The National tribune., 1903-07-09

They brought their infallbIe cure for all
diseases-quinine. The physician would
say: Here, my man, you are sick.
Take this" Having administered his un-
failing balm in Gilead," he would de-
mand of the soldier his name, company,
and regiment, all of which he would re-
cord in a book Burnside's whole army
was reported sick.
l have written somewhat of my trials
and tribuations in the army, but 1 want
to say that my hardest battles have been
fought since the. war with the Johnuies
closed, and | am fighting n battle now.
In an application for pension made in
1879, l furnished the Bureau with every
thing called for, except my family physi.
to resurrect him. They insisted, however,
that my family physician must fill out and
sign certain paper-make an affidavit.
L saw my hope of Il pension go glimmer.
ing. l could not meet the requirements.
declined, of course, to dig up the body
of the dead physician, carry it to a no.
tary's Office, and have it subscribe its
name and be sworn to an affidavit
let the matter rest for time, and then
tried again, stating that l could prove
by many witnesses that the physician was
dead. They sent me package of blank
affdavits, and by the time | had paid
notary fees and travelling expenses l was
OuL VI ppthtl s1O lHOSt "SIo
forwarded to Washington, where they re-
mained undisturbed for nearly year.
When 1 called attention to them, the
.bureaucrats" demanded that L send
them something more. l sent it. Again
there was q rest-SOme three months.
Once more l called attention to the matter,
and was informed that more evidence
must be furnished. l furnished it. In
spite of my good war record and two hon
orable discharges, l was subjected to de-
lays and indignities, until, finally, after
the expiration of nearly four years, I
was granted a pension of 81 month.
My! was not that great?
l did not trouble them any more for
while, but eventually concluded that I
was entitled to an increase. In answer
TO my application l was ordered before
a board for examination, and more evil
dence was demanded. After l had conf
piled with all the requirements, the mat
ter was suffered to remain in statu quo
for about three years. l made another
spasmodic effort. the result being about
the same - some years delay. A de-
tective was sent into my neighbor-
hood to get more evidence He was
self-important, imperious sort of fel-
low. He spent some time there, and IN
the enyironlnS country, Intervening the
citizens regarding my life and family
history. He also asked me many ques-
VI upsIuc uoNLl. III ik
effort to confuse me. Some of the ques-
tions he answered himself, writing his
answers in a book. He studiOus.y neg
lected to record information that was fav-
orable to my application. My neiShborS
gave indisputable evidence that my record
was all right, some of them saying that
if they had my record they would con-
slider themselves entitled to pension Of
$24 per month. After writing such state
ments in his book as suited himself, he
drew paper from his pocket and said:
These statements do not correspond.
How do you explain it?' We'll. said L,
"the statements in the paper bearing my
are true. The record you nave
written and signed yourself is not true
in the most important particulars.
Well" said he. what 1 say goes; what
you say does not GO" This autocratic
detective, representing the 'bureaucrats."
went to Squire and interrogated him
about as follows:
DO you know the French boys?'
yes
"Were they in the war;"
'SOme of them were, l believe
do you know the oldest oneT"
'Yes; he worked in this neighborhood,
before and since the war"
WAS he wOundedT
''Not that l know Of
"Did you ever notice anything the mat
Ter Will HIS eyes.
Yes, he is badly cross-eyed."
Now, l am &C years old, and my eyes
have always been straight. However,
that record maker" wrote down in his
book that l was cross-eyed and that the
witness did not know of my being wound
ID. l have been before IS different
boards of Government physicians, not one
If whom ever pronounced me cross-eyed.
Thus it went on, the ''record maker writ
ng down everything that could be possibly
construed against HE. and carefully omit
ing to record the overwhelming evidence
hat was in my favor.
l was subjected to an excrutiatingly
painful physical examination, that domi-
ieering detective being present. ! cried,
For Gods sake. don't kill mel You
lidn't do it in the war, and don't do it
lOwr'
The papers were forwarded, and my
lain rejected. A veteran who had served
more than four years, wounded and brok-
n down, honorab.y discharged, had no
lain, apparently, on the Government for
which he had fought and suffered.
Finally. however. after years of ex-
,ense and trouble, 1 was granted a PEN
ion of $S per month. subsequently de-
70 All