The San Francisco call., 1906-07-08

him and which makes of the hobo
ofttimes hero
He makes no fuss ABOUT the job,
He don't talk big or brave.
He knows he's in to fight and win,
Or help to fill up grave;
He amt no mamma s darlfn, but
He does the best he can,
And he's the chap that wins the scrap,
The reg'lar army man.
The dandy, handy,
Cool and sandy,
Reg lar army man.
The rarin, tearin',
Sometimes swearin,
Reg'lar army man.
The applicant must be of sound body,
without serious blemish; of strong
physique. intelligent. of good charac-
ter and able TO read and write as well
as speak English. If he does not pos
sess all these qualifications he is
promptly rejected Since the Spanish
war special inducements are now Of
fered by the act of Congress which pro-
vides for especially meritorious enlist
ed men becoming commissioned officers.
More than twenty men who enlisted as
privates have been promoted to the
rank of lieutenant of the marine corps
in the past several years. and. almost
without exception. have become most
creditable and efficient officers.
AS examples of men who have enlist
ed because of a blot on their past lives
and who have proved good soldiers
may mention the case of a private of
my command who was killed in de-
fense of the American Consulate at
Apia, Samoa, in April, 1899, and who
had been a first lieutenant in the Unit
ed States army. One of my sergeantS
told me, after he was killed, that he
had formerly been the commander of
the company in the regiment of infan-
try in which the sergeant had served
and had been dismissed
On another occasion, when / was at
tached to the flagship of the Mediter-
ranean fleet twenty-five years ago, dur
ing visit to the port Of Trieste, Aus
tria, a fine old sergeant who was on
duty at the gangway when the EN-
peror visited the ship was immediately
recognized and embraced by one OF the
Emperor's staff as a former comFade
He had been decorated by the Emperor
with the Iron Cross for distinguished
gallantry on the ffeld Of battle when
an officer of the Imperial Cavalry.
The service of the United States once
resembled the foreign legion of the
Corps d'Afrique OF France it being cora
posed principally of foreigners. but this
is no longer the case. The service re-
quirements now demand American eiti-
zens only, either native born. natur-
alZeQ or tHOSe VINO HaNS leSdkly Oc-
clared their intentions TO become such.
Next to the native born, intelligent
and educated young men of American
birth. the best soldiers, perhaps, are
young Germans, many of whom have
seen service by conscription in their
own country. Some of the Germans
who have enlisted in the marine corps
have been officers in Germany. and
these naturally have made excellent
sergeants and on-commissioned eff
GERS.
I have served with or had in my
command on different occasions several
distinguished foreigners whose pasts IL
laid bare would be most interesting, not
to say romantic. Perhaps debt intem-
perance. misfortune. fancied disgrace.
the rebuffs of fate. disappointment in
love or a duel possibly. has led them
to leave the fatherland and come to
America, where. beneath the charitable
folds of ''Old Glory" they have drawn
veil over that painful page of their
lives and have sought and found a new
field of hope in life that was con-