Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1910-02-25
STICK TO YOUR TRADE
BY q. cRITTENoEN LyTLe.


We move In ruts. Getting accustom-
ed to one kind of work. we are untitled
for another. Let a husband ask his
wife to buy him a few cigars and the
wrappers will likely be paper colored,
to look like tobacco leaf. Let a wife
ask her husband to hire a maid and,
though she nay be .comely, she will
have to be got rid of instanter.
One would suppose that all soldier
ing is alike. Nothing of the kind. An
in%fantryman knows nothing about cam
non; an artilleryman knows nothing
about the signal service.
These remarks are a preface to the
recital of an attempt to make a fighter
out of a musician-an army musician.
Jacob Gobeler was a bugler in n of
the regular regiments. When the regi-
ment was preparing to go to Cuba at
the time of the Spanish American wal
he became ambitious to be a real sol
der instead of q tooter. His sergeant
told him that he had better stick TO his
bugle, but Jacob said that when a
bugler was killed III battle there was
uO SiOiy hAo uCaths LIZ ~
die with weapons In his hands instead
of a bugle.
So Jacob became a soldier and was
In the first battle fought after the
troops landed zeal Santiago. Unfortu-
nately 1t was his first fight, and he was
ratified. Men were being shot down
beside him by an enemy they could
not see. Some of the corps were get
ting back; others were standing. ia
cob got 1t into his head that he should
sound a retreat. Putting his hand back
to grasp his bugle. he found a revolver
instead. Putting the muzzle into his
mouth. he tried to blow. In his ex-
element he must have pulled the trig-
ger, for he was brought to his senses
by feeling something warm ON his jaw,
and, putting his hand there. he found
blood pouring from a hole in his cheek.
The wonder was that the bullet had
not gone through the vertebrae at the
back of his neck and killed him. He
must have blown through a corner OF
his mouth.
Jacob was In a hospital till pretty
near the end Of the war. 1t would
have been better for him to return to
the duties of a bugler, but the hole
in his cheek didn't close up, and an
attempt to blow a bugle would send
all the wind out at the side OF his
face instead of through his bugle.
When Jacob returned to duty he
found 1t impossible to explain to his
comrades how he came by the hole
in his cheek. The story got out, and
he was laughed at. This fred him
with a desire to redeem himself. He
longed for an opportunity, and the
opportunity came. There was no lack
of fighting around Santiago. True. the
Spanish and American forces were
standing off from one another. but
there were sorties and charges. One
dav Jacob was in some very thic3
fighting. The colonel was racing ALL
with his bugler at his heels blowing
bis orders when suddenly the bugle
dropped from his hand and he fell
from his horse. The colonel. seeing his
bugler knocked out, looked about for
another, but there was none at hand.
The captain of Jacobs company, real
izing his predicament. cried out:
"We've got a bugler here. colonel.
Gobeler. get up there on that horse!"
Gobeler. obedlent and forgetting that
he had been disqualified to blow or
ders by his wound. picked up the
bugle, mounted the horse and placed
himself directly In the c%olonel's rear.
The %Spaniards were preparing to crush
the American troops on that part of
the field. The colonel saw a brigade
of the enemy swinging round on his
right to get in his rear II gave Jacob
an order to signal a change of front.
Jacob put his bugle to his lips and
blew. but there was no sound. All the
wind was going out through the hole
In his cheek.
The colonel looked at him in surprise
and anger. Jacob clapped his hand to
his cheek. but did not succeed In fore
ing the wind through the bugle. Shut
ting his mouth, he put the bugle to the
hole In his cheek. Since no wind could
get out through his mouth 1t went
through his cheek. AT any rate.
enough of 1t got through the bugle TO
family sound the colonel's order. But
Jacobs delay gave the enemy an ad-
vantage that pretty nearly caused the
capture of the regiment. 1t was saved
only by support coming in the nick
of time. When the fighting was over
the colonel called out to Jacobs cap
tain:
"Keep that man in the ranks. cap
tain. He's no good for a bugler."
"He was a good bugler, colonel, but
he insisted on going into the ranks.
The first thing he did was to try to
blow a signal on his pistol and shot a
hole In his cheek. Now he's no good
for either a soldier or a bugler."
After this episode Jacob was so ridi-
culed by the men that he tried to get
himself killed In order to escape their
Jokes. To make matters worse 1t seem
L. n - ..AlA.u - H. a .r,au |