Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-04-01
In the spring of 1852, Corporal East

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came home on a furlough to spend
thirty days with his friends in York
vile, and at his old home, he gave 9
good portion Of 1t to his sweetheart in
Greenville, and they watched with re-
luctance the approach Of the day when
he would have to return to his duties
in the field.
On Sunday. the last day that he wai
to spend with i.>H.i, they spent the after
noon in the coolness and the fragrance
Of the forest near the Whitmire home
When the shades Of evening drove
them from the forest, the moments
seemed to whirl away the hours that
they had to spend together. AS the
time approached for his departure, she
made strange request Of him. "Wil-
lie," she said, III you fall in battle,
want to ask you to have place re-
served for me by your side in the fam
lily burying ground. VIII you prom
ise me?"
The request was unexpected, and on
the impulse of the moment he asked
her to marry him before he should re-
turn to the front the next day. A
train was to carry him away in the
early morning. Arrangements were
accordingly made for their marriage
at sunrise the next morning. Shortly
after the performance Of the ceremo-
ny, the soldier left his wife for his
country.
The correspondence between the
young officer and his bride, some OF
which this writer has read, showed
strength and purity Of affection, and q
trust in each other and in God which
are not often to be found in those with
whom fate seems to have dealt more
kindly, There is never a murmul
against ill-fortune, not harsh word
against the enemy which has brought
all of this suffering and hardship or
them. Hope and faith in the cause fol
which the soldier fought seem to have
been the guiding star Of each Of them
and It is almost discouraging to recall
the story Of the blight and blast Of thii
hope and this faith.
At Seven Pines, while the battle
ragged, William Washington East STEP
ped aside and knelt to offer prayer
wien the ball Of sharpshooter pierced
his thigh. He was taken to the Man.
chester hospital, where he sent this
message to his friends and relatives:
Wounded, but will be home soon.'
The gravity of his wound was only
made known to his relatives In another
dispatch which had been sent to a South
Carolina paper: I'VE were shown yes
terday a shattered minie-ball which
had been extracted from the thigh OF
William Washington East, a brave
South Carolina volunteer, by DR.. ]. IL
James, Of Manchester hospital. The
ball had in it piece Of hardened steel
crooked so as to produce the most irri-
tating wound. and .sharpened as II by
machinery. One would think the dead
ly missiye enough in itself. without
this diabolical contrivance"
After a few days Of suffering in the
military hospital, the young officer sent
two messages to South Carolina. Hif
condition was so improved that the au-
thorities consented for him to make the
journey home, and he wired his mother
Meet me at the depot Wednesday,
To his young wife in Greenville he sent
this message, meet me at home to:
morrow"
The wounded soldier reached his
home, the journey having been very
trying on him. He was placed on his
Old bed, and his mother and his SIS
ters and his family physicians were his
tender nurses and attendants. But he
longed for the arrival Of her who was
more to him than all others-than even
life itself. In a few hours a carriage
drove up to the door, and the young
wife hurried to her husbands side. HE
relief was very plainly seen in his paliid
face, and as his nervous arms embraced
her kneeling form, he said In that de-
liberate tone which had become almost
the only one he ever used, Loved ones
am dying, and want you all to
know that 1 know that I am dying
Be calm, for God loves calm people
Let me show you how a Christian can
die" And all was over.
Such was the life and the death OF
one of the most promising poetical
writer's that South Carolina has ever
produced. The work which he accom-
plished in this line shows the marks OF
youth and immaturity, but few Of sim
liar age and opportunities, In the en-.
tire country have given brighter prom
ises of future eminence in the field OF
letters. His was another Of the bright
young lives whose untimely end is
charged up to the dreadful civil war;
J. B. K, in the Erskinian.
ADDED HALF AN INCH no His STA
TuTE.-A physician Of experience IN
examining candidates for civil service
1,ooa, +ollo ~ ona man who came UT