The National tribune., 1903-07-16
The Whole Family Party Starts for Wash
ington-An Old Acquaintance Appears on

ington-An Old Acquaintance Appears on
the scenea
The orders are to clear out the hospi-
tails here at once of all who are able tn
move. or who can not be ready for duty
within thcin two weeks said the Sur
,con to ths. Deacon when they returned
from the wedding. They must all be sent
To Washington, where they can be taken
care of much better than here and mt less
expense ! have the transport Fernando
Wood assigned to me for these men. but
| don't know what Kind of Il craft she
is. Don't feel ve,y hopeful about her.
They are sending all sorts of Old. rotten
tubs down here now. The owners are
hoping then to sink somehow, so that
they can make big haul ont of the
Treasury. | declare, this war has d.
vclopcd verse thieves and robbers than
Christ scourged ont of the temple.
Where the carcass is there Will tn.
Buzzards he sure to gather. philosophical
the Deacon.
Well. | intend to provide transportn-
ton on her for you and your wife and
daughters said the Surgeon. 1T is thn
tcSt you can do. for there is no other
way that you can get ont of here.
since there are no Sanitary Commission
ships here now. will have the horses
brought ont. and we viii ride down and
have Il look at her.
Such amazing heaps of army stores as
they had to thread through on their way
to tn" far end of the like Of unload ng
.hipurc. where the Fernando Wood lay.
WHY. those barrel; of pork cover two
acres or more. and theyr piled as h 'gh
as Il two-Stcry house. exclaimed the Dea-
con. The army's verse on hogs than
the cholera. never realized it before.
There is about as much hog i'll this war
as mules and niggris. And just see that
rilc of cracker boxes. it'd cover up the
pnSey County Court House. and not try
much. Ard it's nothing to those piles of
cats in bags. There's even hay. too, ana
more of Il than of anything else.
"A horse onght to have - pounds Of
buy day. and when yCu come TO multi
ply that by sc"en days il the week. and
that by til" thousands Of horses and mules
in Silerman'a army. you'll see that pile out
there isn't more than "epk's supply.
answered the Surgeon. Horses dcrour
hay Ike u prairie fire.
Yes yes: know Eut think of br.ng
ing hay clear down here. Just look nj the
good market for farm products. But what
will we do when the war is ovcr?'
Think of the Ikct for manufactured
products. too. answered the Surgeon.
pointing to the mountains of boxes con
taining blankets. clothing. shoes. harness
arms ammunition. medical supplies. etc.
What do you think the manufacturers
will do for a market when the war Is
over:"
20. all these men will have TO wear
clothes just the S;Imc. whether they're IN
the army or nta'' said the Deacon. who
had Il natnFnl ecnse of political economy.
But instead .of being down here eating
all the TIME. and raising nothing but
Tophet. thiy'lflie back home raising what
they and tIseira horses need
Hundreds 6f thousands of them will
not 90 back tootheir farms. That's what
I'm most dfraid Of Farming will seem
too tame and monotonouS to them. after
the life they have been leading. They II
want to do almost anything else than
plow and grub. land maui rails. The men
who 20 back to their farms will make
money feeding them. Two or three hun
dred thousand Of them will be required in
the army for several years, to garrison
this country. Then We shall need another
army to go down to Mexico and drive the
French out; of there. and perhaps still an-
other TO whip the English ont of Canada.
There's two little side-iobs which need
to he done before the war is really over. y
Yes; the French must he h'isted out Of
Mexico. and the English ought to be made
to leave Canada agreed the Deacon. Nv
cant settle down to peace until they are.
for they've acted piZen mean to US dur
ing the war. But those chores can be left
to men who'd rather be in the army than
not. | want to get 81 and Shorty back
home. taking care of their wives, without
any more gallivanting around the country.
Besides. the farm needs them. There's n
pile of good hard work to be done on the
place"
Even to the landsman eyes Of the Dca-
con the Fernando Wood was far from be
ing n first-class craft. There was too
much at odds and ends about her; too
much that needed the services of the car
penter. painter and blacksmith; too much
that was old and ready to break. He had
seen many transports that had suffered
from the wear and tear of war. from
emergencies which required that troops
and supplies he gotten aboard at once and
rushed to Il threatened point and rushed
off again, without reference to the condi-
ton of the vessel or the damages that
might be done her but this was the worst
of ALL She seemed to be suffering more
from old age and neglect than the more
violent ill-usage of war.
"NOt at all inviting" said the Surgeon,
with shrug of his shoulders, ''but she's
got to do We can't be choosers in war
time. especially under Gen. Sherman. We
must make her answer. After all, it
isn't long ways to Washington, and it
inside navigation nearly all the way, so
that she'll serve to get all these people
there, where the better teatment will have
to compensate them for what they may
endure on the voyage. / wonder where all
her people are? There seems to be no
one about"
They went aboard and looked around
The deck was in disorder, and two or
three negroes were sleeping on sloyenly
coils of rope.
Wake up. here. Do you belong to this
ship?" inquired the Surgeon, kicking one
of them on the feet till he aroused him.
NO. sab: jess bin wukkin' here, sab, >
answered the negro.
where is the crew."
"Dar hain't none, sab. All paid off an
discharged dis mOrnin', sab. "Gwine to
git n new crew dis ebenin. sah."
'Is there nobody on the ship who be-
longs to her"
NO. sab. All dschahged dis mornin',
sab. De Cappen he say dat he'd hab no
mo- oh sich wufless trash round him, sab.
He gwine to git a hull new crew, from
Fust Mate down."
"Where is the Captain?"
"Whar de Cappeny'
"Yes; wher6iis the CaptainY'
"Dunnou Mebbe he gone done sho'.
Mebbe he down below somewhat"
They went ffown into the untidy cabin,
followed by the curious negroes.
"Great &ay..HH don't know what Moth
er's going, TO Say about travelling in such
an OUTFIT remarked the Deacon, wiping
his face with His bandana, and surveying
the surroundings. "She's mighty particu-
L.. In, htrl.y, hay.