Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-08-17

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| From the time when we were very
! little boys we were always interested
! in military preparedness. My father
! believed very strongly in the necessity
of each boy being able ana willing not
only to look out for himself but to
| look out for those near and dear to
| him. This gospel was preached to us
all from the time we were very, very
small. A story, to d in the family of
an incident which happened long be-
| fore l can remember. illustrated this,
| Father told me one day always to be
willing to fight any one who insulted
me. Shortly after this walls of grief
arose from the nursery. Mother ran
upstairs and found my little brother
Kermit bowling in a corner. When
she demanded explanation ! told her
| that he had insulted me By taking
away some of my blocks so l had hit
him on the head with mechanical
rabbit.
Our little boy fights were discussed
ed in detail with father. Although he
insisted on the willingness to fight, he
was the first to object to and punish
anything that resembled bullying. We
always told him everything. as we
knew he would give us a real and
sympathetic interest.
Funny incidents of these early COM
bats stick in my mind. One day one
of my brothers came home from
school very proud. He said he had
| had a fight with boy. When asked
how the fight resulted he said he had
won by kicking the boy in the wind
pipe. Further investigation developed
/ the fact that the windpipe was the pit
of the stomach. My brother felt that
| it must be the windpipe because when
you kicked someone there he lost his
! breath. / can remember father to
this day explaining that no mattdr
| how effective this method of attack
was it was not considered sportsman
| like to kick.
| Father and mother believed in ro-
bust righteousness. In the stories and
| poems that they read us they always
bore this in mind. "Pilgrim's Prog
ress' and "The Battle Hymn of the
Republic We knew when We were
very young. When father was dress
| ing for dinner he used to teach us
poetry. / can remember memorizing
all the most stirring parts of Longfel-
! lows Saga of King Olaf" "Sheri-
|
Cumberland" The gallant incidents
in history were told us in such way
that we never forgot them. In WASH
ington when fathef was civil service
commissioner, | often walked to the
office with him. On the way down
he would talk history to me-not the
dry history of dates and charters. but
the history where you yourself in your
| Imagination could assume the role of
the principal actors, as every we'll
constructed boy wishes to do when
| interested. During every battle we
would stop and father would draw out
| the full plan in the dust in the gutter
with the tip of his umbrella.
| When very little we saw great
many men serving in both the army
and navy. Although my father did
not wish us to enter either of these
services, because he felt that there
was so much to be done from a civil
ian standpoint in this country, never
theless we were taught to regard the
services, as te quaint phrasology of
services, as the quaint phrasology Of
| the Court Martial Manual puts it, as
| the honorable profession of arms.
We were all taught out-of-door life.
We spent our days riding and shoot
| ing, wandering throuh the woods ana
playin oAt-ot-do games. Under
| lying all this was fathers desire 10
have all of US children grow up manly
and clean minded. with not only the
desire but the ability to play our part
at the country's need.
Around the Campfire.
! Father himself was our companion
whenever he could get away from his
work Many times he camped out
with us on Lloyds Neck, the only
| "grown-upi of the party. We always
! regarded him as great asset at
times like these. He could think up
more delightful things to do than we
could in month of Sundays" In
| the evening when the bacon that siz-
zled in the frying pan had been eaten
we gathered round the fire. The
wind soughed through the marsh
grass, the waves rippled against the