Chapter XIX: Wrecked Again (2)

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Life In the Regular Army.

Most people who see members of the National Guard in showy uniforms
and on dress parade, and some people who see United States regular
troops on pleasant Sunday afternoons, sitting on the banks at Fort
Wadsworth, and enjoying the exquisite views of New York upper and
lower bays, get the notion that a soldier's life is a jolly and a
lazy one. I can speak from experience when I state that the life of
an enlisted man in a heavy battery of the United States artillery
is not always jolly, and not as lazy as it sometimes appears.

One needs good references and a better body to get into the regular
army. Many American young men who have the inclination to enter the
army have not the physique, and so it happens that the American
service has, one might almost say, every nationality in it except
Americans.

I belong to Battery D, First Artillery, which was stationed at Fort
Wadsworth when I enlisted, but has since been transferred to
Jackson Barracks, a few miles out of New Orleans. Although much
under thirty, I have seen service in a foreign country's armed
forces, and have been in many parts of the world. Like most other
Americans who enter the army, I enlisted in small part because I
thought I might like the service, and in great part because I could
not, just then, find anything else to do. The physical examinations
to get into the service are most rigid, and there is much of what
people call "red tape," but I suppose all of the latter is
necessary.

Recruits in the United States Army are called "Rookies"--why, I
don't know. You can readily tell a rookie from a veteran. A
rookie's earliest interest concerns his "kit," which is his
personal property, although issued to him by the quarter-master.
The kit comprises a great number of articles, including
under-clothing, shoes, collars, white cotton and fur gloves, half a
dozen styles of caps, a dress-coat, and a brown canvas suit for
"fatigue" duty. Each man is allowed $60 the first year, $28 the
second, and $30 the third to spend for clothing. The government
loans to him a bedstead, mattress, sheets, pillow, clothes box and
bag, besides gun, canteen, knife, fork, and some other odd things.

Barrack life is not one which every man can take a liking to at
first. The enlisted man, in scores of cases, is a rover, to begin
with. But a company of such men thrown together presently find
their "bunkies." They pair off by a sort of natural selection. The
accidents of the mess, or of walking post, or guard duty lead to a
rough-and-ready friendship.

A trying period for the recruit is while he is in the sergeant's
training, getting his first lessons in drill. This he begins
without gun--or arms, as the gun is called in the army. It is not
till he has had these private lessons for three months that he is
turned over for duty, walks his first post, and comes to be
regarded by his fellows as a full-fledged soldier.

In the morning no one comes and tells a fellow that breakfast is
ready. At Fort Wadsworth the bugle sounded at 5.30 in summer, and 6
in winter. Ten minutes later reveille sounds, a gun is fired, the
flag is raised on the post staff--a large flag for a pleasant day,
and a smaller one for a stormy day--and the fort is swarming with
men running here and there, and going down stairs three steps at a
bound. Assembly for roll-call is only five minutes after
reveille--not a long time to wash and dress. But a fellow in the
service has to do as he is commanded. You have heard of the captain
who told the recruit that there were three things to do to make a
good soldier. The first was to obey orders; the second, to obey
orders; and the third, to obey orders. There are mess-call for
breakfast, sick-call for hospital, and fatigue-call for men who are
to do extra duty, like mowing weeds, moving guns, or maybe milking
the colonel's cow, should he keep one. Then those remaining in
barracks spend half an hour swinging clubs, running, jumping, or
other exercise to develop the muscles. Each post commander fixes
the hours for drills within certain limits, but guard-mount comes
early in the fore-noon, is usually performed in full-dress uniform,
and executed the same in all military posts. A new guard goes on
and relieves the old one. There is quiet in the post, save for the
bugle that marks the hours, till half past eleven, when recall is
sounded. At twelve dinner is ready. At one work begins again, if
there is work to do, and lasts till half past four. Supper is at
five, and at sunset there is dress parade. The work done is,
cleaning up the reservation, mounting or moving guns, digging
ditches, and doing a lot of things that don't appear in accounts of
military manoeuvres and show parades.

In winter school is kept, usually by one of the commissioned
officers, when there are classes in range-finding, knotting and
splicing ropes, gunnery, and the like.

Sunset parade is what the soldier's lady friends always come to
see. It is ceremonious. Let me tell you about it. All are obliged
to answer the call for it, and fall in on their respective
parade-grounds, neatly dressed, shoes polished, white gloves on,
and arms bright. The first sergeant calls the roll, and brings the
company or battery to parade rest. The adjutant, or officer of the
day, now takes charge, and by a wave of the hand notifies the chief
trumpeter to sound off retreat. At the last sound of the bugle the
corporal of the guard fires the evening gun, and another member of
the guard hauls down the flag. The first sergeants report the
presence or absence of the men, and the corporal of the guard locks
up the colors, to remain so till reveille next morning.

This ends the day's routine of a regular army enlisted man in
barracks, and he may go where he pleases until eleven, when taps is
sounded. At taps the lights must go out. A check-roll is taken to
see if any men are absent. This is done by a sergeant or corporal,
who takes a list of names of the men, and, with a lantern for
light, goes through the rooms to see if each man is in bed.

Special permission is granted to men of good character to absent
themselves from retreat, check-roll call, and reveille every day
when not on special duty. At Fort Wadsworth, which, with Fort
Hamilton, guards the entrance to New York harbor, most men have the
afternoons off, and not a few of them put them in in sleep. There
is a fascination about the soldier's life. And yet most men in it
wish themselves out of it, and are always looking forward to the
end of their enlistments, or speculating whether it will pay them
to buy their releases. Sometimes we have entertainments in the post
hall, and on Sundays the reservation swarms with sight-seers, who
ask innumerable questions, some sensible, others otherwise. Do I
like a soldier's life? Yes, though I often, as do others in the
service, I fancy, build air-castles about what I would do if out of
it.

FREDERIC WILKENS.
JACKSON BARRACKS, NEW ORLEANS.

* * * * *

Questions and Answers.

James F. Rodgers: The best researches in the line you indicate have been made by the national government, which has explored, measured, and dug over a great part of the ruins of the homes of former cliff dwellers and Aztec Indians. The Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum, Washington, contain many pictures, surveys, etc., of these ruins. We know of no society engaged in such study, or, at least, none that makes excavations.--Ethel R. Betts: Greek is now required for entrance to Barnard, but some changes are to be made in the requirements. See the answer of the Registrar published in this column, No. 902.--Bessie H. asks how she can get foreign postage-stamps. In several ways. She can buy them from a dealer; she can trade with friends for them; she can send the money to some post-office in the country the stamps of which she desires; or she can write to correspondents in foreign countries whose names she finds in the ROUND TABLE or other publication.

Marian E. P. Greene, Jamacha, Cal., writes: "A Swiss friend, much interested in autograph-collecting, has sent me one of her 'traders'--an autograph of Emile Zola--with the request that I exchange it for some well-known American or English writer. I also have the autograph of Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, generally known as Princess Christian. This I will be glad to trade for an American autograph, or will send it with Zola's in exchange for a very good one. I would much like to have the ROUND TABLE dated December 25, 1895, and will send ten cents in stamps to any Knight or Lady who can procure it for me. If a Lady of the Round Table has passed her eighteenth birthday, can she still write to the TABLE from time to time, and send questions to be answered, or must she give up this privilege?" She need not give up the privilege. The TABLE is glad to receive morsels descriptive of interesting places, people, and things.

An Orange subscriber asks where he can see pictures of the different ships of our navy. In HARPER'S WEEKLY, files of which you will find in your local library. If you wish to possess them, you can procure back numbers of the WEEKLY. Consult the file to see what numbers you desire. In the WEEKLY you will find not only pictures of all our naval ships, but pictures of some of the larger ones in several positions.--"A. H. S." asks: "If a picture takes a prize in your Camera Club Competition and is printed in your paper, are you the holder of a copyright on said picture? And also if it may be submitted for printing in another journal at some future time?" Each issue of most periodicals is copyrighted. That copyright covers everything in the issue. Where a photograph has been reproduced in a periodical, whether HARPER'S ROUND TABLE or some other, it is best to ask the publishers' permission about using it again. That permission can generally be obtained, or at least a plate purchased. Of course one would hardly enter a prize-picture in another prize competition. That might be fair, but one cannot afford to appear over-greedy.

Richard Stark, Jun., sends us the following:

"Where can I get setting-boards for setting butterflies and moths? Is a microscope costing from $3 to $5 powerful enough to properly examine plants and insects? Is there any Chapter or society of young naturalists for exchanging specimens of natural history? If so, I would like to hear from it." Make the setting-boards yourself. The ROUND TABLE published directions for using them only a short time since. A low-priced microscope will answer very well for examining plants, but a more powerful one is needed for insects. You say "properly" examining. Much depends on how important you regard the word "properly." As a general rule, it is poor economy to purchase cheap scientific instruments. If you can afford a microscope costing $8 to $20, you will find it much more satisfactory. Might you not secure one on approval?--A New York member asks for a proof of a prize-story which the ROUND TABLE desires to have illustrated. We regret to say we have no such story at present, and no plans have been made to have our prize-stories illustrated this year.

* * * * *

Woman's Bicycle Distance Record.

Here is an interesting query. "A. M." asks the woman's bicycle distance record. She says hers, ridden during one year, is 5700 miles. She asks if she holds the record. Let us hear from members on this interesting point.

* * * * *

THAT WONDERFUL SAIL.

HARPER'S ROUND TABLE has rarely published a puzzle that so exercised the minds of its young friends and led to so much instructive research. A curious thing about the contest was the fact that questions thought in advance to be difficult were answered readily, while some quite easy questions were missed by almost every solver. Such an outcome has never before been known in all of these many contests. For example, the sign at the boat-landing, and the three riddles 21, 22, and 23, were put into the puzzle as "stickers." Yet more than half the solvers answered all three of the riddles, and every one of them, save perhaps a half-dozen, discovered the keys to the landing sign, much to the astonishment of the puzzle's author. Of the riddles, the one that proved the most difficult was 22. On the other hand, the "Mad Yankee" and the "Bad Lands of the Say It," both quite easy, were missed by almost everybody. Such a fact is no less astonishing than that all should guess the hard questions.

The question was asked by one solver, if an answer fitting the question perfectly is thrown out or counted wrong, provided it does not chance to have been the propounder's answer to the question. The answer is an emphatic no. All answers that fit the questions are accepted, of course, and in case of doubt the solver is given the benefit. In the correct answers herewith given, those put down first are the propounder's answers; succeeding ones, if any, those found by the solvers, and accepted because they answer the questions. Solvers are asked to read them, and immediately afterward the explanation which follows:

1. Ba(Lear)ic--Prospero. 2. Edu(Cato)r. 3. Mis (Solon)ghi--Socrates. 4. Better leave bad company behind. 5. Noah Webster. 6. Elisha Kent Kane. 7. S(cave)nger. 8. Gras(shop)per--Para(a city in Brazil) site. 9. I(magi)nation--pre(sage). 10. Cor(rug)ation--(fur)row--s(cowl). 11. A(string)ent--(cord)ial--por(twine). 12. G(litter)ing--b(rig)ht. 13. Es(cap)ade--dis(turban)ce--false(hood). 14. Re(quire)ment. 15. S(corn)er. 16. Se(map)hore. 17. Ser(vice)able. 18. H(alb)erd. 19. B(ranch)ie. 20. In(scrip)tion--prescription. 21. Cheese. 22. A clay pipe. 23. Rabbit's foot. 24. Ce(rum)en--whiskey in ear of corn. 25. Re(cup)eration. 26. B(rake)man. 27. S(crib)e--S(cot)t--Al(cot)t--Pres(cot)t. 28. Hot(tent)ot--A(shanti). 29. S(heath)ing. 30. S(hut)ter. 31. Quad(rill)e. 32. Ro(pew)alk. 33. Sal(a man)der. 34. Sy(nag)ogue. 35. The Land of Steady Habits (Connecticut).

In 1 and 3 a doubt honestly arose whether hidden names or facts were intended. Hence both were allowed. In 6, "Mad" Anthony Wayne was not the mad Yankee, because he was born in Pennsylvania, of Irish parents. In 9, many gave "mage" in "image" for "magi," which was, of course, not allowed, and others gave "judge" in "judgement," meaning perhaps "judgment," as if it were expected solvers would misspell words. In 21, "milk" is not allowable because it is not subjected to great pressure. In 22, "iron" would not do for several reasons--see conditions. In 23, "horseshoe" does not fit, because not a serious loss to its owner, as is the rabbit's foot. That which is used by masons is the hair--in plaster. The last question, which almost everybody missed, is a simple anagram, not nearly so difficult to rearrange as the alphabetical cipher in 4.

The highest honor and a substantial prize of $20 were won by Bryant K. Hussey, who lives in Chicago and is 16 years of age. He gave correct answers to all save 6 and 35. The second honors, with prize of $5 to each, go to sisters who live in a pretty Virginia town. Their names are Amy Ralston and Katherine B. Rogers. The other prize-winners are Francis C. Péquignot, of Philadelphia, $4, and the following six, to each of whom $1 is awarded: Lewis P. Churchill, of Nova Scotia; Eunice K. Jones, of Ohio; Robert H. Mead, Raymond Tilley, and Joseph B. Eastman, of Pennsylvania; and Pierre W. Saxton, of Otsego County, New York.

In these awards an honor list is made--an unusual concession--and deservedly at the head of this list is placed the name of Master M. L. Hamlin, aged nine, who lives in Yonkers, New York. The others, whose names follow, correctly answered thirty of the thirty-five questions: Maddie C. Marshall, South Carolina; Roy Culbertson, Kentucky; Bayard B. Rodman, Long Island; Alice B. Tobey, Ohio; Harold F. Gaston and Bessie Jones, Pennsylvania; Maude G. Corcoran, Maryland; Kathryn A. Fisher, Michigan; Paul F. Case and Claude S. Smith, Monroe County, New York; Anna W. James, New Jersey; and L. J. Martin, Kansas.

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THE WILD MARCH HARE. "SAY, I'M WILD! GIVE ME A SEDATIVE, QUICK!"]

* * * * *

AN INGENIOUS DEFENCE.

An old darky was brought before a Southern magistrate, not long ago, accused of stealing a neighbor's chickens when the nights were dark and no one stirred abroad. The old man put up a long but weak argument, seizing upon every possible straw to support his defence. The evidence was too strong, however, and matters were rapidly approaching a climax that meant a month of idleness in the town jail. The thought of this and the attendant ignominy stirred the old darky to a point where he did nothing but splutter out,

"'Pon my honor, jedge, Ise--er--Ise didn't done take 'em."

At last the judge grew tired, and was about to sentence him, when a broad smile illuminated the darky's face as he cried out,

"I's got it, jedge; Ise can prove an alibi 'bout dem chickens."

"Well, what is it?" exclaimed the judge.

"You see, jedge, no poor colored man could take dem chickens at night-time."

"How's that?--what do you mean?"

"'Cause, jedge, dey's nothin' but roosters at night, and de charge am dat I took chickens."

The ingenuity of the defence won the day.

* * * * *

NO DUPLICITY HERE.

The story is told of an English and an Irish trooper who were scouting against the Matabele in South Africa recently. A band of savages suddenly burst from behind some rocks and started for the men. They jumped upon their horses and fled over the rough country, but the Irishman kept falling to the rear of his companion.

"Confound you, Mike!" exclaimed the Englishman; "ride, ride for your life! You'll be caught!"

"Go 'long wid you!" replied the Irish trooper, who was doing his best; "do you think I'm throwin' the race?"

* * * * *

ONE OF THE FAMILY.

It may interest some of our readers to glance through this short characteristic sketch of James Seymour, born in London in 1702, which is more strongly impressive than many longer memoirs. The fact that he displayed a fondness for drawing and painting in boyhood, and subsequently gained celebrity by his skill in designing horses, is too well known to comment upon. Once the proud Duke of Somerset employed Seymour to paint a room at his seat in Sussex with the portraits of his running-horses. Having admitted the artist to his table, he one day drank to him, saying,

"Cousin Seymour, your health."

The painter replied, "My lord, I really believe that I have the honor of being of your Grace's family."

This hurt the pride of the Duke so much that he rose from the table and ordered his Steward to pay Seymour and dismiss him. Finding, however, that no one in England could complete the pictures begun, he condescended to send for his cousin. The painter responded to the message in these words:

"My lord, I will now prove that I am of your Grace's family, for I won't come."

* * * * *

ENOUGH FOR HIM.

The approach of St. Patrick's day reminds one of a little incident, laughable enough, that took place during last year's parade in New York. The gallant sons of Ireland had turned out resplendent in their green regalias, marching with proud step to the music of the band. Those on horses cantered along as best as the legs of their weak-spirited nags would permit. One jovial son had considerable trouble with his horse, which seemed possessed with the insane idea that he was the whole procession, much to the annoyance and at the same time amusement of the other paraders. At last the animal, during one of its erratic movements, caught a hoof in one of the stirrups. That settled it. With a look of infinite disgust the rider exclaimed,

"Faith, if yez are going to git up, me boy, thin it's toime for me to git down." And he thereupon dismounted.

* * * * *

EXPERIENCE.

"My daddy's awful good to me," said Jennie, "treats me just like I was his sister."

"Pulls your hair, does he?" asked Flossie, who has a brother.

* * * * *

BOBBIE'S BILL.

Bobbie has been learning business methods recently, which may account for a bill which his father found recently upon the breakfast table, reading as follows:

NEW YORK, _January_ 15, 1897.

MR. PAPA TO BOBBIE, _Dr._

For not paying him his allowance for three weeks,
at 25 cents a week .75
Interest at 6% .05
---
.80

Please pay up!

* * * * *

AN ACCOMPLISHMENT.

"I can run faster than you can, Hal," bragged Jimmie.

"That's all right," returned Harry; "but I can stand faster than you can, and when war breaks out they'll think more of me than they will of you."

End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Round Table, March 2, 1897, by Various