Mower County transcript., 1908-10-14
MEMORIES OF A WAR.
a Sit of Humorous Reflection by One
OF the Young Vets.

The weary pilgrim entered the Of
flee and slid into the softest chair.
Il hev accomplished tn fust sane
Fourth of July in my experience said
he, AN it was OWN to my livin so
far from any neighbor thet only tn
highest rockets showed above tn
horizon
about tn insanest day O. independ-
ence l ever had was ten years ago,
when l was with tn army of invasion
bearin' down on Cuby Th' two trans
ports thet he'd our gallant regiment
aboard laid up at Key West, waitin'
fur further orders
Shore leave? Nuthin' doin'. But
tn mornin O tn Fourth erlong come
staff officer an asst fer volunteer
boats crew to row him over to tn
other transport. TIL whole shpload
O sogers stepped forrard an every
body sWCre he cud row boat. So tn
lieutenant picked cut me an Buck an
West an my brothers son Fill as
oarsmen, with Bart, who had ben a
sailor, to steer. He picked us out be-
cause we was tn biggest men in tn
reg ment an he fggered on putin up
awful swell front with his fOu1-oared
galley before tn admirin' regiment. TIL
ony thing tn ship captain wud give
rs was a old jolly boat, which fer
gracefulness wud hev made a river
scoW look like a eight-oared racer
I'VE all got into tn OF punt an tn
sailors lowered us into the water
Then we cast loose tn tackle an was
afloat on tn wide an lonesome sea.
Port stroke ahead says Bart.
"'Meanin' me?' asts West. Then he
made dab at a passin' wave, missed
it by three foot an laid down on his
back an stuck his new leggin's into
tn air.
"'Private West sez tn lieutenant,
you sed you cud pull good oar
"'I kim sez West, but this don't
seem to be good oar
"*Wot's tn matter weth it?'
9Th blame thing want long enough
to reach thet wave sez West.
"'Well,' sez tn lieutenant, tn next
wave you want to hook to, pint it out
an We'll hold it fer you
"Jes' then Bucks oar disappeared
| under tn boat an come up on tn other
side in a mos astonishin manner.
Bill, who he'd ben a caution to
snakes at paddlin' on tn park lagoons,
seemed to be tryin' to sound tn depth
@ tn Gulf O. Mexico weth his oar,
meanwhile swearin' fit to be tied
q hedn't had no accident fer tn
reason thet I didn't want to wet my
| nice. dry oar.
1--WE finally got goin', ev'ry feller fer
hisself, our oars maxim a sound like
single-footer horse sprintin' through
bog.
wen tn lieutenant got where he
| wanted to go, he tol' us to row round
| fer spell an practice up, so we cud
take him back in kind O. decent style.
I'VE thought it would be good prac-
ice to row to tn shore, w'ich was
only about three mile away So we
started. TIL wind an tide was in
thet direction, so we'd have gone there
anyway Half way to tn shore we got
| among a fleet O. battleships in war
part, but no feathers. Jes' ez we was
| in tn center O. tn fleet tn whole
bunch ov em turned loose weth all
| heir biggest cannon all to once.
| ''Ez soon ez ] cud pick myself up I
! got on thwart an TUX off my hat
weth my best bow This is most on
! expected honor sez I.
| Git down, you loon,' sez Bart.
It's IL o'clock an they're firm tn ma
! ticnal s'lute.'
| "'Jes' then tn fleet fired again an
got down. l mos furgit wot tn ma
tional s'lute is composed Of l think
| it's one volley fer each state, two fer
| each president an three fer George
! Washington. Then they fire one apiece
! fer each O. tn presidents cabinet an
tn senators an congressman sep'rate-
~ weth a few extry fer tn also-rans
i who didn't get no nomination. Then
they finish up by settin' fire to their
surplus supply O powder. At least
! thet's wot it sounded like to us.
On shore we tux in tn town an ez
! many O til Inhabitants ez was easy.
| en- we wanted to go back to tn
| transport we found our hands was so
| sore weth rowin' thet we cudn't make
g start. So We hitched onter a out
' wa-dbound tug an tn smarty thet
, vas RUIN it pulled us through them
! big waves at about a mile minute.
| We went to tn ship where we he'd left
| tn lieutenant, but they tor us he had
walked home.
1--WE got to our own transport about
dark an found tn maddest staff officer
: in tn service. We tor him thet we he'd
lost our way an was blowed ashore
an he said it wud hev ben a great
thing fer tn army of we he'd ben
blowed too far to git back"-G. A.
T! Thompson, in Chjca go Daily News.
Found Buried War Flour. ,rs
While the grading Of Main street
1 ~ r. 4 ! . .. =