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Show 'bjvKKjfflnASHIaTON, In the last year or two congress has to mTa?o2?C shown a disposition to bo generous to the nmiy V2ry& Among tho other measures passed with a special v$TuW V'UW ,0 "10 "ccroaslng of thonumbor of desertions iMAUaV was 0110 wn,cn Increased materially the pay of en-Vk2)gsHi en-Vk2)gsHi listed men. Tho non commissioned officers partlcu-uMflsit&&Nl partlcu-uMflsit&&Nl larly were well treated by the bill, for It was tho Intention to make army llfo bo attractive for the sergeants und tho corporals that thoy would be willing to re-enlist Then again the amount of pay given tho "non-coms" was Intended to act as an Incentive to tho privates to bohavo themselves well and to stay In the service so that In tlmo they might socure promotion. pro-motion. There la nn army post at FortMyer closo to Arlington, the national na-tional cemetery Just acroff tho Potomac from the capital. A good, In linn 1 1 n in n 1 1 in lli i iiiiii1"!!!! 8 IP! ofllcer. looking out, did not comprohondliow terrific tho Btorm really was, nnd so word was passed that tho chain of sentinels should not bo broken. ''At one o'clock my guard relief was ordered out to relievo tho men on post. No mnn who was on that Island Is-land that night has in his keoplng words' strong enough to describe tho awful aw-ful fury of that eastern gale. Tho combined thunders thun-ders or 20 mountain storms could not etiual tho nolso of tho roaring of tho wavps as thoy poundod the shore. Tho wind added its bellow- snurfor and toro his "Springfield" from Ms hand. Then tho garbage barrel was removed and tho recruit was threatened with death If ho made nn outcry. Ho was forced to march nt tho bayonet's point to tho shore of tho Island and then to run over tho Ice toward tho mainland main-land with his former prisoners nt ills heels. When tho deserters nnd their victim arrived near the New1 Ilochcllo Bhorc n liolo was chipped In the Ico by means of tho bayonet nnd tho rlflo was dropped through Into tho waters of tho sound. Then tho recruit wns told thut if ho chose ho might return to tho garrison. Ho told, bis former charges that ho preferred to throw In his lot with them, for If ho went back ho would be certain to got a heavy dosq of tho guardhoiiBo for neglect of duty In suffering his prisoners to escape, and for tho loss of government govern-ment property In tho shnpo of tho Springfield rlflo which was now at tho bottom of tho sound. Tho deserters told the recruit that ho could I many old bo hi lorn are stationed at Fort Myer, I men who havo enlisted nnd re-enlisted until I the sleeves of their dress coats nro pretty well I covored with tho stripes marking their years' I of service. Thcso old soldiers tell many stories of tho old .days when the army llfo wns not ns pleasant ns It Is to day and when tho recruit's I lot wns far from n happy one. In thosa old I days desertions were many nnd somo of tho I stories which tho votoran regulars tell to-day I of tho tlmo when thoy wero recruits lots ono I know readily enough why somo men under tho I old conditions did not' care to follow tho flag. I Here Is one story of recruit llfo In tho army I 20 yonrs ago'that Is rewritten with no changes I of fact and with only a llttlo chnngo of lan-I lan-I gunge from tho way that an old soldier told It: I "in tho winter of 1888 I was stationed at I David's Islond, .Now York harbor, a recruiting rendezvous of tho nrmy. There were about I 800 newly enlisted ones stntloned there nt that I time. Tho Island Is a llttlo ntfalr lying fairly I low In the wntor nnd without any protection from tho stormH which blow in from tho east I through Long Island sound. "January and .Fobrunry, 1888, wero months I of sunshine, nnd flowors wero peeping on tho I sunny side of things beforo nnyono could guess I whothor March wns to roar In Hko tho lion or I lo blent like tho iamb. Knrly In tho second I week of thnt Mnrch month Now York was ovor-I ovor-I whelmed by n tempest of wind nnd snow. It I was In that storm that Hoscoo Conkllng mot m with tho exposuro which caused tho Illness It leading to Jils donth In a few days. It waH tho I worst storm known to tho hlatory of thu enst-rl enst-rl cm country, Tho Now Yorkors, however, did not experience Us full fury, for their buildings I I gave them Bheltor. I "It wns lort for a few recruits of tho United I States nrmy, tho men on guard, to hear tho I brunt of tho blizzard nnd to fnco tho oloments 1 that gave them battle. On tho night of March I 11 tho storm broke. At nlno o'clock the sky I over tho sound was unclouded, and thoro was 1 not a whlspor of wind over tho water. Within m j ten minutes tho black clouds had banked up, ' nnd In another ten minutes thoy woro shaking I out their burden of snow, while the wind which I hnd sprung to Its full strength almoBt without 1 warning, wns roaring down tho sound from tho I Atlantic. At midnight thoro woro great drifts I of Bnow ngnlnnt every obstnelo which offered 1 tho least roslotanco to tho wind. Out of doors I speech was impossible for tho blasts toro tho I words from one's Hits and smothered them I with their howlings. I "On that night 1 was on guard as corporal I of tho first relief. Tho Borgcnnt of tho guard I a few momonts after midnight Btopped from I tho doorway of tho guardhouse nnd was swept I from his feet by tho wind. Ho Baw what a tor- I rlblo night was ahead of us, had already como I to us In fact, and ho sonfn man to tho qunr- I tors of tho officer or tho day to ask permission to toko In tho outlying sentinels or to give or-I or-I dors to thorn to Book such Bholtcr as thoy could I And, The oftlcor of tho doy's quarters wero but-I but-I rr.ndnd with heavy evergreen trees and the "SIT ESidE i ing to tho uproar nnd Its strength almost took away tho powers of motion and of speech. "Tho relief started from tho guardhouse. No man through llio darkness brought by night nnd tho tempest could eeo tho outllno of his nearost fellow. Tho whiteness or tho snow would havo rolleved the blackness hnd not tho lashing ot tho elements blinded tho vision. 1 ordered tho men to unllx bayonets because or tho danger of cutting ono another, and 1 gnvo tho order passing from ono mnn to tho other and fairly bellowing It Into tholr ears. Then tho order wns given to 'Becnro urms' nnd to clasp hands. It wns only by tho hnndclasp that ono mnn could toll that ho had a companion. com-panion. "Into tho teoth of tho tempest wo edged our way. TwJee within CO yards of tho guard-house guard-house tho llttlo squad wa's thrown from Its feet. All senso of direction was lost nnd nothing noth-ing but a collision with ono of tho low.yng barracks buildings after ten minutes' tolling progress gnvo tho llttlo fommnnd knowledge of ItH whereabouts. A half rrozeu sentinel whoso post luckily was under the Ico of the barracks, was reljevod and look his place at the rear or tho hnndclasplng column. "Tho hospital or tho gnrrlson stnnds, or did stand at that time, at tho extremq east end or the Island, Hack of It along tho stretch or bench runs i( sontry's post. A mnn walking thero and looking Btrnlght eastward finds no" ' land upon which his oyo mny rest. That night.' tho Inshlngrury of the waves was spent mnln- 1 ly on that lonely sentry beuch. The first re- ' lief managed to reach tho front, or the hospltqi whlch'gavo some protection. I ordored all tho men except tho one who wns to relievo tho sentry on tho beuch lo huddlo under tho plazzn while I took tho Vollovlng recruit to find the man on post. , "Wo roniideJ tho end of tho hospital. Tjio blast threw iih down, Tho wind was tenrlng down tho sound nnd tho Bait spray and tho snow commingled rlnbhcd into our faces. Wo draggod our rllles and edged our wny through a waif of wind. A few foot or progrcmi and tho 'blast ngriln threw our feet from 'under uttered word. Hack over the sand wo went through the howling and tho lashing. Wo lost our bcurlngs and ran Into an obstruction. I traced its outllno nnd know what it was. It 'was the hospital morgue, a wooden structure not more than 15 feet Bquaro. Wo crawled armni.l It until wo hud reached tho west sldo, where tho shelter gave us breath: from tho doorway or ,thn morgue came a challenge that even tho nolko of tho storm could not smother smoth-er 'Who comes thoro?' "Tho answer, 'Relief,' was yelled buck by two voices In unison, nnd we crawled into tho dead house. There, standing guard in tho growsomo plnco, was a colored lad, only four weeks a soldier, nnd within touch ot his hand, .resting on its zinc blor, was tho corpso or a man. "Driven by tho storm to seek shelter, that black recruit, rather than leavo his post to get tho protection afforded by tho hospital, had chosen In tho blackness of midnight, and with wind nnd wavo raging without, to take up his watch by tho dead, h.ccausa tho place where tho body lay was on his post, which ho was under orders not to desert," Two nrmy deserters convinced n certain raw recruit that thero was something inoro than words In tho snylng he had onco heard to the effect thnt republics always arc ungrateful. ungrate-ful. It fell on this wise: Tho recruit had marched on guard for tho llrst tlmo. The sergeant In churgo turned two 'jirleonors ovor to him with Instructions to . guard thorn while they drove a inula team and collected the garbago from tho barrels in tho rear of tho .quarters, it was tho dead of winter, and for tho first tlmo in years tho channel' between Davld'B Island nnd thd town of Now Hochello was frozen over, Tho recruit plodded along after hla prisoners, hut, being green to. such work, ho kept closo nt their heels Instead of trailing along nt a distance dis-tance ot live paces as ho should havo done. Guard and; prisoners, reached a point near tho Hjiuro directly In tho rear ot the commanding ollloor's quarters, Thero ono or tho dosortors' seized an empty garbage- barrel and an opportunity oppor-tunity nt tho samo instant, Ho thvpw tho barrel bar-rel over tho sentinel's head llko a caudle como with them if ho chose, and thoy Btarted for a saloon In tho outskirts of tho town, a place known to them, thoro to wait Until it was time to go under cover to the depot to tako a train which mado no stop for many miles beyond tho place ot boarding. About an hour before tho train was duo tho recruit told tho deserters that he had "weakened" "weak-ened" nnd that ho would go back to tho Island to "take his medicine." They offered no objection ob-jection nnd their companion started for the shore while thoy took a back road to tho depot. de-pot. Tho recruit had soldier-making stuff in htm. He hnd been maturing a plan all tho timo that ho had been In tho saloon. Tho deserters onco out of sight, ho mado for a farm, house, told his story hurriedly, secured a horso and rodo at a cavalry pace for a hamlet a fow tulles east of Now Hochello. Ho was arrald to go to tho depot to which tho deserters hud gone because ho tearcd that they would seo him and, suspecting suspect-ing his motive, would tako to tho woods. At tho llttlo village to which ho had gono headlong on his horso, ho secured tho services ot a constnblo readily enough for there was a reward (or tho arrest or deserters and by tolling his story nnd by threatening tho station , master with all tho penalties possible ot Infliction Inflic-tion by tho federal government, tho recruit Induced In-duced him lo ting tho train. , The deserters were caught, handcuffed and sent back to the Island. Tho board deliberated long If not wisely., anil finally reached tho conclusion that tho country's coun-try's treasury could not well bear tho burden of tho loss of the money represented by tho price ot olio rlflo, nud bo It was decreed that tho cost of tho woapon should bo taken out of tho pay of the recruit' who hnd done his duty by the government and had showed pluck and understanding, oven it lm hnd lost a rifle. Thero wus a disgusted young soldier on David's Da-vid's island. Ho was not made of tho stuff of desertors, but desort lie did. Thp channel was still frozen and thu morning after he learned of tho order stopping his pay there wub ono poldlor less to answer "Here," at reveillo roll call. |