The San Francisco call., 1906-07-08

genial to them. OF these L may men
tion a Prussian major of Hussars, an
Austrian nobleman. a German Baron,
French artillery officer, an eX-captain
of crack British regiment-the
Kings" Own-COnnaught Rifes-and
others.
1t is true that the majority of ap-
plicants come from that class spoken
of by Jacob Riis in his book. How the
Other Half Lives''-thOse who have
seen the seamy side OF life and who
are down on their luck or ION their
uppers'-but not all. by any means.
Fifth avenue and Mayfair are found
alongside Whitechapel and the Tender
lOin in the ranks Many enlisted men
have more pocket money to spend than
their officers and may. if they choose,
play heavier game of poker.
have enlisted a scion OF one Of the
wealthiest and proudest KnickerbOcker
families Of New YOrk-a graduate OF
Cornell. with the degrees of bachelor
OF letters and master of arts. I have
also enlisted a fullblOOded SiOux-a
graduate of the Carlisle Indian School.
A newspaper item recently announced
the enlistment at the marine barracks.
New York, OF young EngIishman, the
son or Admiral Keppel one of the
senior lords OF the British admiralty.
There are many amusing incidents
Memorial day last month an aged man.
who had suffered the loss of one eve
and carried an. empty sleeve. whose G.
A r. button proclaimed him a veteran
OF the Civil War hObbled into the re-
crutting Office at Berkeley and graveIy
announced that he wanted to enlist
smiled and told him that while / hon
ored his spirit and zeal 1 feared he was
beyond the age limit fixed for recruits
and that | could not take him. This
lntlmat1on that ha was UNIT to per
form the duties Of soldier seemed 10
irrttate the old fellow, who replied
with acerbity that he had packed a
musket through the war from Bull Run
10 AppomattOx before I had emerged
from the nursery" He left the Office
in disgust
Another applicant, when discovered
10 nave a wooden leg and tOlo that this
1act would disquaIify him, Indignantly
replied that this, instead of being a
cause for rejection, ought to be an ad-
vantage, for, should he be shot in that
member it would not disable him" IL
is hardly neceS eSsary to add that his ar
gument. however ingenious. was not
convincing, and he stumped out looking
Tor something less exacting. where a
wooden leg would not bar his useful
ness in a new sphere of activity
No applicant is accepted unless he Is
evidently of age. as wei as possessing
the other qualifications mentioned
above, for trouble has sometimes arisen
where parents or relatives have tried
to effect discharge on the ground that
the accepted recruit was a minor. 1t is
we'll, perhaps, to quote an executive
order which governs the discharge of
enlisted men from the naval service:
No enlisted person serving in the
navy of the United States shall be dis
charged therefrom prior TO the compile
tion of his term OF enlistment except
for one of the following causes. Unde-
STABILITY. inaptitude, physical or men
tai disability or unfitness.
In every case the recommendations
for such discharge must be made By the
Immediate commanding officer under
whom the man is serving. Applications
for discharge which reach the depart
ment in any way except through said
commanding officers shall be, without
exception, disregarded."
The officers Of the marine corps who
have charge OF enlistments OF men for
the service get their share of interest
ing literature. About the most unique
application received recently is the fol-
lowing:
"dere Ser luftenant / hud you all hav
got sum jobs for S1s.00 dOllus a month
an bord i am gittin 50 dOllus an bOrd
but has to sleep in the barn / am %
year old m nj onto is hans hi an wey
1S0 sum odd lbs nevallWayS ben wei
an am got a good naim i hud all you
hav to do in them Jobs is to ride on
botes let me no a they are saIebOtes
or robotes wish you all wood give me
a job becuz 50 dOllus a munth more
amt to be snezed at / amt got no folks
10 keer erbout me taken you alls job
an will wurk hard i don't want nu
budy turnd of but wants TO wUrk for
youa all. yer friend.
'P. S.-if them aire sale bOtes insted
Of robotes / will wurk for s11 dollus "a
rnunth fnsted OF S13 dollus do you all
throw in washin-
His anxiety concerning "saIe botes''
instead of "robotes" as much as the
phonetic reform spelling exhibited in
his extraordinary epistle helped to lose
the writer the job and the additional
"s9.00 a munth" which. as he wisely OBJ
served, "aint to be sneezed at"
As far as official record show. he is
.<f eli TIT ho