The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-07-17
By GEN. j. P. FARLEY, U. S. A.

punished by the Neaie Publishing company, and
illustrated. in cOlurs by Gen. BARLEY himself.
BY GEN. j. p. FARLEY, U. s. A.
An old hunter in perusing the lines of
our manuscript. enters this remark. FAN
not to tell me what that Blazer. Williams.
meant by his joke about the 'schooIboy' S
penknife, (''Birds of feather flock
together" of course - how else would
they flock? They wouldn't be such
blasted fools as to flock apart'O To be
perfectly candid with you. old friend. il
has taken many years for the cadets OF
our day to gather moss" on this sub
1ect But oh. how refreshing it is 10
discard the dried-up "chestnuts" OF mod
ern days and think over what We had
done on that past day 10 our horses that
the schoolboy does to his first penknfe,
No wonder your brain is sore perplexed
10 know what the Blazer" meant; none
other than Bully" the Blazer" can
respond 10 this most natural query.
Before the writer goes too far in this
vein. he may add that Lieut. Williams
was greatly respected. as all officers OF
merit and distinction well must be. IN
bear out this remark. Mfthers had taken
the hurdle ahead OF odd Clothesline'
(the swayback horse of the squad.
"ClOthesline'' following. planted his fore
most foot into Cadet AIfthers's breathing
apparatus. which necessitated this gen.
tleman's being carried of 10 the hospital.
Now. gentlemen" said the noble Bull
~" that was no fault Of Mr.. Mithers; II
was entirely the fault OF his horse; and I
take this occasion 20 say that at one
time Mr. Mithers was the worst rider in
the squad. whereas now he Is one Of the
best" had the writer been Mithers he
would add. and this was due entirely TO
Lieut. Williams's most excellent system
OF instruction.
BestOw n SObriauet.
We can hardly leave the riding hall
without one word for the senior instruc-
tor in cavalry tactics. Charley Field. 4"
Those Of US who had read Charley
OMalley' and were familiar with the ex-
ploits OF Charley May" OF Mexican war
fame, knew full well what We were about
in bestowing a sobriquet this time.
Charley Field was the very counterpart
or Charley May" gallant officer OF
good old Maryland stock, who rode into
Arista's batteries. and over HIS guns. at
Resaca de Ia Palma, far in the lead Of
his troop, and with ''Zeb Inge." his first
lieutenant, a close second Poor ''Zebr"
hts last words were: Charley. IT'S not
fair; hold back"
The night before the battle Of Palo
Alto and two nights before Resaca de Ia
Palma, "Zeb" invited Charley" to call
upon Sam Ringgold." II 90 to see Sam
so often" Charley" replied. I am
afraid I'll drink up all his whisky; but
I'll tell you what viii do, I'll so up
with you and when asked, will decline
TO drink; and then when he asks you,
'Zeb.' to take something and you two
MI up. I'll say, I hate to see you fellows
drinking all alone: I think III Join you Z"
The programme was carried out as ar
ranged for. We'll. Zeb,' come along, ."
said Sam" If Charlie won't take any
thing. you will. won't you?" Thank
you, Sam I believe not; I, also. must
swear off for the night: follow 'Charley's'
example, you know" Alas for poor
Charley" Within so brief a period as
fOrty-eight hours. these friends were
killed in battle the one az Palo Alto,
and the other on the day following at
Resaca de Ia Palma.
To outward appearances Charley
-
save that while May wore his beard long
and pointed almost TO his waist, Field
contented himself with the cavalryman's
conventional mustache. They both wore
their hair a Ia Capt Cody, and from
this Cadet Custer took his cue. and. as
will be seen, A. Med. assisted him in
dispensing with large proportion Of II
at Sunday morning inspection
Has His Head Shaved,
Custer. after having been several times
reported for long hair. instructed the
barber TO give his head "a clean shave. "
This was something for others but not
for Custer himself to laugh at, the laugh
with him being altogether on ''the other
side Of the mouth"
"A. Med" pursued this prospective
cavalry leader relentlessly, as any other
dough boy" would have done, and at
all military inspections, and in fact at
all other times ION sight" reported Gus
ter for Hair out Of uniform" until this
young gentleman was forced to decorate
his bald head with a tan-colored wig TO
save himself from dismissal
The delinquency books OF the Academy
corroborate this, and further show that
Jim Lords boasted venture therein al
so had its entry. Jim" was not re-
ported for mustache at inspection, as
he wagered that he would be; but simply
for the unmilitary offense of Trying to
have some hair on upper lip" and this
on very chilly Sunday morning, "a
cold day." so to speak. for Jim" Oh,
yes; "A. Med" knew at that time as
well how TO manage cadets as at a later
date he did the Johnny Rebs." A strate-
gist as. well as tactician, was this pros
ffxya ma
Army
And now, without further depression,
let US get at Charley" Fields system
Of instruction in cavalry tactics, a very
different system from the one enunci-
ated and practiced by the junior assis-
tant in the same department.
Lieut.. Field had been ordered to YER
mont TO purchase horses, and had adver-
tised throughout the State for vicious
animals. his idea being, no doubt. that
they might serve the useful and double
purpose OF teaching cadets TO break in
horses and horses TO break In cadets AS
q financial operation. his efforts. too. were
a great success. ''Xantippe" for in
stance, was knocked down for five dol
lars, though any cadet would have been
toe ready TO put up double that sum to
have the brute killed.
Horses Full of the '3OId Nick"
After a large invoice Of these Vermont
horses had been received AT the Point on
one OF those cool crisp autumnal days,
the air fun Of ozone and the horses full
OF the "old Nick" the animals In the
riding hall were equipped with blankets
and snaffie bits. ready for the riders of
the junior class.
Charley conceived the notion OF a
turn to "cozzens' and back; "a prac-