Show I I t StORIES STORIES TOLD OF SHATTER SHAFTER l Major eral William Rufus Rucus Shaf Shat Shatter Shafter Shafter ter Just dead had bad one very bad year I It may pay have bave been liver or gout or dys dye dyspepsia dyspepsia or all three But he was waa regarded re regarded regarded as a very stern stem man that year It was when whan he was va colonel of ot the First Infantry stationed at Angel Island Island and andIn In the harbor of ot San Francisco Always a rigid disciplinarian there came a period when he made mode the First infantry one of ot the least desirable regi regiments regiments regiments ments for u enlisted men In the whole American army This sudden martinet ism on the part of ot an erstwhile amiable colonel was properly ascribed by those who knew to his physical condition He a well man that year But Dut the enlisted d men know this and sad not knowing it their resentment was great DUrIng that bad Dad year of ot Colonel Shatters something like the enlisted force of ot his regiment r was waa in the clink all aU the tha time Umen in tha the guard house ho that is ot of say subject to such Inspiring Ins daily fatigue duty as white whitewashing whitewashing washing chicken coops and outhouses digging gravel making roads hoisting coal and such like mio While that bad year of or the colonels slowly dragged along almost any little old minor in fraction of ot discipline was enough to get the Angel island soldier a month and ond a month thirty days confinement In the clink clinic with fatigue duty and the Joss loss of ot a months pay It was rough soldering for tor all nIl hands sure BUre enough The noncommissioned officers were being broke to the ranks for tor the most inconsequential derelictions The buck soldier Just made mado into a s noncom In place of ot some busted comrade would pin his chevrons and stripes on it used to be said wd not caring to go to the bother of sewing his noncoms regalia on when he felt more than middling confident confident dent clent that hed be back in the bucks ranks again within a very short time The rigid discipline of at Angel island began to tell teIl on the regiment The Tha Themen Themen men began to go away from tram there with without without out patting in their names for tor leave of ot ott absence t b rence nce They stand the pace I The Tha gaff gat became becam too hard even for a largo number of who jumped without even eVen the tha pretense of ot adieux The nub of ot the tory story has bas to Lo do with how that peculiar condition of a regi regiment regiment tog ment meat was waa corrected War a Relief That Pine Ridge affair of the Sioux broke out and when the rumor reached ngel Angel 1 island that the First in fantry was to be sent to the scene of ot the trouble all hands of the tha enlisted men m men wore were delighted The Tho expedition would be a tremendous relief from the stats state sta of things at the Angel An l Island gar garrison rison nEOn with the old man in such a relentless frame of mind Being de d lighted the th regiment proceeded to tn cel eel celebrate celebrate at the canteen Four of ot the men man two noncommissioned noncommissioned officers ot cers and two privates cele aole unwisely They reached the point t pf unwholesome garrulity They arranged the thee matter among themselves the but they th y made their arrangement In too audible a tone Briefly their argument t was this They The would get Shatter Shafter their colonel colon l the first time the tho regi regiment regiment ment mont went into an engagement with the Indians at PIne Fine Hid Ridge go Getting a superior officer in an en engagement enen engagement en ent Is a matter of or Involving the simplest meaning The Idea is to shoot him in a the back when he is facing the enemy nemy It would b be absurd to deny that that thing has haJ been done don thou thousands sands upon thousands of ot times since armies were first organized The four enlisted men who talked it In the canteen with regard to Colonel Shatter Shafter however made bad medicine for tor themselves ittle agreement t was 25 overheard Thesa Thes matters have a away away away way of ot trickling to the ears of ot com commanding commanding manding officers In every outfit there ther e are plenty pl ty of t f men who cannot and will not abide this talk about getting a superior officer ot cr In battle And so Col Colonel Colonel Colonel onel Shatter Shafter heard about that little ar er arrangement arrangement The four to r plotters were forthwith gen There was n no noque o question tt n about the of their que gravity of offenses off offenses f The thing was to prove that tha t they had bad made the sinister threats It I Iwas t was proved They were all aU given very long terms at the military prison a on n Alcatraz Island that bleak re rock In San Francisco harbor the sad Md saddest saddest dest and dreariest of or all aU places of mill mili military tarp tary confinement In the United States I Colonel Became Amiable Thenceforth and right on ou to the fin finish finIsh finish ish of ot his active service Colonel later late r General Shatter Shafter was the most ing amiable and lenient commanding officer In ll n the army of ot the United States His lenience and amiability began be g from the day he heard of ot the plot against him when the Pine Ridge ru rumor rumor rumor mor was in the air The change in the stern rn colonel was all wI but bitt Instantaneous tane OUs On Ot O the afternoon of the day when the four enlisted plotters were nere haled before hint him to tell their story and excuse themselves them themselves themselves selves as ns best they might with the plea of ot drunken drunk n irresponsibility there thele was WM a game of football between the soldiers on the Angel Island parade ground When Whon by a 8 mischance that seemed terrible o the football waa wea kicked through h an en n open f t the colonels quarters plumb into his parlor the game was waa suddenly suM stopped The rhe cowed soldiers stood transfixed with fear of ot the consequences co of or that sorry accident They pictured th the old man on his front steps bellowing at them and they th y had visions vision of ot themselves going to the clink blink on the double In sets of ot fours Anyhow they had no no football to continue play with and BO so they started to gloomily disperse feeling full tuU that their haling before tho the beak was only a matter of ot minutes They had barely turned their backs to tn leave the parade parao ground however when th their dr colonel appeared on the front trout steps of 01 his Ws quarters He was was not bellowing On the tha contrary his im immense Immense immense mense countenance was wreathed in smites smiles He Ha held the tho football in his two hands He waved It pleasantly at the b solders oJ ers Then he ha dropped it on the toe of ot his bis shoe shoo and kicked It nearly out to the tho parade grounds Slaking a funnel of or his hands he called out to the stunned soldiers in a most pleasant pleas nt tone Go ahead with your game boys b ys And Ant from tram then on as we have said to the windup of or his active days day Shat Shatter ter was waa one of ot the most mt st agreeable com commending con cOm cOmman mending man officers one of ot the stanches t to the enlisted men in this mans army From which a conclusion or so 80 might be derived d and then again the narrative nar Dar may be quite But itis it 13 is set down exactly as It ft occurred Little Story About Getting En passant before getting back to General Shatter Shafter again there is a little story about that getting business which if you are al re in right you will mil hear whispered aroun J round othe tha tho world where there are American Americans soldiers diers generally at bunk fatigue and and the tho whispers considerably at that The Tha little story may be bo told briefly One of o fie e oung men to be given liven a ar 5 fOUD r tw twp S i p I commission in the regular army short ly after the beginning of ot the Spanish war bore a a noted name He was was how I over ever a very rash and Impetuous young man Born with the proverbial silver spoon h had little or no feeling for Tor t r rough or seasoned menThe men menThe menThe The regiment to which he was at attached attached attached was ordered to the Philippines It was a crack regiment comprising many hardy brittle fellows who had seen real frontier soldiering and difficult difficult difficult cult Indian campaigning When the new young officer Joined the outfit the themen th themen men looked him over composedly He make a 1 hit with them but as Is the manner of ot enlisted men they were willing to wait and see how he would develop whet when the trying hours sped along Enlisted men love some some officers Instinctively and at once The Tile officers however who gain this sort of ot quick and enduring affection are all men mens men men all through their bone sinew nerve flesh and cartilage Even Evan If It an officer be young ayoung a di direct direct direct from West Wet Point he can capture his men men if he have these qualities of ot a aman aman aman man Lacking euch such qualities sany any new officer young or old is s placidly looked I over by the enlisted men who obey ordera or orders ders dera and wait walt This regiment stopped off at San Francisco for tor a 0 week or ten days waiting for lor the transport The men of ot his company company found their new young officer very difficult He was harsh severe nagging He prodded prod prodded prodded ded and drove them picked upon them curtailed their little periods of liberty I made the tha game hard for them But they say much They were sea seasoned Boned men of ot the tha army and therefore not talkers While waiting for tor the transport some of ot the men of ot the regiment picked up upa upa a bright if starved yellow cur on an on the streets of ot San Francisco The dog was wasa wasa a walt wait Hed done something to tickle the men and so they carried him to the Presidio lo making him bun the tha regimental mascot Soldiers and sailors love dogs and any old kind of ot animals This mutt was a great hit with the outfit He had hada a a little UWe bag of tricks of his own and the themen themen themen men taught him mote mole By the time the outfit boarded the tha transport for forthe forthe forthe the long ride to the Philippines every everyman everyman man in fn the regiment r WIts was pals with that yellow dog They took him along on the transport The dog knew hs his place He was an enlisted mans dog d C and he knew It He lived and below with the tha soldiers and preserved his dignity and affability in all circum circumstances circumstances stances Yellow Cur and Patrician MutT The new young officer had a dog too tooan on an board the transport His dog was a pedigreed Boston bull He lived JIved aft eft with his hs master masted pampered and cod coddled coddled coddled the recipient of at choice scraps from the officers mess This fancy dog of ot the young officers one day flay snooped where he belong The soldiers mascot cur was there but he behaved He pay the least toast attention to the fancy dog deg The patrician mutt however observed the cur and rushed gashed t him The cur feel like being rushed Hed been taking his parton part past paston parton on the San Francisco streets all his life liCe and ho hs see that rush thing So Soo he ha whirled upon the officers dog and there was one beautiful dog fight tIght then and a nd there ther Outweighed and as 68 to pedigree pedigree pedIgree gree and breed certainly outclassed the soldiers mascot decidedly was not out oat outclassed outclassed classed when It came to in infighting infIghting fighting fi He was giving the pampered superior dog doff a first rate walloping when the tha young officer appeared He dragged the soldiers yellow dog dOli from his own dog that had started all the trouble Tak Taking Taking ing the cur by the cruff of the neck he walked w to the rail rall with him and tossed him into the Pacific ocean The Tho soldiers with rueful faces watched their pet struggling struggling gling filing In the vessels heaving wake for tor a along along long long tIme tune Then they turned about and met each others glances There a word said This was not as said a s talking regiment But the Blanches the men exchanged after atter that wretched performance of or the young officers were full of baleful meaning Very soon after atter the regiment reached the Philippines it went west into heavy ac action action tion ion t The young officer went down Sown at the tha very first volley He was extraordinarily heavy to pick pickup pickup up In fact his body seemed almost leaden He was waa strangely riddled Yet the front of his tunic wa was pierced but little li Repartee Along Soapsuds Row RowIn RowIn RowIn In girth General Shatter Shafter was a Falstaff F His waistband was a stupendous dous d ous thing for military tailors to fashion He was Sir John too in a sort of repartee repartee repartee tee In the old aid days It was his hili delight to waddle ponderously along Soapsuds Row the shacks In is which the noncom noncommissioned m officers wives lived and ex ox exchange exchange change badinage with the tho washerwomen It was no unusual thing to see him standing off ott half a dozen of I the ladles ladies of or Soapsuds Row R w at the tha same time It was a spectacle to remind one of the bluff old of Prince Hal bandying verbal shots with Doll and Dame Quickly and Md Mis tress Page Shatter Shafter had quick impulses of kindliness kindliness ness Once he broke a duty sergeant for an absence from reveille The ser sergeant geant had been detained from the call for tor some reason or other and he figured that he had been unjustly punished For that sergeant there was but one Gil balm whisky He achieved a whole of or it and then marched upon the quarters of the tho commanding of He gained entrance to Shatters library and would have laid that enor enormously enormously enormously man low in his tracks had hadnot hadnot hadnot not a couple of or servants tackled him and prevented him To strike or attempt to strike an officer in n this army is a bad Job The Th e I sergeants put him on OD the th e rock for far two VIA i ra I A month or BO so o after afi i the thes sergeant had d started to wear the gray on Alcatraz the General Gen ral McDowell the tug that makes the tha rounds of the military posts of ot San Francisco c harbor pulled alongside the Alcatraz dock Shatter Shafter oj huge and bulky stood on the upper deck of the tho tug while whit e the detail of prisoners made mad made the tugs lines fast to the tho dock for tor the landing Shatters slouched hat was caught cau ht in hi an eddy of wind and went flying into the tho heaving sea A prisoner Jumped briskly into the tha sea sen rescued the hat and brought It up to Shatter Shafter and Shatter Shafter rec recognized recognized his face taco He was the sergeant who had been n for tor attempt Ing to strike Shafter Take it easy here my man said Shatter Shafter Ill see sea If It theres anything to I b be done dona n In your case case Not long attar after the tha sergeants sergeant sentence I was remitted and an he ho was restored to duty doty d ty Had an Aversion for Fat Men M n Weighing scarcely less Ices If It not more than pounds Shafter Shatter had hada a profound aver aversion aversion sion slon for fat men either as enlisted men menor menor menor or officers no account for soldiering he ho would bluster in his tremendous basso They pant they wheeze they snort they choke they grunt they groan they wad dle die they slouch through the world Not Nota a particle of good on earth fat tat soldiers have one of em around ma mo if I could help It ItEr Er but r you would not exactly er ercall call yourself slight aUght would you colo cola colonel colonel nel a venturesome major once one asked ked Shatter Shafter after one ODe of ot these outbursts Slight No Nol Shatter Shafter |