The Morris County chronicle., 1909-03-16
An UnIucky Hat.

veteran, "nor nothin' like that, but /
do believe in--well, what shall ] call
ft?--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. 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 fghtin' around Atlanta. Some
Georgia troops come so near the tenn
porary breastworks we'd throwed up
that when they went back they left
several dead right under our noses.
One Of 'em had on good felt hat
The reason / noticed it was because
my hat had become unseryiceable, and
/ couldn't get another in the regular
way. Besides, it was rainiD'. ! was
startin' 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 it off ag'in to wipe out the blood,
for the Johnny had been shot through
it In the head Struthers swabbed 1t
with the sleeve of his coat and put it
back on to his head.
There was more or less fghtin that
day, and we In the breastworks gen
orally laid low, cause onct in awhile a
stray shot would come along our way.
Struthers was showin' his hat TO some
of the boys, not seemin' to keer about
bis head bein' above the parapet. He
took the hat OFF and poked his finger
through the bullet hole in 1t, then put
it on ag'in. 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-showin' EN-. The bullet
had made hole in Struthers' head
".Well jim OKeefe of Company G,
next on our left, was wearin' a cap. A
cap out In the rain is the wost sort O
headgear for when it gifts soaked
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 stovepipe
without the t'other end stopped up
and ketchin' all the rain there was. |
was feelin sorry that j hadn't got
ahead Of Bill Struthers, the man that
first got the hat, when / saw 0'Keefe
throw up his hands and tumble in a
heap. ] run up to him, and what do
you thinkf There was third hole in
the hat and a bullet through OKeefe'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 stoyepipe when
/ 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. HowsOmever ] didn't like
maxim the fourth man to repose my
weary limbs on Confederate soil, and
concluded to let the hat alone. / sor
one or two men pick it up. look 1t over,
throw down their own hats and goin
to put 1t on when l 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 a 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 hurry-such q 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
tallkin, about lyin' on the ground he
made dive for it. called out to him.
Lieutenant, don't wear that hat says
/. What's the matter with itT says
he There's three men been shot
a-wearin' it. Well he says, If It has
been struck three times there's q thou
sand chances to one 1t won't be struck
ag'in mot just now, anyway And he
clapped' 1t 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. ! don't believe in any OF
these superstitions. There's only one
thing do believe ln-rluck; jist luck
and nothIn else.
"About this time of day the flrm
got purity hot. The bullets was singin'
gayly jist S If It was lots o fun to
plug Yankee, some Of 'em cuttin' the
twigs of the overhangin' branches
spiteful. I sor the lieutenant with the
hat on--the hat was tellin' you about
--standin' on the hreastwork tryln' to
git his men out to make n charge
they bein' short o. ammunition jist
thin. believe-when suddent l saw
him collapse.
"IIis 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.
''Wel, by this time 1t was pretty
well understood that the hat had a
streak Of bad iucll'tn it, It lay on the
ground, ana not q mgn would touch
IT. A good hat gfttis'a wide berth
with men all about wantin' IT, 1t
want superstition No one could argy
that there WAS amy more chance Of git
tin hit IN 1t than In any other hat
and yit 40 man dared wear IT, Ike
ihought about 1t often Since apd won.
gered What chat thing we call luck IS
anyway ! don't believe the Nceost
gcieppp pI0n Fbat a,fa. if,+nH ,,s,,tla a., t