Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1906-05-26
MIKES GREAT SCHEME.
How He Planned to Secure Easy Pleas
ure When Freed from Army
Discipline.


at home. They would never, so help
them gracious, march a single mile.
They would let the other fellows do
the walking and they would ride They
swore by the great horn spoon that |
they would never wear a uniform of |
any sort, and they would never take ,
orders from any man. They would |
fight shy of all organization and disci- |
pline and would do as they darned |
please for all the rest of their lives. |
Michael Higgins, of our company,
went further than this. He knew |
what he would do when he got home. |
He would buy farm in the rolling |
country and build him fine house
with beds lounges in every blessed
room He would sleep whenever he
wanted to. He would hire a bugler
and a drummer to come under his
window every morning to play reveille.
Just as they would get a fair start
he would get out of bed, open the win
dow, and say to their faces: s. To the
divil wild We, We blatherin' spalpeens.
Stop yer noise and get out of this
quick Then the drummer and the
bugler would sneak away and Mike
would go back to bed and rejoice that
army days were over.
This was Mikes idea of revenge on
those who had made a business of
waking him up in the army. He
would take solid comfort in being
walked up that he might order the
buglers and drummers to get out We
had a lieutenant who was almost as
bad as Mike. He declared time and
again that he would buy an island far
out in the Pacific, where he could
oh
gun or hear a shot fired He entered
the regular army in 1866. worked his
way to the rank Of major, and was
wounded on San Juan hill In 1898.
Even the major general command
ing our division declared that when
peace was declared he would retire to
his old college town. seek the ap-
pointment of president of some uni
versity or college, and eschew poll
tics and military affairs. But he was
elected governor OF his state before
he left the army, was appointed a
member of Grants first cabinet, was
later appointed president and receiver
of great railroad, was elected to con-
grses, and did not become president of
a law college until many years had
passed.
Most of the men who swore they
never would join any organization be-
came members of the G. A. r.. and
kept alive their old comradship. Many
of the men who declared they never
| would march mile or carry KNAPP
| sack went afoot to Iowa, Kansas and
| Nebraska with knapsacks on their
| backs. In 1865 l met scores of them
| travelling across the country sleeping
out of doors as they did in the army,
and too often foraging off the country
| as they did in war times. When l
| took the stage in Iowa 1 found four
| well-dressed, quiet fellows in the
choice seats. They apparently were
unacquainted with each other, and had
little to say. They impressed me as
successful business men well up in the
ways of the world.
THE second night out we learned
that the hotel where we expected to
spend the night had been burned down,
and that the only other hotel in the
small town was more than full. When
we asked for accommodations, the wor-
ried landlord said he had from four
| to eight people in every bedroom, that
he had given up the dining-room to
| four ladies, that his parlor was in
possession of people sleeping on the
floor, and there wasn't a place for us.
Thereupon one OF my travelling friends
said: What about the Office floor here?
Has anyone rented that?' The land
| lord said it was at our service, If we
could sleep on the bare floor.
First one and then another and an
other of the travellers said as he had
| spent four years in the army he could
sleep anywhere. The fourth man said:
| The same here and / fell in with: i
| am just out of the service Then,
much to the surprise of the landlord,
the quintet of soldiers spread news
papers on the floor, took blankets
out of their packs, and were soon
settled comfortably for the night. The
next morning each one declared that
he had sworn that he would never
do such thing as he had done that
night, and that he had cut away from
all army associations and habits. Each
felt that he had had enough of rough
ing 1t, but in the next two weeks we
inch as we ever did in the army.
"One night an old farmer said we
might sleep in his barn if we wouldn't
smoke l said at once that 1 had had
the honor of sleeping in Col. Reedy's
barn down at Reedyville, Tenn, and
the farmer, holding out his hand, said:
by hockey, so did 1, but my barn is
better than Reedy's was at that time
because it is cleaner and has more