Vashon Island news-record. [volume] (Vashon, Wash.) 1919-1954, 1924-01-25
AFTER THE WAR.

y
as they marched towards an aw-
full uncertainty.
Yes, many came back bent and
crippled, yet we felt pride in
serving our country in its years
of distress.
Our great pleasure in having
the spirit to offer ourselves, to be
conscious Of our duty was present.
No, we had no thought of pay
that was a secondary considera-
ton in this emergency. A differ
ence between $500 and $1,000 a
month, but that was part of our
sacrifice. And we had little left
to reinstatc to our former position,
share that with me, in their de-
pendent, lonesome years OF my abb
sence. And then the aftermath
of disparagements Of war made
opportunities very few.
My former employers, great big,
loyal druggists, kept their word
as | marched down Broad street
on April 10. 1861, as a soldier,
keeping step to the wild, strange
music of war towards the field OF
battle. But there was an astound-
ing crash due that would knock
down the foundation | had build
ed in my younger manhood. 1t
was to kill a long sought and
qualified preparation and destroy
my fair prospects of life. Three
words from the management, IA
days after the return to the pre-
scription case, a position | had
filed before my country's call:
"You are incapacitated."
T The deafening rumble of the big
guns, the fierce contests, midst
shot and shell, the devastating in
fluence of being thrust into dun
geons, shacllled, to the mind-shat-
tering and weary confinement in
unclean vermin crawling environ
ments and at the end of four
years, having as my last act as a
prisoner of war, sealed the walls
and iourneyed through the enemy
country. over hills and noun
tains, constantly menaced by
marching troops, vigilant patrols,
rowing bands of lawless guerillas,
and through mountain passes
guarded by death-dealing bush
whackers. AT last, emerging from
the shadow of death into the open
way of hope and fnally-lberty
we found that flag we had
hunted for so long-the flag that
made us free. But, oh, so worn
and so hungry. Should we have
opportunity to heal our crushed
and broken beings, recuperate our
physical energies?
One summer morning on the
great wharf in New Orleans, the
checking clerk, in counting the
bales of cotton, awakened me as
l lay sleeping on a bale. ex-
planned to him my hunger and
through his influence the boss OF
the longshoresmen permitted me
to help load near lying ship I'M
til my presence created trouble IN
their organized ranks. Then l
drifted into long, lingering ways.
All towns were filled with more
hoaters than there were jobs. One
morning | awoke in box car in
the great city of Washington, d.
c., the capital of our beloved
country for which we had already
suffered so much. Every depart
ment of the government had long
waiting lists. | could not wait.
George Wood advised me to be
examined for pension. 1t might
keep me from going hungry for so
long a time. The pension for par
tial disability was $1,66 a month.
My disability was partial so |
drifted to Baltimore where David
r. Burnham, my first lieutenant,
lived. | met an old acquaintance
of many years before, one who
had chucked me under the chin
and said to my father, "What a
wonderful boy you have, Els
quire.' | told him of my disap-
pointment in the indifference OF
those who were in authority of
the ways and means department;
that we should have an opportun-
ity to reinstate ourselves IN the
business world. He, being fin
ancier who had accumulated for
tune during the four years of war,
replied: My young friend, your
duty as an American citizen
should be your compensation.
There are always men in time OF