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Show SAW GREAT CHANGES. VETERAN JAMES WHALEN TELLS Of HIS THIRTY YEARS' ARMY LIFE. Fought In Two Wan Has Been a Private Pri-vate During Uin Whole Career Carried a Musket al Flnt and a Repeating Hide Later Influence of Wire In Camp. "If I had my life to live over again I would enlist in tho regular army at a ' much earlier age than thut when I en- i rolled myself with it in 1843." The speaker was James Whulen, one of the oldest inmates of the Soldiers' home, in Washington. Though 78 years of age he appears no more than CO. His figure it as erect, his step as firm and elastic and his whole bearing as graceful and energetic ener-getic as that of a man in tho fnll vigor of youth, while his head is completely covered witli a thick growth of hair, but slightly tinged with gray. Though he has known little of school Instruction or the study of books ho possesses pos-sesses that natural intelligence and rare power of observation which learn from everything seen or heard, and which soon make their possessor a profound scholar in that greatest of all learning, a knowledge of men and things, lie ' also possesses the natural genius of an I orator and writer, and when he once begins be-gins to talk npon some subject which arouses his interest and enthusiasm he : rattles away with a fluency and eloquence elo-quence that seem incrediblo in one so comparatively unlettered. "1 was 30 years of age when I enlist- ' ed," he continued. "That was in W3, and I was CO when I retired, in 1S72, after thirty yours of faithful service, during which I jMissed through the two ! most important wars, with the exception j of the revolution against Great Britain, j ; in which tho United States ever engaged tho war witli Mexico and the late civil war. I think tho Mexican war of great- ' er importance than that of 1812, because be-cause it added to our country an iin- mensa territory of almost priceless valuo. CHAM1E8 IS GUNS. ' "Though I am more than eight years I " nd the three score and ten allotted life of man I constantly think jpeak of myself as a boy, and it is when I consider the wonderful &es that have taken place in our (try and its military service since I shouldered one of Uncle Sam'l is that I realize my ago. Tho only Us we had then were heavy, clumsy d muskets that contained only one ball j t a time, and had to be loaded from the nuzzle after being once discharged. j "We did not even have cartridges. With an old fashioned ramrod we first rammed down pome powder. Then we Placed a bullet in the palm of our hand, I fd it with powder, poured powder 'all into tha gun, rammed them rammed down a small wad of pa-oed pa-oed a cap on what was called the of onr gun something that no I giinmaker or user knows any-bout any-bout und then we wcra ready to ' different from the needle guns, I ; rifles, the Winchester and m Vius of the present day! A ,Si carrying a twelve $'s rgest gun we hud I methin.!? ferritid. ...noiis are sixteen , I g a ball weighing fltit) , j T . ..iti requires 2.)0 pounds of j , ' . to fire it, and which will pcrfor- , reel plate sixteen inches thick at ince of twelve miles. . was but a short time after my en-fit en-fit before I became convinced that in the army has a far easier, p'eai-iife p'eai-iife and u much better chance to . f and do well, if he behaves hin.-aan hin.-aan in any meninl position snch of a laborer or servant, for ex--outside of it. The officials al-nianifest al-nianifest an interest in a private lows a desire to be faithful and j re his condition, and will encour- '1 him in every possible way. 'ES IN TIIK ARMY. v, as elsewhere, the man uoney will be always I the contrary, if "' there is no , t, uu- " le jtion - .-.Tiv Aifcwany- J, I thfng better than dauy IaTior for daily j bread, can do better. ' r "Though only officers are now permitted permit-ted to have, their wives with them, yet l when I became a soldier in 18-13 and for ' many years afterward a certain number of women were allowed to each company t in n regiment as laundresses. These women were the wives of the private soldiers, and as I was so fortunate as to secure one of these positions for my wife ( I was able to have her with me until the j i breaking out of the late civil war. This . practice is still observed in all tho armies of Great Britain and her colonies, and I ' . think our government mado a great mis- - ' take jn abandoning it. Married men ? with wife and children by their side make the best soldiers. "The presence of those dear ones restrains re-strains a man and tends to make and keep him ever sober, faithful and brave ( I in tho discharge of his duty. In time of battle he has a more direct interest in ' j winning tho fight than the single man, or he whose wife and children are in perfect per-fect safety hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles away. Ho feels that ho is battling bat-tling for a personal stake, and accordingly accord-ingly puts forth his highest, best efforts. ."In this respect a British soldier has a . marked advantage over the Americat, I ! though in every other way tho condition of the former is not so good as that w. tho latter. Tho British soldier is not so well paid nor so well fed, and his chances f for promotion are not nearly so good, but I to be allowed to have wife and children with him more than compensates him I for all his other disadvantages." Chf ' ) J . cago News. f . , ? |