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Show -r- The Absent-Minded Vet. They talked of ahsent-mmdedneVs, And as tney each in turn Their mea'.iil lapses liid confess . . And mirth's approval earn, An old Vet hobbled to the fore, : His armlts3 sleeve a-wave With emphasis of wild encore To glee their stori. i gave, And said "I reckon in this line You've got to travel far To meet a case to match with mine That happened in the war. "I got so flustered by the charm i Of battle, so to speak, I came away and left an arm And leg at Cedar Creek." Saved by a Donkey. Erastus Wilson, or "Rat Wilson," as the boys of the old Eighty-fifth New :York used to call him, wears upon his watch chain a miniature donkey done In gold. Recently a friend joked him upon his esthetic taste as displayed in his choice of charms. "That charm," said Wilson, "is worn in honor of an old Virginia donkey don-key which saved my life in '64. I was reminiscences of the increase of th army and its mobilization in the opening open-ing years of the civil war, from the time it was composed of only 10,000 men, scattered all over the western country, to the period of its completest organization and greatest and grandest grand-est victories. He dwelt on the tact of the govern ment's dependence upon its citizen soldiery, sol-diery, from its inception to the latest days of the development of its foreign and domestic policies. Capt. John Reade, introduced as - a fighting sailor, spoke with warmth of the splendid valor of the army and navy in the ciyll war, saying: "Think of 26,000 men having died In prison; think of 45,000 men killed, wounded and lost on the field of Gettysburg. It Is something the memory of which will never grow old. , The reminiscence of those figures of the army and navy go hand in hand, bringing a glory to their country which has spread throughout the great universe, and has brought a glory to this country which she did not have before." Oldest Living Confederate. , It has been impossible to determine positively who fired the first or the last gun or the civil war. The friends of one and then another would put forward claims, seemingly well supported. sup-ported. But as to who is the oldest living Confederate there seems to be no doubt; although that might seem to be a question hard to determine. Col. Henry D. Capers, a brother of Gen.. Ellison Capers, now Episcopal Bishop of South Carolina, is the oldest old-est living Confederate, and this is shown by his commission. On Feb. 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated in-augurated as President pro tern., C. C. Memminger, of South Carolina, was commissioned Secretary of the Treasury, Treas-ury, and Col. Capers Assistant Secretary Secre-tary of the Treasury. The other members mem-bers of the Cabinet were commissioned four days later. The commissions on Feb. 18 were the first issued, and Col. Capers, being the sole survivor of those entering the Confederate service ser-vice that day, is the senior by commission com-mission of all Confederates. detailed by our colonel to gather some Information which ' necessitated my entering the enemies' lines. I had got the desired matter, which included some fairly accurate maps and drawings draw-ings of the enemy's position and fortifications, for-tifications, and was returning to our lines when I got into the midst of a party of Confederates unawares. When I attempted to withdraw I was ordered to halt, but knowing that to be captured cap-tured with the maps and drawings on my person meant hanging as a spy, 1 did not heed the command, but plunged into the blackness of the night and fled followed by a shower of bullets bul-lets and a moment later by a score or more of Confederates. "Having a little the start, I succeeded succeed-ed in putting a few rods between me and the camp, and then crawled into a thicket till such a time as I judged my pursuers would have given up the chase. I heard them hurrying hither and thither, rometimes very near my hiding place, and all became quiet. I waited fully an hour, and then, fearing to longer delay, lest daylight should find me too far from our lines, I began to pick my way noiselessly toward the - east, in which direction lay the Federal Fed-eral army. Her Revenge. This comes from one of the Twenty-fourth Twenty-fourth Corps: "One night a crowd of officers stopped stop-ped at the humble home of an old lady down in Georj-" " asked that, lie supplied with' "something to eat, ai the same time stating that she would be paid for her trouble. "The old soul busied herself over the frying pans and skillets,. while the officers' discussed army matters, of course, addressing each other by proper prop-er titles. Finally the old lady began to throw bread out to her dogs, calling them 'Captain,' 'Major,' 'Colonel,' ..'General,' ..'Gen-eral,' etc. ""Sick, of such business, one of tho officers turned to her ' and' asked to know why she bestowed such military titles on her dogs. ; .- ; . "Milertery titles! . Any mangy old cur can have sich titlements these days,' L "The officers said no more, but ate their grub and departed." Washington Washing-ton Times. . - Staff. Appointments. : In General Orders No. 2 from the headquarters of the Grand Army of the Republic, the following staff appointments ap-pointments are announced:- Inspector general, F. A. Walsh, Milwaukee, Wis.; judge advocate general, Albert B. Beers, Bridgeport, Conn.; senior aid de camp and chief of staff, J. Cory Winans; Troy, Ohio. The commander in chief, the adjutant adju-tant general, the quartermaster general gen-eral and the following named comrades com-rades of the National Council of Administration Ad-ministration will constitute the Executive Execu-tive Committee of the National Council Coun-cil of Administration: William H. Armstrong, Indianapolis, Ind.; Thomas W. Scott, Fairfield, 111.; Thomas G. Sample, Allegheny, Pa.; Nelson Viall, Howard, R. I.; William R. Shafter, San Francisco, Cal.' A. Av Taylor, Cambridge, Cam-bridge, Ohio, and S. C. James, Center-ville, Center-ville, Iowa. ... r "I had gone about a mile when, de- ' spite my caution, I steppeu upon a de-'cavcd de-'cavcd limb, which gave way with a " lotuT "craOk'.Iiiji rrj- "S. which so startled .-- - - iUat 1 saimuied and went crashing heac'.lcr.g into the copse, making noise enough to have disturbed a dead man. Instantly a voice not ten rods away cried: ' " 'This way, boys. Here he comes!' "I could hear footsteps of half a dozen men coming in my direction and gave myself up for lost, when not a dozen feet away there was another crashing in the bushes, and then a donkey, whose slumbers I had dis-turbed4 dis-turbed4 lifted his voice, and brayed protestingly. , , "There was a mixture of oaths and Sughter from the Confederates over the false alarm as they believed it to have been and then they departed, muttering that there was no use in waiting there any longer. When their footsteps died out in the distance I passed on and regained our- lines in safety. But I have hsd a warm place in my heart for donkeys ever since, and that is why I wear a golden image ot one on ciy chain.'" Obeyed Lee's Orders Capt. John Lamb, who represents the Richmond district in Congress, will deliver a lecture at Williamsburg Monday night on the battle of Malvern Mal-vern Hill. Capt. Lamb has become famous fa-mous on this subject through his defense de-fense of Gen. John Magruder from the charge that he was responsible for the slaughter of Confederate troops in that engagement. Capt. Lamb at the time of th battle was an orderly sergeant attached to the staff of Gen. Magruder. The night after the battle he was in Magruder's tent when Gen. Lee came in. The lat- ter demanded to know why Gen. Magruder Ma-gruder had ordered his men to charge when inevitable defeat and disaster awaited them. Uniform Pensions Asked. The following resolution has been promulgated by the national president presi-dent of the Women's relief corps. Whereas, equity and justice now demand de-mand (after a period of 37 years since the close of the war) that the widows of the civil war soldiers, who have attained at-tained the age of 55 years, shall receive re-ceive a uniform rating of pension; therefore Resolved, That the Woman's relief corps ask the congress of the United States to grant a maximum rating of pensions to the class of widows herein named, who are now receiving, or who may be hereafter granted a pension, at the uniform rating of $12 per month. A copy of this to be forwarded by incoming in-coming national president to the Grand Army pension committee for presentation. "Gen. Lee," Magruder answered, "I charged because you three times ordered or-dered me to. I was not able to get my men ready for the charge when you gave the order the first and second sec-ond times, uut when you gave the order or-der a third time, we started." Gen. Lee, says Capt. Lamb, admitted that this was true, and it was not until un-til recent years that Gen. Magruder has been charged with responsibility for the disaster. Capt. Lamb is the only man now living who has personal knowledge of the meeting between Lee and Magruder the night after the bat' Washington Post. United States Army. luet given in Boston recent-i recent-i L. Tiernan of the regular series- of most enjoyable |