Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1915-09-30
GOT HIS FUR[0UGH
Private Riley Tells lust How He
Turned the Trick.
Detailed to Give instruction to "Hish.
brows." He Improves the Occasion
to Secure the Loafing Spell
He Longed For.

Our old friend Private Riley of B
company of the Thirteenth regiment
Of foot, now stationed at Plattsburg
barracks. n. Y, is on furlough, c. H.
Bailey writes in the San Francisco
Chronicle.
1t is rather interesting, and entirely
characteristic of Private Riley, the
manner in which he obtained his fur
Tough, and to be fully appreciated
must be told in his own classic army
English.
Some guys" says Private Riley,
have to talk an arm OFF to get any
thing out of this mans army. l get
things easy, somehow, like | got this
furlough. 1t was this way:
They were holding that college
students camp at Plattsburg and while
it was on the skipper he told me that |
was detailed to go over to the students
camp and learn the boys the mechan-
ism of the rifle SO perhaps they'd get
the idea out of their beans that rifles
could be handled like they was hoes or
clubs or somethin' like that.
"They give me a bunch of ten fell
lows from the highbrow universities
to teach, feelin' that a man Of my edu-
cation an most obvious refinement
hadn't ought to associate with nobody
but the upper class of college youths,
an sure was gettin' along fine, ex-
planning that the bullet emerged from
the muzzle of a gun mostly, and that
was the reason that the hole inone end
of the gun was called a muzzle, and all
that sort of thing.
Then it begins to rain, so we SASH
shays inside one Of the tents, me and
me frat chums, and l keeps right on
explainin'. =
,"In the tent which we enters, digni-
fled, as is becomin' h%ighbrows, there Is
a lad what is bonin' away hard at a
guard manual.
while l was pullin' off some of my
best educated instruction stuff this
hombre what was tryin' to learn the
guard manual, he reads right out loud
and in the manner of a man what ha
made a startlin' discovery, what should
be on all the front pages of newspa
pers with 1S-colyum headlines, the
fact that a Teller on guard must salute
all officers always.
"'Take another slant at it, son.
says, an see If it don't read that
man on guard salutes all officers, col
ors or standards not cased.'
HE reads again and does me tn
high honor to inform me in dulcet tone
that | am quite and considerable right
But, he asks, what does colors case
mean? l tells him in me proud an
naughty manner that colors case
means colors which is wrapped u
nice and neat in their little rubbe
mackintoshes.
".Ah,' says the boy from fair Ha
ward, then a sentry salutes all officer
colors or standards not cased, an
most naturally he doesn't salute of
GERS. colors or standards. cased.'
81 tells him Harvard never produce
a frat brother with a better grip IN Il
English language.
Recall sounds and we beats it, n
goin' out last. I was follerin' close
the wake of one Of me frat brother
when who do l see but tn camp col
mander comm all logged out in W
weather trimmin's, such as raincoa
rubber boots and all them %precaution
8 II watched to see how me coles
brother would salute the camp col
q mander.
ITO me horror, me bein' a mo
strick person on military etiquette, Il
college boy he doesn't salute at all, b
ambles by the camp commander pro-
and naughty an apin' me own bl
blooded mannerisms.
9TH G. C. halts tn student. WI
!. don't you salute?' he asks, for y
must recognize me as an officer
"'The guard manual distinctly say
replies the student lad, surveyin' t
,r rubber goods that tn C. G. is pack