Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1917-07-04
A Breach Of
Discipline
By JAMES BRAINARD


army for the great world war the
obsolete In military science has been
discarded and the men are drilled In
trench warfare. including grenade
throwing, the wearing Of gas masks
and all such devices OF modern war
fare. There Is one fort where recruits
We're drilled which can hardly be said
to have fulfilled these conditions That
Is Fort A., located In the west.
Fort A. had been turned over to
the army as station for the drilling
Of recruits for the great world war.
The commandant, Colonel Whittlesey,
an officer OF the regular army, who
had grown gray In the service and had
added with each year something to his
stock Of arrsy discipline, treated new
corners and old corners alike, exacting
from each the same rigid observance
Of attention to the army regulations.
There must be guard mounting In
the morning. dress parade In the after
noon. tattoo In the evening and taps
at bedtime The soldiers were drilled
to march, countermarch, load and fire,
In accordance with the manual of arms,
and otherwise conform to customs the
colonel had learned some fifty years
before at West Point
What use the men were to make Of
these observances In the trenches in
France probably the colonel had not
considered. Soldiers had been prepar,
ed for war by being thus drilled from
time immemorial, and 1t had never oc-
Cured to the colonel that any other
way of drilling them would suffice.
He forgot, If indeed he ever knew, that
General Braddock with his trained
British regulars had suffered defeat
from Indians and had only been saved
from humiliation by Virginia militia
that had never learned the evolutions
laid down In the books on tactics. He
forgot that General Gibles at New Or
leans. commanding the best drilled
troops in the world. had been slaugh-
tered by General Jackson's squirrel
hunters from Tennessee and Kentucky.
There was one ceremony OF ancient
ard honorable standing about the OBJ
seTvance OF which Colonel Whittlesey
WAS very particular. The colors must
be daily raised and lowered at the fir
Ing Of the morning and evening gun.
There was no likelihood Of the men pay
ing attention to this ceremony In the
presence of an enemy occupying par
ullel zigzag trench to themselves, but
the colonel considered 1t one Of the
ways TO prepare them for this warfare
and IL the gun was not fired twice
day on the minute Of sunrise and sun
set woe betide the culprit whose duty
it was to attend to the matter.
Now, 1t so happened that Colonel
Whittlesey, who was q widower, was
attentive to a widow, Mrs. Eleanor
Andrews, whose son was being trained
at the fort, and the lady was staying
with the wife OF one Of the officers on
duty there. Nevertheless his courtship
did not prevent him from being watch
full of the neglect of any OF hts favor
lite observances.
Mrs. Andrews had tiny poodle no
bigger than large rat, and 1t was
questionable, should she be obliged to
give up either the poodle or her mar
tial lover. which she would surrender.
The colonel seemed to realize this, and
it was generally admitted that Zip, the
poodle. was the only living thing at
the post who could violate the colonel's
orders with IMMUNITY.
20 lot = IN
the premises was the continuance for
the firing Of the morning and even
ing gun. A wire had been stretched
from the gun to room which con-
tained an electrical battery. and key
had been introduced to make the cur
rent which fired the gun. No one was
admitted to the room except the officer
charged with the firing Of the piece at
the specified time morning and even
ing.
One day after luncheon Mrs. An
drews. having headache and not
wishing to have her poodle, desired
some place In which to shut him up.
She sent word to the colonel asking
permission to put Zip in the gun firing
room. The colonel would not have ac-
ceded to the request had it come from
any one else. but dared not deny the
lady Of his love. He ordered the key
to the room to be sent to her. and ZIP
was a prisoner In the gun room
Evening guntire was at Z o'clock and
5 minutes on that day, sunset occur
ring at that hour and minute Zip was
placed In the gun room at 2 o'clock, and
at fifteen minutes past boom was
heard that sent a wave Of consterna-
ton through the dungeons Of Fort A
The colonel was falling asleep over his
after luncheon cigar. Springing to his
feet, lie rushed from his quarters to see
who had dared fire the evening gun at
the beginning Of the afternoon He
met the officer charged with the OBJ
servance hurrying to the gun room. and
the two went there together.
There was Zip hopping about on tho
electrical machine and at the very mo-