The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-01-15
"BOOzY" BROWN
AND HIS BOOTS
Another Good Contribution Of Interesting
"Yarns of the Barracks in Which
the Life Of Uncle Sans Soldier Boys
is Clearly Depicted,
ACTUAL EXPERIENCES
BY BLACKSTONE

With clash, blare and bang. re-
veille ushers in the soldiers day and
as the reverberation of the morning
gun echos over the fort, some smil
ing boy calls out all those with
shoes on come and take drink. "
The first duty of a soldier is to learn
to obey the service calls; this is not
so difficult as it may seem as con-
sstant repetition soon familiarize
them. and the habit of prompt at
tention soon becomes second nature.
Many persons often inquire, what
is considered the best arm of the
service to be in; infantry, cavalry or
artillery? AS each arm has it's fa-
vorites, it is difficult to decide but
/ think all old soldiers will agree
that in actual service, the boys in
the cavalry have it On the other two
arms. For one thing army hikes
are not the sweetest dream that ever
was. The field service equipment at
the end of ten mile march never
seems to weigh less than ton, while
the cavalry boys trot past cool and
calm with smiles of pity, and one
cannot but envy the soldier who has
a horse to carry him and his equip
ment
The field artillery is a favorite
II a
men have a lot of work about their
horses and field pieces, they also
ride while the dough boys walk.
The Butt OF Jokers
In every outfit there is some one
whose individual habits or eccentri-
cities of character point him out as
the butt of the practical jokers and
humorists. Ii is also true that the
captain. or old man. as he is fa-
miliarly called. is fully posted about
the habits and traits of every man
in his outfit. With this knowledge,
you will better understand the little
story | arn going to relate about the
two Mr.. Browns in troop-6th cav
airy. This story was told me by an
old soldier friend and | will try to
give it in his own words.
Fort Sheridan is about twenty
five miles north of Chicago, and is
brigade post that is composed of
infantry, cavalry and field artillery.
Among the troopers in our caval-
ry outfit that was stationed at Fort
Sheridan, there were two bearing
the name of Brown. To distinguish
them, and for other appropriate rea-
sons as you will see later, the boys
called one Bug house" Brown and
the other Booty" Brown. Booty
was a good soldier and took great
pride in keeping his clothes and
equipment in first class condition,
and in the performance of soldiers
duty. His one falling as his nick
name indicates, was love fol- the
flowing bowl; he would get drunk
and miss a call'' about once a
week.
The troops made frequent
trips to Chicago to participate in
parades, and the boys always enjoy
ed these trips not only because it'll
was a relief to get away from the
daily routine, but 1t was pie asure
to go to Chicago where the army is
popular and where they would be
well taken care of by the people. At
the famous Horse Show, in the Col
osseum. the cavalry give exhibition
drills and our troops were ordered
down to exhibit the daring feats of
horsemanship that are the pride
and admiration of all who behold
them. Just before going down,
Booty, missed drill. The captain
had him up on the carpet, and after
a bad quarter of an hour in which
allarmy and navy officers are experts,