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About The Sioux County journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1888-1899 | View Entire Issue (April 12, 1894)
v. , . -Aft 1 i The Sioux County Journal i.; v VOLUME VI. HAKKISON, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1894. NU3IBEK 31. 4 (i A RUINED GARGEN. AH my ro- ar 4ti in my garden Wloda to ibe iiifbt, without pity or pardon, Ullie ttre IlO 1 ilrw. All my M!-f Unit are detd In their bQhei - v (w fr tut ii Unrig-. ! ttobiui au1 liuneu tn-a bl&i knirl taid tUrutbM luiul, wuh Kill! wlligK. Oh, my gar'Jfii! r i fl and flower lots, W&te uow nxi'l lrvtr: Oh, luy garden I bur run anJ bowerUjit, 'Jltroub nil the year. Ob, my do&'l bird ! wh In hit ntat tbera. c ja ana Max ; What u tt horrihlfi dtwi b that prened there rV hen kies were iark? What shall I do (or my roi' woMdis The uniirter rouud--For all luy fcardoit'a divtiie ruijleteueis i t iKut aitd euuud 1 will leave my tardea t -t iuda to barry ; U Imrti owe wki jw tc, Lt the bramldu vine aud tne wild brier marry, Aud greatly iiicre&b. But I will ro to a land men know not A far, utiil land, Where no bird now, arid -where row blow not Aud no trt Btuxi 1 When do fruit grow, whare do aiTing makes 1 riot. Hut, row on row, 1 Heavy, and itdt nud prfymuit with quiet, The popi'ie blow. Aod there ilial) I t-e mad lia.e no mora Ko bitter thought of the Or days that whole of anrrow, i.ra 'iiitng njorrow, re. SPIKING THE GUNS. "The rciflmcnt will be annihl- j iated," observed the Adjutant, coolly, j And then, in the same immovable tones, he asked some one to pass him a biscuit ' urse you," shouted the Colonel, "do you think I don't know that? I)o you imagine I fear KCttinii killed tomorrow? lo you supose I want to live on after what has hap pened It's the eternal disgrace of the thing that's cutting me." "Once comfortably shot," remarked ; the senior Ma. or with easy pbiloso- j phv, "it doesn't much matter to me I jiersonally where, or why, I ko down. Not a soul will bo left behind to care." This last remark added tinder to the blaze The Major was a peasant's son who had hacked and thrust his , way up from the ranks by slice;' hard ; fighting. Ills commanding oilicer was a noble of the old regime. He j had hoped, and reasonably expected, j that the previous day's engagement ' would give him a brigade, atid so the fiasco bad fallen all the more bit terly. It sccrued as though the very stars In their courses had teen battling against us. Everything had gone , wrong. The blame was not our; j but this. In an army where want of j Juck was the greatest crime, told nothing in our favor. Many men had fallen, and panic had seized the heels of the rest I i Which of us Initiated the iuu can-' not be said; but in the rush of some, j all had been carried along, few (ex-', cept, perhaps, one or two of the older officers) resisting very strenuously, j The Colonel, burning with shame, had gone in; to report. What pre- ; cisely had been said to him we did not know; but we guessed with some accuracy, although he did not repeat the detail. The gist of his inter-! view was that the rcglrcent was to attack again on tho morrow, and, If , unsuccessful, then, once more on (the ' day after, and so on till the bridge was taken. j Yesterday the barely possible. thing had been ) Ytt to-dav It was j far different. During the night the defences had been more than trebled. The Austrians swarmed. Enough artillery was mounted there now to have demolished an entire army corps advancing agalnstrit from the open. The deduction , was clear. The bravest men will turn tall sometimes; and In our army, which was the bravest In the world, there had, dur ing the latter part of tho campaign, been more than one case of wavering. An example accordingly was to be made. Our corps had been singled : out for the condign punishment, ne were doomed to march on the mor row to our annihilation. Of course, the matter had not been put so at headquarters. There tho wordsran: ."Most important stragctlc point Must lie taken at whatever cost Your regiment will again have tho honor, Gilonel," and soon. But, summed up bluntly, It was neither more nor less than I have said, We all understood the order to the letter, and there was not a man in tho regi ment who would hesitate a moment In carrying out his share Each pri vate soldier, each ori.ccr, would march with firm determination to march if It was his last That gives the case In a nutshell. But the secure knowledge that there would be no skulkers along this road to execution did not pneifv the Colonel. If anything, It Increased his bitterness. It would make his ungrateful memory last tho longer. He sat at the table end of that inn room where wo had messed, with folded arms and nervous fingers kneading at his muscles. Byaslngu lar Irony we were lodged In' comfort there wo, who had got to go out and die on the morrow, and he must needs Jaunt us with It, as though it were shame for such as we to have so olcrahle a billet. Myself, I was stretched out on a sofa away by the far wall, and lay there mutely, having but little taste fur the worldly savageries whlcb were lielnif so freely dealt about And the nitfht trrew older without my le ng distun ed. Jlut th angry man at the end of the table singled me out at last, perhaps because ruv outward calm and listlessness tarred upon him. "Tired, Eugene?" he askei. "A little, sir " "Ah, 1 can understand It. I noted your activity to-day. You have mis taken your vocation, mon cher. lou I should not hae come Into the army. ! You shoul 1 have been a professional runner." An answer burned on my tongue. But 1 kept it there, gave a shrug and s. ild nothing. What use could further vrangling be? liut the silence was an 111 move. It only angered hliu further, and he threw at me an In sult which was mote than human man could endure. "IK) you think you will again feel Inclined to use those powers of yours to-morrow. Kuuene. Or had I better have you haiidcuiTcd to some steady old soldier?" A do.en of the other oillcers sprang to their feet at this ghastly taunt, for when such a thing as this was said to om of their numlier, It touched all. The old Major was their spokes man. "Colonel, we make all allowances, but you are going too far with the youngster." The Colonel scowled round tight lipped for a minute, and then said: "I am nuite capable of command ing this regiment of lost sheep with out un-asked for advice from sub ordinates, Major. Lieutenant lia mad, you heard my question, I pre sume? l'leaso have the civility to answer." During the minute's respite I had been thinking and acting that Is, writing 1 got up and handed the Colonel a slip of paper. On It were the words: I iicknowli'i'gn tlmt I. E. Kuraard, Lluu- tcnimt ol tlio Twonty-BOoond , oin a cow ml. (Signed.) Euoknk Ramiiid. He read It. "There, sir," I said, "kindly add th! ('a. as 1 have forgotten what it K I'' 'cave mat ocruna wun the baggage when we march to-morrow. If I do not do better worK for France than any man In the regi ment it is my wish that this paper be published." 'The Colonel nodded grimly and then frowned. "Have I your permission now, sir, to withdraw from this room?" A refusal was framing itself I could see, but the lowering faces around made him curb his passion, and ho nodded again, but reluctantly. IL In the dark, wet air outside, anil not before, did I realize fully what I had done. The screed on the slip of paper had been the spasm of the in stant It seemed to me now the out come uf a moment 8 Insanity. 1 had had no plan, no trace of scheme In my head while I was scribbling. The words and the plodge wero an empty lioast, made In the wild hope that 1 could hold them good. But how could such a thing bo done? The most furious, desperate courage, by Itself, would avail nothing. There would be l,o(iO men around, each to the lull as brave as I for no one can do "better work for France" than any of them! Ah, no, the thing was Imposs b!c. With them I should fall, and among all of them I alone should bo branded infamous. The paper would be brought to light; the curt, bald confession would be read with no explanation of bow or why It was written: and men would form their own opinions all hostile, all against me. To leave behind nothing but tho name of a self avowed coward! Oh, agony, bitter agony! 1 wandered wherever my blind feet led me, wrenched by torments that God alone knew the strength of, and from which there seemed no human means of escape. The heavy rain squalls moaned down the village street The place, with Its armed tenantry, slept Only tho dripping sentries were open eyed. These, tak ing me fer an oilicer on ordinary rounds, saluted with silent respect No soul interfered with ma Not even a dog barked. The thought cama You dio only to gain a wreath of craven plumes. Why not pass away from hero es cajte desert vanish bo known no more and yet live? No one with holds from you new life and new country. Franco alono of all the world is utterly hopeless for you. The thought gained. I say it freely now, for the dead, dull blackness of my prosjicct then showed no spot of relief. Jn my walkings to and fro I gradually verged nearer and nearer to the outer cordon. As an oilicer I new the words for the night, sign and countersign both. 1 could pass the pickets. Farther and farther toward tho scattered outskirts of tho hamlet did my doubting feet lead ma In one more patrol up and down I think my mind would have been made up, and after that whatever deluge tho Fates desired. But a sound fell on my cars, faint and not unmusical. I was dully conscious of some new scheme begin ning to frame Itself. 1 changed my path and walked fas tor. 1'ri sently tho cause of the sound disclosed itself. A field forgo, an an vil and i couplo of grimy farriers, ' nd half a lueo troopers with horse The cavalrymen were resting on the ground, watering bridle in hand, awaiting their turns. The smiths were slaving, sweating, swearing, do ing the work of thrice their number. ' It was a queer enough group, and I gazed at it for many minutes, still unable to frame the gauzy idea that had rean mated rne. Then one of the farriers, who had been fitting a hiss ing shoe on to a hind hoof, chilled the hot iron in a rain puddle and humped up the horse's fetlock on to his apron again. I started. The fellow picked up a hammer, took a nail from his mouth and drove the nail first gently and then smartly homa "There, vicious one," swore he, "I put that spike through the vent In a matter of seconds, but with these four others leside it, thou'lt not rid thyself of It In u many weeks. " 1 strode forward. "Five louis for that hammer and a score of nails!" The military smith dropped the hoof from his lap, came to attentiou and saluted. Iiut be looked at me queerly, and answered notiiing. 1 could see he thought me mad. Very likely excitement had made me look so. "Ten louis. There Is the money In gold." "My oilicer, the things are yours." Steel spikes, brittle rods that would snap oif short would have been better. But time was growing narrow, and I must take w, at offered These soft bent nails would serve mv purpose. And now for the river. The current was swilt and I could not swim a stroka I must go up streatn and trust to find some tree trunk or wooden baU that would aid mo in floating down. Of the matters thnl happened after this I cannot speak with any minute ness. To think back at, the whole time seems like a blurred dream, broken ny snatches of dead sleep. I known I gained my point on the river bank, some miles above the vilage. and entered the water shore, finding it chill as Ice. 1 think it- was a small fonco gate that aided my chok ing passage. I can only recollect clearly that the thing I clung to was terribly unstable; j and that on being landed by a chance eddy on a strip of shoal I lay there i for fully half an hour listening to a j sentry plodding pastand past through j the mud ten yards away, unable to move a liruti Then I gathered ; strength, and crawling, not only ! from caution, but through sheer ) ( helplessness, made ray stealthy way i j still further along tho shora ! Four batteries commanded the ap-; preaches to the brldga Two were on either flank to deliver a converg-, lng Are; two, ono above the other, were in a direct Hoe with it, so that the causeway could be swept from end to end. It was In tho lower of these last ' that I found myself by what toute come, 1 cannot say. Only then my ; senses seemed to return to ma I was lying In an embrasura Overhead , was the round, black chase of a sixty-1 pounder. I crawled further and ' looked down the lina Six moreguns loomed through tho night, making seven In all. ' I Tho rain was coming down in tor- rents, sending up spurts of mud. j There were men within a do.en ' yards, wakeful men; and then, and ( not before, did it flash upon me that my farrier's hammer was a useless weapon. Fool that I was to bring it Idiot 1 must have been to forget that the first clink would awaken tho , redoubt My life? i CNo, pah! I didn't count that liut it would mean only one gun spiked effectually, if so much. 1 drew back ; Into the embrasure and knitted my forehead afresh. The right thought was tardy, but it cama 1 drew oil my boot It was now and it was heavy badinage had lieen poured out by my comrades over Its heavi ness. Tho strong sewn heel would drive like a caulk r's mallet i Then I go to work. Tho guns were loaded and primed. The locks were covered with leather aprons. I I Infinite caution; crawling like a crouching In deepest shadows, i ping, making detours; not for used cat s toii mere j life's sake, lie It understood, but i cause life was wanted for work be yet undone. The seven guns were put out of action, and still the night was dark and tho Austrians were Ignorant be hind the curtain of pelting rain . . , . . . And then ou to the upper bat tery Two, four, eight guns! Threo I spiked and the night be gan to gray. Three more, and men were stirring. I got reckless and sprang openly nt another. The air lllling with shouts, and stinking powder smoKc, and crashes, and the red fla-h of cannon. 'lhc French were advancing to tho storm in the wet fs'ray dawn. Both flanking batteries, fully manned, had opened upon them; but of the guns which had direct command of the bridge, only one spoka Into tho roar of artillery tho wind brought up yells and oaths and bub bling shrieks. And then tne eagles came through the smoke. There was no stopping that rush Somehow I found mysolf among comrades, fighting with a claw backed farrier's hammer; knowing nothing of order, or reason, or how these things came to wish: but beetml oolv by an insane desire to kill, ana kill, ' and kill! And then I grappled with a man who was struggling off with a flag, and wrest ed with him jn a enmsrn slough, and choked him down into it, while heavily shod feet trampled on both of us. And afterward there was more shouting aud cheering, and mighty handclaps between my shoulder blades, and the old Makir, who had given me cognac out of a silver flask cognac which seemed to have been sadly overwatered. And that !s all I remembered till I woke up in the afternoon from the sofa in that village inn. Reveille had sounded. We mustered under j anus and the roll was called, , did not answer. Many And then: ".-tandout, Lieutenaut Rauiard,n said the Colonel. I advanced and saluted. "You wbl consider yourself under arrest, sir, for desertion before the enemy. Presently you will surrender your sword and report yourself at I headquarters." The Colonel turned and exchanged some words with a litle, pale man near him who sat awkwardly on a white stallion. He resumed: "The Emperor has considered your case, sir, confirms the ; arrest and orders you to be reduced to ; the ranks." The Colonel paused and , continued: "liut as a reward for i your gallantry, your commisson of j Captain will be made out with pro motion to the first vacant majority, and you will also receive a decora tion." And then I was ordered to advance again, and the Emperor transferred a cross of the legion from his own breast to mine. "Captain of the Twentv-second," he said, "thou art my brother." I never asked for the Colonel's apology. Strand Magazlna Annoy I hi; Traveller. One of the most humorous phases of passing through the custom-house Is connected with the fact that its oillclals often seem to reserve their gravest displeasure Tor the very hon est people. A writer In the Outlook says that sho had bought a dress pat tern of loden, a sort of woolen goods, made only In the Tyrol, and packed In the top of her trunk, ready for the inspect'on of the Italian ofliclala One after another, the trunks wore unlocked and closed again, until nothing was left but an unpretend ing little straw one that had been overlooked. "You have nothing In it, nothing, slgnota?" asked the otllcer. "Yes, 1 have," was my unexpected reply.' "It Is Just here on top.'" I opened the trunk and displayed mv uncut goods. The train whistled, olllclals grunted, people Jostled past us. and he glared at me. 1 knew lie wanted to say, "Why did you bother me by declaring it?" He wrenched the loden out of the trunk and started toward an inner onico. bidding rue follow. There I was greeted by another official In these words, spoken with excitement and much gesticulation; "How Is this? Just now at the last moment and the train ready to go! How is this?" One man was weighing the goods, another poising a pen Id his hand, and half a dozen looking on. "Why Is this?" repeated the chief o!l!cer. ' Why do you declare this at the very last moment?" "Perhaps It would have been bet ter if I had not declared it at all!" I said, In my sua vest tones. "But to come at the last mo ment!" "Surely It is not for my pleasure, Mr. Orticcr, that you ransack my strunks!" I reminded him. Then he looked at me with the air of childlike helplessness so character istic of Italians. "But there Is no time now to look over your baggage and sec what else you have!" 1 laughed. "I put this on top and declared It," I said. "There is nothing else, I assure you. But be tranquil; next time I pass the frontier I will smuggle everything and declare noth ing. I promise never to put you to so much trouble again," A quiver of a smile crossed his lips, but he growled: 'But tho train is waiting." "Yes" I replied, "and it must still wait until you arc pleased to return my goods and allow rue to rclock my trunk." The end of It all was that I was bowed out of the oillce after paying ono dollar duty on a four-dollar pleco of goods. Hail an KutcnsUo Circulation. "Jack" McCorthy is a character up In Hazleton, where he runs the dailv paper. His advertising methods no original, as well as clTcctual. He was anxious to get business from a tlrtn that advertised in his field, and wrote soliciting an order for his paper. Tho reply came: "Where does vour paper go?" With promptness, Jack answered: "To North and South America, Eurono, Asia and Africa, and It Is all 1 can do to keep it from going to b ." He got the contract New York Dispatch, Not even a woman is strong enough to keep good if she bas lots ot Idle time on her hands. -THE- COMMERCIAL BANK. ESTABLISHED 1888. Harrison, Nebraska. a a bkxwster, President D. EL GRISWOLD, Cashir. AUTHORIZED CAPITAL. $50 000. Transacts a General Banking Business. CORRESPONDENTS: Akx&iojji Exchanox National Bank, New York, XJb.TKD States National Bank. Omaha, First National Bank, Chadroa. Interest Paid on Time Deposits. -DEAFTS SOLD ON THE PIONEER Pharmacy, J. E. PHINNEY, Proprietor. Pure Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils and Varnishes. ty ARTISTS' MATERIAL. School Supplies. Prescriptions Carefully Compounded Day or Night. SIMMONS & SlillLEY, Harrison, Nebraska, Real Estate Agents, Have a number of bargains in choice land in Sioux county. Parties desiring to buy or sell real estate should not fail to call on them. School Lands leased, taxes paid for non-residents; farms rented, eta CORRESPONDENTS SOLICITED. C. F. Corrn, Viea-PrisM ALL PARTS OF EUBOP& tVBRTJBHES. i-: V: I ' 'r : i ' . V.: I i .... . si. Ay- A, Hf:.2 1 't fa S .1 i m 1 at sr Tii.Vi 1- M.iiJWmitiiaSMaE