St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-10-12
IN UNDRESS UNIFORM,
By II. H. Bennett.

X ~ 80 1As OVuUetts
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G ERGI. Bob leaned his rifle agains
~ the sack, and sat down on an up
turned, empty soap box in the shadow
OF the tent, with a sigh of relief. H,
nnbuckled his belt, and mopped hi
not face with a red cotton handker
chief.
There he said, "that's done TO,
one while! I shall not have any NOR.
guard duty for at least "a hours, thanl
goodness, though we've got none too
many men and extra guard duty il
becoming the rule.''
Thought you liked it?' grinned the
other sergeant. looking up from his
occupation of poking n little sharp
ened stick into the recesses of his
rifie-breech in search of dust.
Like it," Sergt. Bob calculated
ironically, with disdainful wave OF
grimy hand at all the surroundings
From the scrubby hills to the east
dusty country road ran across the
narrow valley, and disappeared in the
hills to the west. The sides of the
hills were covered with underbrush
and second-growth timber, with here
and there little whitewashed house
set down box-like in clearing. The
valley was marsh, with coarse grass
and weeds; here and there pool of
stagnant water or ditch-like stream;
little hummocks of drier ground rose
from it, covered with brambles and
wild roses.
Through the center of this valley
ran the long black line of railway
embankment, crossed midway by the
wagon-road. In one of the angles
formed by the crossing stood coun-
try store, q one-storied box of gray
boards. In another angle was great
coa1-tipple, it's skeleton frame black
against the sky. From this a little
railway straddled across the marshy
ground on the high legs of trestle,
running back to where the dark
mouth of coal-shaft yawned in the
hillside.
Around the tipple were great piles
of slack, waste coal-dust, screened
from the dump. The store was built
on slack; the railway embankment
was made of slack; grimy hills of
slack, cut through by the railway
and the wagon-road, filed all the
neighborhood of the tipple.
Some of the murky hills were on
fire, smoldering at the base. They
had been burning for years, and from
them rose noxious gases. The stream
that ran at their base was polluted by
the drainage of the slack, and on the
surface of the water floated an rides
cent, metallic scum.
Along the wagon-road, on either
side, stretched rows of tents; another
row was placed on little strip OF
level ground at the foot of the railway
fill; more tents stood in the shadow
of the coal-tipple. In front of the
store tent held a telegraph instru-
ment, placed on barrel, and here q
blue-clad operator listened to the
busy ticking Of the receiver. The
brazen sun of hot June day shone
in sky of burning blue. The Their
mometer, hung in the telegraph tent,
registered "a degrees.
Now and then a long coal-train
rushed by, raising black dust in swirls,
which settled again on tents and tip
pie and store. A wagon, dragging it's
slow course along the road, was half
hidden in gray cloud of dust. In
the shade of the tipple or in the hot
shadow of the, tents lcunged blue-clad
men, with blouses unbuttoncd or cast
aside, each one trying to get breath |
of fresh air in that valley furnace.
Four infantry companies and bat
terry of the national guard were en-
camped here; four miles down the |
railway were two other companies,
and four miles in the other direction |
were two companies more. Sixteen |
miles of railway were held and guard
ed by these two battalions. Beyond
them were troops of other regiments,
scattered here and there along 60
miles Of road, until the railway
reached the waters of the broad Ohio.
Night and day sentinels paced the
track and squads of guards watched
the bridges, the coal-tipples and the
mine buildings. Night and day watch
fu! pickets along the hills waited with
loaded rifles.
When the troops had reached the
narrow valley, three days before,
bridges and tipples were burning!
loaded cars had been overturned and
wrecked, and not train was running
ON this section of one of the great
railways Of the country. All this
was the work of rioters who found
for mischief in q strike
Of coal miners. The majority of the
rioters were alleged, by the coal min
ers, to be ignorant foreigners. Poles,
slavs, Italians, deluded
and misled by mistaken men.
But the great dangers OF this strike,
which has now been matter of his
tory for some years, were at an end.
Now the bridges and buildings were
- p.- %,os~u <hprndQroa over the