The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1901-11-29
NO. 8.
PADDY CRAFTS "PULL."
Won by Himself in Front Of Peters,
burg aud ~ Made Him
solid"


Up at Fort Sheridan they have been
tearing down the old wooden .hacks
which ~ years ago sheltered the TWO
companies of the sixth infantry which
were Jumped" 10 Chicago al he time
OF the hanging OF the anarchists The
old guardhouse. jail only la name. he
commissary building and the shaky
pine barracks have gone. There sill
stands. however. though its doom is
sealed. the little oue-story. two-room
structure which served as ihe quarters
Of Capt. David l.. Craft. S'Nfh United
States infantry When The pIgmy
building tumbles there Will have dis
appeared everything ON earth save am
insignificant little hcad,tune in
Pennsylvania cemetery fu remind one
that such a person as David J.. Craft
ever lived. Remembrance of ih.s plain.
blunt soldier should NOT bc allowed io
die. The old description iiis him we'll:
he was the brayesi of the brave. The
wreath placed on his grave Memorial
day should be made of immorielles.
says the Chicago Record-lIerald.
When the workmen finished putting
up the shacks az For. Sheridan The
quartermaster looked over thc little
building assigned TO Capt. Craft and
said: "lle can never ect into it." The
captain weighed something more than
800 pounds. and as matter OF fact he
fitted his quarters as plump hand
does a glove. Craft was never known
as anything else except Paddy 10
the men of his regiment. save. Of
course. when they were addressing
him. Why this descendant of th@ Penn
sy1yania Dutch should have been
dubbed Paddy no one ever knew, but
TO the men it was a name of endear-
ment. The physical iniirmiiy Of too
much solid flesh weighed more on The
captains mind than IL Did on his
framework of bones. lie WAS only
brevet captain. and his fear was that
his burden of flesh would force him 10
the retired list before he reached the
full rank of company commander.
Three times Paddy" was ordered be-
fore a retiring board of surgeons for
examination. and three times he de-
feated the attempt 10 put him on the
shelf When at drill every order OF
double time" meant that Paddy. who
could not stand the pace. must fall out.
This in itself was a disqualification
for service. and the wonder grew
among those who did not know that
Paddy" held his own on the active
list. An explanation can be found in
five lines Of an old army record which
made Craft brevet captain for bit
Of almost unparalleled heroism.
One day in front of Petersburg
second lieutenant Of the signal corps
was ordered 10 the top of Hill with
TWO companions TO transmit flag
messages sent him by one general Of
fcer 10 another i'm the valley beyond.
Craft was a giant. His herculean
frame was silhouetted against the
sky. and as his flags wig-wagged
back and forth the enemy in The
trenches caught sight of him full and
fair. 4 battery OF artillery was
trained on the place held 10y the sig
nal men. II took but minute TO get
the range. shell struck within
few yards Of the nagmen. Another
came, and one of the little party was
dead and another was dying. Craft
alone stood uniniured. The signal
Aag which fell from the hand Of his
subordinate was held aloft in his own.