Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-10-05
aNiseellansous 3ading.
A SOUTHERN "coHPaAL."
The only one Of his kind in the Land
of Colonels.

Of Colonels.
It was in q little southern town that
1 met him, a tiny little town with
nothing in it that was not there long
before the war, says an Annapolis
letter tc the New York Sun. The town
has some of the finest colonial brick
houses in the country, great dignified
cubes Of brick, with the bricks laid
away for ever, you would say, in their
beds OF hard white mortar, so that
every brick really does one good to
look at. But the houses are dark and
feel empty, and have the look Of
awaiting boarders. The town also
has the best that is left Of old colonial
furniture, whole rooms Of mahogany
done into monumental side-boards,
bureaus and dressers, too many Of
them, alas, displayed in the windows
of the local antiquity shops. More
over, the town has the Cohpral, who,
jolly old fellow, is all sunshine and
boyishness.
1 met him by chance, or, rather, he
met me. 1t would hardly be fair to
the Cohpral to put 1t otherwise, for it
was he that did the honors Of our
meeting, and to him must be given all
the credit. 1t was in the cafe Of the
towns best hotel. You will say the
old colonial cafe or the old colonial
hotel, no doubt. Well that is more
or less correct too. Not wholly SO;
the hotel is a sort of rambling shelter.
that has grown up around an old CO.
lonial residence. That part Is pretty
nearly 200 years old, and it has been
In turn a squire's residence, a British
headquarters, a boarding house kept
by a very old lady Of good family, and
finally a hotel for the sheltering Of the
irreverent drummer. But as for the
cafe, alas! it did not live up tc its
surroundings. The contents Of the
former generations wine cellars prob
ably did not survive them.
AS 1 was looking disconsolately at
the negro in attendance, not knowing
how to express my sentiments to him,
saw a tall old man rise from a chair
by a solitary table in far corner
and make his way toward me. He
walked with the aid of handcut
hickory stick, for his weight was i'm
posing and his years were not few.
He wore no collar, ut he was adorn-
ed with a fine white mustache that
ins pired quite as much respect.
Excuse me, sir" he began with an
accent such that will not try to imi-
tate; II presume that you are
stranger to our town." 1 admitted
that much.
"Then, sir, you will allow me to in
troduce you to one feature OF our
town which you might not learn Of
for yourself. John, reach up and pass
down the third bottle"
I watched the attendant stretch his
hand out to an upper shelf and re-
move from it the third Of numerous
row. My new friend nodded approv'
ingly. The bottle was set before me
and my friend looked at me meaning
ly. Then he performed with some
alacrity that evolution known to the
old tacticians as the right about face
and stood with his back to me, drum
ming gently on the floor with his
stick held behind his back and whis-
Ting a meditative air. From the at
tendants eyes read what was ex-
pected of me. In due time my friend
returned from his brown study and
filled his own glass.
ITO your better acquaintance with
our town." he proposed, raising his
glass as a signal. Proper approval was
out of the question, yet an acknowl-
edgment of some kind was distinct
ly in order.
Colonel" I suggested, "let us have
another"
Another with pleasure, sir" he
agreed. ut first let me corret youl
misapprehension. My title, sir, is not
colonel; its Cohpral, sir Cohpral."
I excused myself humbly for my er-
ror and then waited, having a presen-
timent that an explanation would be
sure to follow. Colonels are plenty In
the south, bless that sunny land, and
their race thrives and multiplies. But
Corprals! In due time, the explana-
ton came. My friend, the Corpral
launched forth on a fine old-fashioned
wartime story that need not be re-
peated with his fullness Of detail. At
the end of it he cited the chapter and
page of a well-known war history or
his native state, where 1t was to be
found that a certain Corporal had
been commended by Gen. Lee for sig
nal bravery in action. And that" he
concluded, "is why 1 am known as
Cohpral If 1 let them call me colo
mel, 1t would not be easy for folks to
know that was the same Cohpral in
question"
While readily agreed with him
that to be called cunnel in the land
Of cunnels was to lose ones individu-
ality, 1 hazarded that Corporal was
rather a unique title in those parts. L
have met a good many colonels," said
I, "in these parts, but as far as I re-
member, sir, you are the only Corpor-
al of the Confederate army that
have ever happened upon"
1t was plain from my friend s
beaming smile that my observation
pleased him. You are right, SIR he
agreed; II am indeed the only one OF
my kind. 1 have been convinced OF
that fact, sir, ever since an occasion
late in the fall of the year 1864.
II was attached at that time to the
Confederate army in Virginia. we
we're pretty we'll thinned out, and our
uniforms were so much weathered
that one scarcely could tell by look
ing at us whether they had originally