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Show THE SERGEANT. (Copyright, 1910, bj Siar Company.) A Colonel in tho United States army told me tho other day something Ilk this The most valuablo officer In a regiment is tho sergeanL Tho true sergeant is born, not madu he Is the priceless gift of the gods lie Is so highly prized that whoa found ho is never promoted, nor la I Ji allowed to losign If ho Ib dissatisfied with his pal captain, lieutenant and colonel cl If In they cannot afford to lose him. His first requirement k thai he must bo able to lick any man In tin company. A drunken private ma damn a cap-tnln cap-tnln upside down and wrong side out, and the captain is not allowed to reply. re-ply. He can neither strike with his fist nor engage In a cussing match, but your able scigesnt is nn adopt in both of these polite accomplishments Even If a private strike an officer, the officer Is not allowed to J rlke back. Perhaps the man who abuses him could easily b'at him In a rot sh-and-tumblo fight, and then It Is qulto a sufficient reason to keep one's clothes clean. Wo sav the revolvor equalizes all men, but It doosn"t It Is disagree-ablo disagree-ablo to shoot a man. It scatters braiiiB and blood all over the sidewalk, attracts at-tracts a crowd, requires a deal of explanation ex-planation afterward, and may COBt an ofllcor his stripes. No good officer ever hears anything said about him by a priate The sergeant hears everything, and his reply to backalup Is a strnlght-arm jab In "tho Jaw. The sergeant Is responsible only to his captain, and no good captain will ever know anything nbout what a sergeant doos, and ho will not bolieve It when told If a Dg'u occurs be-twoon be-twoon two privates tbo sergeant Jumps In, bumps tholr heads together and licks them both. If a man foIgnB sick, or is drunk, tho sergeant chucks him under tbo pump The regulations do not call Tor any such ttoalrii'Mit, but tbo sergeant ser-geant doPB not know anything nbout the regulations ho gets tho thing done. Tho BOrgeant mnv be 20 years old or CO ago does not eminL Tho sergeant ser-geant Is a rather to his men Ho regards re-gards them nil as children bnd boys and his business is to make them bravo, honorable and dutiful soldiers. Tho sergennt Is always tho first man up In the morning, tho last man to go to bed at night, He knows whore his men aro every minute or tho day und nlpht. Ho knows evpnlhiiu:, and nntlilmr No wild escapade of a higher officer lasses by him, yet he never Lolls ' Now one might suppose that he is an absolute tyrant, but a good ser geant is a beneficent tyrant at tho right time To break the spirit of his men will not do it would unfit them for a service so what he seeks to do is merely to bend their minds so as to match his own. Gradually they grow to both love and fear him. In time af actual fight he transforms trans-forms cowards into heroes. Ho holds his men up to tho scratch lu battle bat-tle there nre nt times certain officers marked for death they are to be shot by Uielr own men It Is a time o! getting even, and In tho hurly-burly and excitement there aro no vIt-uosses vIt-uosses Tho sergeant Is ever on the lookout ror such mutinies, and his revolver often sends-to tho dust tho head revolutlonarv before tho dastart-ly dastart-ly plot can be carried out " In actual truth, the sergeant Is the only real, sure-enough fighting man in the army. Ho is nB ruro as birds' teeth, and ovory officer anxiously scans his rocrults In soarch of good sergeant tlmbor In business life tho mnn with Uie sergeant Instincts Is much more valu-ublo valu-ublo than In tho army. Tho business sergeant Is Uie m" i not in evidence who aska tor no compliments or bouquets bou-quets who knows where things are, who has no outside ambitions and no desire save to do his work If he Is too smart ho will lay plots and plans ror his own promotion, and thereby he is pretty sure to detent himself. Many a soldier Is a sneak, a shirk, a falluro, a coward It Is pretty much tho same in business, ir not moro so. It seems hard to say it, but tho average aver-age employe in factory, shop or store puts the face of the clock to shame looking at It He is thinking of his pay envelope, and his Intent Is to keep the boss located and to do as little lit-tle work as possible. In many cases the tyranny of, the employer Is to blame foi the condition, but more orten It is the native outcrop or suspicion sus-picion that prompts the seller to give no more than ho can help. And here the sergeant comes In and, with watchful oye and tireless nerves, holds the recreants to their tasks If he Is too severe ho will fix in the shirks moro firnilv tho shirk microbe, but If he Is of better fibrr ho may supply a little more will to those who lack It, and gradually create cre-ate an atmosphere of right Intent, so that tho only disgrace will consist In their wearing the face off the regulator regu-lator and keeping one ear cocked to catch tho coming footsteps of the boss. Thero is not the slightest danger that thore will be an overplus of sergeants. ser-geants. Lot the sergeant keep out or strikes, plots, feuds, hold his temper tem-per and show what'b what, and ho can name his own salary and keep his place for niuoU-nino years without a contract. |