The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-12-14
An UnIuCky Hat.

veteran, "uor nothin' like that, but
do believe in7-well, what shall l call
it?-luck. There's certain gamblin'
combinations In which there's millions
o. chances agin their happenin', and
yet they have happened. They say
lightnin' don't strike twice in the same
place. i kin show you out In Mulligan
county an old oak that's been struck
to my knowledge three times.
"The curiestest thing that ever hap
pened in my experience was when we
was fightin' around Atlanta. Some
Georgia troops come so near the tenn
porary breastworks we'd thTowed Ut
that when they went back they left
several dead right under our noses.
One of 'em had on a good felt hat.
The reason l noticed it was because
my hat had become unserviceable, and
1 couldn't get another In the regular
way. Besides, 1t was rainin'. l was
startln' to go out and git the dead
mans hat when / sor Bill Struthers
of our company jump down on t'other
side of the breastwOrks, pick up the
hat and put 1t on his head. But he
took 1t off ag'in to wipe out the blood,
for the Johnny had been shot through
| 1t In the head. Struthers swabbed 1T
with the sleeve Of his coat and put 1t
back on to his head.
There was more or less fightin' that
! day, and we in the breastworks gen
orally laid low, cause onct In awhile
| stray shot would come along our way.
| Struthers was shown his hat to some
of the boys, not seemln' to keer about
his head bein' above the parapet. He
took the hat Off and poked his finger
through the bullet hole In It, then put
1t on agin. He hadn't more'n got 1t
on when he pitched forward They
! picked him up and found another bull
let hole In the hat close beside the one
he'd been a-showln' 'em. The bullet
had made a hole in Struthers' head.
| well, Jim O'Keefe of Company G.,
next on our left, was wearin' a cap. A
cap out In the rain is the wo'st sort O.
headgear, for when 1t gifts soaked q
stiddy stream runs right down a mans
backbone. O'Keefe he pressed the
| hat into his own special service. My
hat was nothin' more'n a stovepipe
| without the t'other end stopped up
and ketchin' all the rain there was. |
was feelin' sorry that l hadn't got
ahead Of Bill Struthers, the man that
first got the hat, when l saw O'Keefe
throw up his hands and tumble in a
heap. run up to him, and what do
you think! There was a third hole in
the hat and bullet through O'Keefe's
brain.
"Countin' the Johnny, this made three
men that had lost their lives wearin'
that hat. l was just goin' to pick it
up and throw away my stovepipe when
l remembered this and stopped. 1t was
rainin' harder every minute, and the
hat would be fine perfection. Barrin'
the bullet holes it was sound every.
where. Howsomeyer 1 didn't like
maxim the fourth man to repose my
weary limbs on Confederate soil, and l
concluded to let the hat alone. l sor
one or two men pick 1t up, look 1t over,
throw down their own hats and goin'
to put 1t on when / hailed 'em and
told 'em that three men had been killed
wearin' of it. Mostly they dropped it
like a hot coal, but purity soon lieu
tenant Of Company b come along. He
hadn't any head coverin' at all. He'd
been on the skirmish line and been
driven In in a hurry-such a big hurry
that he'd dropped his hat and didn't
calc'late to stop to pick 1t up.
"As soon as he sor the hat was
tallIin' about lynn on the ground he
made dive for 1t. called out to him.
Lieutenant, don't wear that hat says
l. What's the matter with itT says
he There's three men been shot
a-wearin' it, Well he says, If 1t has
been struck three times there's a thou
sand chances to one 1t won't be struck
ag'in not just now, anyway And he
clapped it on his head.
"Now, that's Just the way these men
who make up systems to beat gamblin'
banks git fooled. Howsomever, it's
mighty good reasonin' all the same.
It's good reasonin' and it's bad reason
In. There's some would argy that the
hat was fated, others that the spirit Of
the original Confederate owner had
swore that no cussed Yankee should
wear It. I don't believe In any OF
these superstitions. There's only one
thing do believe in-luck; jist luck
and nothin' else,
about this time of day the firin'
got purity hot The bullets was slngin
gayly jist s II it was lots o. fun to
plug Yankee, some of 'em cuttin' the
twigs of the Overhangln' branches
spiteful. l sor the lieutenant with the
hat On-the hat l was tellin' you about
-standin' on the breastwork tryin' to
git his men out to make charge
they bein' short O. ammunition Jist
thin, l believe-vwhen suddent / saw
him collapse.
His comrades picked him up, and
sor one Of 'em take off his hat and
poke his finger through four different
bullet holes In the crown.
"Well, by this time 1t was pretty
well understood that the hat had a
streak of bad luck In II. 1t lay on the
ground, and not man would touch
it, A good hat gittin' a wide berth
with men all about wantln' it! II