the spirit of 81 had not been
lost. Perhaps the best feature of the
whole movement was the eagerness with
which men went into the ranks. anxious
only to serve their country and to do
tl,1gr n
to anything in the way OF reward or po-
sition; for. gentlemen. it is upon the eff
ficiency of the enlisted man, upon the way
he does his duty. that the efficiency of
the whole army really depends. and the
prime work of the officer is, after ali. only
to develop, foster. and direct the good
qualities of men under him.
We'll. this rush into the ranks not only
had a very good side. but also at times
an amusing side. / remember one charac-
teristic incident which occurred on board
one of our naval vessels Several of these
vessels were officered and manned chiefly
from the naval militia of the different
States, the commander and executive Off
Ger and a few veterans here and there
among the crew being the only ones that
came from the regular service The naval
militia contained every type of man. from
bankers with a taste for yachting to long
shoremen, and they all went in and did
their best. But, OF course. 1t was d little
hard for some of them to adjust them
selves to their surroundings. One of the
vessels in question, toward the end Of the
war, returned from the Spanish Main and
anchored in one of our big ports. Early
one morning a hard-looking and seeming
ly rather detected member of the crew
was engaged in 'squejeeing the quar-
terdeck, when the captain came up and.
lain I.sax .<f<~r.vr sts.hf
nearby q shall not use the real name of
the YACHT, remarked to himself: L Won
der what boat that is?' The man with !
the squeeze touched his cap and said in
know that?' quoth the captain. looking
at him. Because l own her, sir, re- |
spOnded the man with the squeeze. again |
touching his cap; and the Conversations
ended.
Now. it was first-rate thing for that |
man himself to have served his trick, not |
merely as the man behind the gun, but
as the man with the squeeze; and it was |
a mighty good thing for the country that |
he should do 1t. In our volunteer regi- |
ment we had scores of enlisted men of |
independent means serving under officers
many of whom were dependent FOR their |
daily bread upon the work of their hands !
Or brain from month to month: 1t was
good thing for both classes to be brought |
together on such terms. 1t showed that |
We of this generation had not wholly for
gotten the lesson taught by you who
T..
And there is no danger to the future of
this country Just SO long as that lesson
IS remembered, in all its bearings. civil
and military.
words from minister of the Gospel.
most witty man, who was also philoso-
pher and a man of profound wisdom, Sid
ney Smith:
'' The history of the world shows that
men are not to be counted by their num-
oers, but by the fire and vigor of their
passions; by their deep sense of-injury;
)y their memory of past glory; by their
,agerness for fresh fame; by their clear
md steafiy resolution of either ceasing TO
i've or of achieving particular object.
which, when 1t Is once formed. strikes of
load OF manacles and chains and gives
rec space to all heavenly and heroic feel
ngs. All great and extraordinary actions
,ome from the heart. There are seasons
nough to conduct the common business
# life. are feeble and useless. when men
must trust to emotion for that safety
which reason at such times can never
i've.
:" These are the feelings which led the
0 600 over the Carduchian Mountains.
hese are the feelings by which handful
# Greeks broke in pieces the power of
Persia, and in the fens of the Dutch and |
n the mountains of the Swiss these feel |
ngs defended happiness and revenged the
expressions of mani God calls all the pas !
ions out In their keepness and vigor for
he present safety of mankind; anger and
evenge and the heroic mind. and read
ness to suffer-all the secret strength. all
he invisible array of the feelings-all that
ature has reserved for the great scenes
# the world when the usual hopes and
he common aids of man are all gone, | c
othing remains under God but those pas t
ions which have often proved the best ,
minister's of his purpose and the surest
of the world
At the close of the address the annual q
anquet of the society was held at the ,
AN Ness house. where Colonel Roose- | d,
eIt Senators Proctor and Dillingham;,
d. j. Foster and others q
r