New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-08-27
H Are ;eu+ennts Uniforms for Some of You Civilian Bachelors
VIII Teach Tactics the Ones Who Are Success.
full in the Examination Next Week. and You
Can Clean Here Idea of Whether
the Career Will Please YOU

, si2 a month a room. with a maximum ale
lowance of two rooms, or 81 month
which. when he becomes a first lieutenant
I * increased to "A thrsc-room maximum or
s3G a month. and so on up through the
grades. as in the case Of post houses
which Increase in size ana elaboration ga
AN officer Is promoted.
And at tho same time that no ig sepa-
rated from his post-as when on special
duty I'm Washington. for oxsmple--the Soc
end lieutenant also receives monthly al
lowance for gas bills and coal. which tho
nearest uuartcrmastcr may furnish him at
a slight reduction on tho commercial rate.
II "A mounted officer. owning his horse,
he is allowed $40 a year for It's keep $50
II he provides two steeds al bis own ex-
pense. And while he serves in the Philip
pines or elsewhere outside the United
States. except I'm Porto Rico or Hawaii. he
& allowed a 10 per cent increase IN his
regular salary.
II he dies IN tho line Of duty his widow
will receive a half OF his next years IN
earned pay, besides a service pension OF
from s12 10 $l8 a month as long as she lives
And wherever be dies he will be entitled
TO free funeral, with doleful music. a
bang OF guns and parade thrown 10.
But DESPITE these various perqu.sites. the
officer who has neither a nest egg" ~
bis own nor a rich spouse 10 help pay the
bills soon faces the realization that the
social standards OF living are more eX-
trayagant at army posts than IN private
life. Even the bachelor subsitern must
make continual return for the constant
round of entertainment which he receives
at the most club. Uniforms are a consider
q bic drain upon his purse, for he has n
maintain a complete civilian outfit IN ad-
dltion. Then the repeated movings from
post TO post to which officers are subjected
provo to bo a tax upon their purses, for az
the old adage has H. three rovings are
as bad a. a fire.
The married officer at frontier posts or
upon foreign duty finds no proper schools
for his children. who must be placed IN
boarding schools. at a cost Of from $50
10 81 000 each year.
Yet the career s. secure and leisurely,
promising extraordinary social advantages.
Every army officers wife is expected 70
call. at least once a year. upon every Other
military matrOn in her community. and
these opportunities Of meeting people are
further enhanced by the constant changes
of post. Even If he has tie prospect u
drawing only about $500 when he is stili
a captain, past fifty. the army officer usu-
ally shows his wife and family the breadth
OF the world, If not it's length.
These social advantages account in large
part for the exalted ego OF some men and
women Of the army and navy sets
Yes, my dear. they are all risht-for
civilians" the wife Of an officer at one OF
our posts was lately overheard TO say.
But outside the pale OF the post itself the
glimmer Of the sword and straps and the
glitter Of the braid and buttons do not
blind the civilian TO his sense Of proper
lions. especially in these times Of peace.
Except during periods OF war. worship o.
the soldier is almost wholly feminine. be-
ginning in the kitchen and ending in the
boudoir Moreover. it is the growing tenn
per Of the taxpayer 10 regard the military
man as only necessary evil. fast APP
proacnlng tho status Of an unnecessary
burden. and the young citizen who by next
months competition suddenly finds himself
metamorphOsed into a gaudy subal,ern
should grid on his trustv blade in full ar-
probation Of the fact that no civilian out
side of knlckerbockers or petticoats will
stand i'm any awe of him Whatsoever until
he proves his mettle in the fast narrowing
field Of his endeavors
Copyright. 1911, by John Efreth watkins