The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-17
IF YoU BELONG
] TO TIE u. s. A.



'Thefe afe fHupie Nhd wUl iell ynt IN
anHi faith hal Hffnv ofieefs sfH The worst
hlnd ~ sHu'a ssid ~ nnlrrf asHtl0toh
hut fsF from New Work, 'tmt v th"y nHlv
sHeW What The svetHae man eth alfUttiief
sffRls haa ~ hhhefs1 Nv The WV ~ ansWef
nc f0ul dltAs'ioits they Woili WuiWief That
one ~ them ep1ti evsr W. lnduccd W. he
HtciHblr
'Fdf frupls eho pfFle themselves On
heibH = e'fle'ly ~ ~ dAte twentieth crt4
fury pFoiuut aurts Mes Nofbets arr the
hina, havr lcrn ~ this bttalness Tor
hfterh ycafH, and ! had hrfin w think That
! hsd run act,su about every afcetnirn N
army mlalnfofmatiu Huina Until met q
hwyrr hrrr w town w" nthct gay Frnin
Whist heaf he v cunsiicred pretty shle
w hts profession. He had hrrn ioohinE
mo over ssHely Tor about Ten minutes wh"n
he nnally broke out with
Nay, do they give Won 'hese clothes,
toor
! waA stuck,
How's thatF ] aaked'
Why, do they give you Theses CIVILIAN
clothes ~ we'll ~ the unitornisY
Then " dAwned on me, and ] spent ten
minutes explaining 10 my iegnl friend That
they. meaning the United Sthtea, didn't
give me either; that they merely handed
me out my little pay nj the end Of the month
and that u was up To mo To dicker with the
tailor.
He was the most surprised man In New
York, and no wouldn't he satisfied until
he had taken me around the corner and
soothed my pride with a couple
Of high priced ones. Now, that's n pretty
fair sample OF what the average taxpayer
thinks OF the army.
There IA the other man who imagines
the regular army Ia q sort of exhibit brought
up here to New York once a year to be dis
played at the Madison Square tournament.
When he finds out that you belong to the
army he says:
THAT SOP Uh-huh, I seen you fellers
down at the tournament last year. Whal-
ing crowd. You must have made n pretty
good thing out OF It. MOI? You don't say!
Well, where is it now, in Washington?'
"You would give a months pay for one
good swat at him, but what's the use? He'd
only think you were stuck up.
HE must be a half brother to the man
who begins by calling you Colonel and
jumps to the conclusion that you belong
to the Umpty-irst. After you have taken
the trouble to explain that you belong to
the regular army, the United States army,
you know, he wakes up.
Say, you must know young Bill Smith,
son OF old Bill, friend of mine from up the
country. You don't? Well, say, that's
funny. He was out to the Philippines with
the army. Didn't know him, Ell"
"He is disappointed in you, and it would
take a year Of good hard talking to convince
him that you weren't stringing him.
Funny things happen to us when We
appear in public in uniform. / remember
one time when 1 had to go up the State
on some business or other hat required me
70 war n ,n;fom
ct was standine at the stens ~ tho Pull.
l was s.enuhns d VIC eVepe VI Vre ~
man finishing n smoke when a Fat Old chap
came putting up and stuck out his grip at
me. Naturally I didn't take 1t and naturally
7 e,nnose T looked Mt him in n vav he wasn't
suppoee 'ooAeo d. Ill" way ITO "aSn '
accustomed 10.
Take It, he roared. 'Spose l.want 70
stand here all day holdin' itH
Il intimated to him politely that I wasn't
a-t;o,,Ia rjn ;nt.,a.+ad;n What ha Ala Than
ne dew up. "hen ne got 30 ne was abe 10
speak he demanded my name and num-
Der and told me some of the things he pro-
nosed to do to me.
ST eshod orornd md due IN NV cerd IN
sue nNu uue up -, SNN
pretty fair old English script and hanoed
1t to him, telling him that l hadn't been
numbered vet, but would let him know when
7 cot one. He tool one look at nv card
o,G nadd,sd fo- tba other and -, the car
anu paouieo iof 'ne o'hei ehu VI 'he v"i,
but could see by the way ne eyed me mat
l had made an enemy for life Of him.
"On that same trip, coming back, / was
dressed and IVA kino tbrouu the car when
oaesIaI1 = - h. ~ 49, 7
SOMEBODY sraooeo me D 'he STU. !
turned around to find a slenderiy clad arm