Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-01-16

IL sounded in the early morning (sup-
posedly at sunrise), the second. or re
treat at sunset. IL is TINS second tnat
YOU have just heard. and Ms name re-
treat has nothing whatever to do, as one
would suppose, with retiring in the face
of an enemy. Ut originated, as a KIND OF
lament for the dying day. as somebody
has put it, and is always sounded at about
o'clock in the afternoon. No. this is
not the call sounded for retreat on the
battlefield. The British army, rs mat
ter of fact, uses no calls whatever when
in the field, and hasn't done SO since the
Crimea the calls are used only in bar
racks.
Now for the tattoo he went on.
I'm the old days. refreshment places for
the soldiers were run by so-called suit
Iers' i'm connection with every camp and
barracks. They were private institutions.
but were under the military control ana
were called taps. The final call of the
day, of course, is the last post, and the
preceding one. which means get ready for
bed used to be also the warning for all
taps to close. Thus the phrases tap to-
or ,tsp closed.D which eventually be-
came transmogrihed into tattoo"
<
Then the courtly sergeant drummer. who
is as proud of his drums as every
mother was of her first bantling. con-
scented to tell something about himself.
He grew up in the service il seems,
having enlisted as a mere boy in the
royal marines. in which his father was
sergeant major. He wanted TO remain in
the navy, but his father preferred to have
him follow commercial career, so he
retired" when he fourteen and went
into the civil service, where he has GER
tainly made good. He still hankered 10
be soldering, however, SO he Joined the
volunteer Artists Rifles" as private,
and eventually became one of its musi-
clans. finally taking special coursesl at
Wellington barracks and elsewhere 10
qualify for the proud post which he now
holds. He added that his regiment is the
only one in the British army which can
claim that every one of its officers started
as Il private in the ranks.
While the two big Zeppelin raids on
London were i'm progress the men of the
Artists stood at attention on the pa
rade ground behind the White Tower.
Afterward they were ordered out and
helped to collect the dead and wounded
and since then they Cor at least some
of them have seen a ghost-seen it dis
tinctly, with no possibility of error
The old tower is full of ghosts, as, of
course. one would expect it to be. One
OF them. according to the veracious beef
eaters, used to appear in the form of
"a great bear" and there were ever SO
many who carried their heads under
their arms. The war. however, appears
to have laid these old ghosts effectual-
ly, and the one seen by the men of the
Artists was brand-new specter
The belief among the men is that this
wrath must have been that of Sir Wal
ter Raleigh. since 1t appeared exactly
where the man who threw down his
cloak for Queen Elizabeth to walk on
and who introduced tobacco in England
used to take his daily exercise when,
following his return from America, he
was confined in the tower, prior to being
executed. This walk of Raleigh's was
along a sort of iron bridge which runs
from the white Tower" wherein he
was imprisoned in the adjoining build
ing, some twenty feet above the ground.
From 1t the distinguished captive is
supposed to have conversed with his
friends when they came to visit him at
the tower.
Copyright. 1916. by Curtis Bsvw.1