“White Plague” Victims Seek
Health in the Polar Seas
Exploring the arctic silences this
summer will be two remarkable ex
peditions—remarkable because either
or both of them may result in the dis
covery or solution of a mystery which
has steadily baffled generations of sci
entists on both sides of the globe. One
of the expeditions will add another
chapter to the romantic search for
the pole. It will be in charge of Com
mander Peary, who is girding himself
for another dash for the pole.
The Peary expedition will set forth
on the newly launched vessel Roose
velt next month, or a month later
than the other expedition, which has
for its goal the discovery of a Sure
cure for the dread white plague—to
I An. inland station'* 7
^ 'Sr'
berculosis—in the Land of the Mid
night Sun. This expedition is in
charge of Dr. Frederick Sohon of
Washington, who was in the arctic
regions twice with Commander Peary.
Thirty victims of tuberculosis went
aboard the steamer Havana at Hali
fax on June 15, preparatory to a voy
age quite without a parallel in medi
cal records. When it is remembered
that the modern plague of civiliza
tion has spread with such alarming
rapidity within the past few years as
to have dwarfed wrar as a life-taking
force, and that its prevalence to-day
is greater in the United States than
insanity, not to mention other dis
eases, the importance of this expedi
tion can hardly be overestimated.
Not many years ago consumption
was regarded as non-infectious. Now
it is known to be otherwise. The
once accepted theory as to its hered
ity has been exploded. As a matter
of fact, remarked Dr. Sohon in dis
cussing the expedition and his hopes
of it, tuberculosis comes like a thief
in the night or as a lightning flash
from a surny sky. It is no respecter
of persons, age or caste. Rich and
poor, strong and weak are alike vic
tims of its stealthy approach.
Demonstrations recently made have
established beyond, a doubt that the
fresh-air-and-sunshine cure is almost
in allible. But under ordinary condi
tions it is a slow and tedious opera
tion. reuiring more time than the
average person has to spare in this
strenuous age. Dr. Sohon believes
that three months spent in the germ
proof regions of the North will rout
the disease sufficiently for the victim
to throw it off completely.
July, August and September above
the arctic circle, will be three months
of never-ceasing sunshine—every hour
in the twenty-four. Think of the cura
tive properties stored in a continuous
sun bath of fourteen weeks! For it
is into such a polar day that the Ha
vana will sail with her crew and thir
ty candidates for the polar cure.
Following is an account of the ex
pedition and also an expert diagnosis
of the disease in its many forms and
phases, as well as the practicability
of the Greenland fjords to its treat
ment and cure, written by Dr. Sohon.
“The plan, which has been a dreftm
^ TfltrtAVAHA
Japanese Students.
A British journal says that Japa
nese students and schoolboys twenty
years ago had no appreciation of ath
letics. They took too serious a view
of their duties to waste on games the
time that might be devoted to stud
ies, and they had to be driven by their
early English professors and teachers
into the playgrounds as though to a
disagreeable task. Now they take a
keen interest in rowing, lawn tennis
and baseball, though cricket, with its
long periods of enforced inactivity,
does not appeal to them. They have
acquired so much proficiency in the
American national game that a team
of players from the Waseda university
of Tokio recently left Japan, taking
the long voyage across the Pacific for
the purpose of trying conclusions with
the champion teams of the American
universities. We may yet see an
eight from Tokio competing at Hen
ley.
Elliott Peabody Reassured.
Elliott H. Peabody is one of -the
Vest known men at the Worcester
county court house, says a writer in
the Boston Herald, being an examiner
of mine for many years, and which
through the aid of a number of gen
erous men will now be put into oper
ation, is the sequel to my own experi
ence in the polar regions. I accom
panied Commander Perry in 1837, and
was at the time slightly affected by
tuberculosis myself. I improved so
rapidly, despite the hardships of the
journey, and was to vastly benefited
that I was struck with wronder at
w'hat the arctic regions could do -for
persons so affected. That, to repeat,
was during the 1S97 expedition.
“Five years afterward, on accom
panying the Peary relief expedition,
I made an exhaustive study of the sub
ject of the curative properties of the
Far North for consumption. In order
to bring the reader to a better real
ization of this vast and vital scourge,
it may be said that tubercle bacilli
do not necessarily lead to hopeless
extremes, but it is the resulting mixed
infection with pyogenic organisms
which occasions danger. The indica
tions are to have an environment free
from all sources oP dangerous extra
infection and to secure such other
conditions as to encourage a restora
tion of vitality and vigor by which the
disease is stifled, so to say.
“These conditions can be met in
perfection in some of the Greenland
fjords. The suggestion of their adap
tability to this purpose has nothing
strange or experimental for its foun
dation. It proposes something easily
obtainable and better than we have at
present—the highest development of
all that has proved beneficial in the
rational treatment of tuberculosis.
“Our present- procedures, if thor
oughly carried out, ought to cure a
proportion of cases far beyond what
are usually accepted as fair results.
One person in four contracts tuber
culosis. and one death in seven is
from this cause alone—which would
imply only 44 per cent of recoveries.
“A summer spent in Ornenak fjord
or Irglefleld gulf, where we purpose
anchoring and biding a while, would
serve to establish a cure, or insure
its accomplishment afterward, in near
ly all cases not hopelessly advanced.
Three consumptives to my knowl
edge have gone to these places and
in each case the cure wras immediate
and effectual. Two of them were for
three months in the Peary expedition,
and the third, a well advanced case,
was for nine months aboard a whaler.
Some Eskimos brought to this country
soon contracted virulent tuberculosis,
four of them quickly succumbing, one
being still uncured here, while the
only one who returned to his native
snows recovered. One hundred per
cent of recoveries in four cases is of
course not conclusive evidence, still
it includes all known cases. So we
are warranted m drawing the most
promising conclusions.
“While it is difficult to believe that
a cure may be worked in a few
months, it is also hard to compre
hend the unfamiliar conditions of so
strange a climate and country as ex
ist up there. In the Arctic circle
there is a natural forcing of every
thing that invites a natural cure. Two
days of sunshine are rolled into one,
with an increase of the rays that in
fluence metabolism, as the polar at
mosphere is shorn of ingredients
which with us interfere with the
transmission of vibrations beyond
the violet. For instance, the indefi
nite depressing conditions which pre
cede a thunderstorm are not felt
where our lightning is replaced by the
aurora borealis. There can be no
more healthful place than where there
is no putrefaction of animal matter
or decay of vegetable substances, as
illustrated by pieces of rope and pine
wood which lay exposed to all weath
ering influences for thirteen years
at Cape Sabine among skins and ref
use. and not yet begun to decay.
“We expect to be back in Halifax
of titles, justice of the peace and the
originator of the consolidated index.
Mr. Peabody and my brotber-in-law,
with others, were interested in a busi
ness transaction. On March 13 they
expected to make a certain deal. Mr.
Peabody was unable to be present, so
the next morning he telephoned to a
Mr. H. for particulars. A lady an
swered the ’phone, and said that Mr.
H. was not at home. Mr. Peabody,
supposing the lady to be Mrs. H. said:
“Well, perhaps you can tell me vbat
I want to know. I only wanted to in
quire how things went last night.”
The lady, in a cheerful, reassuring
tone, said: “Oh. beautifully! Mrs.
H. is doing nicely, and the baby
weighs 6*4 pounds. I’m the nurse.”
English Scientist Dies in the Congo.
News has been received in England
of the death of Dr. J. E. Dutton, in
the Congo, while engaged in the inves
tigation of trypanosomiasis.
Czar Aids Boston Congregation.
The Czar of Russia ha* given the
Greek Orthodox Christiars of B-<*ton
$1,000 toward erecting a place of wor
ship.^
1 early in October or possibly by Sept.
30. On this initial voyage no ad
venced cases are taken, several per
sons being indeed simply victims of
nervous exhaustion. They will be
quartered aside from the other pa
tients in such a way as to eliminate
any contact that might prove hazard
ous prior to our reaching the Arctic
circle.”
This polar expedition as a cure for
consumption is in line with the
preaching and practice of several new
sanitariums, which foster a return to
the natural life as a cure for the
great modern plague. In many of
these all patients, except those In ad
vanced stages of the disease, are re
quired to be in the open air at all
daylight hours in all sorts of weather,
and the majority sleep out of doors.
Following the diet regulations at
these institutions those on board the
tuberculosis vessel Havana will be
urged to intermediary diets, consist
ing of milk, cream and eggs, as far
as possible, or during the northward
voyage. Any one knowing the nature
of tuberculosis is aware that pure
milk is one of the essential factors to
a cure or arrest of the disease. On
the Havana large reservoirs have
been constructed for the storing of
milk, with icing facilities to keep it
absolutely fresh.
Ample provision also has been made
for gathering eggs, such as are edible
and as may be found in quantities
along the shores of Greenland. Sec
ond only to milk, raw eggs swallowed
after every meal constitute an invalu
able item of diet for the consumptive.
Considering the brief time required
in the arctic regions to arrest and
rout the disease—three or four
months being an average period for
such accomplishment—the expense, it
is believed, will be no greater than
that required of a sanitarium in
mate. Since the feasibility of the ex
pedition has been indorsed by Lieut.
Commander Peary and Surgeon Nash
of the United States navy, who ac
companied the Greely relief expedi
tion, besides several other arctic ex
plorers, who have habited the arctic
regions in summer, it has scientific
indorsements which promise well for
the success of the novel journey into
the polar sunshine.—New York Times.
He Thought It Might Do.
When Patrick received an order he
followed it implicit}' as far as he could
—sometimes even farther than his
Celtic brain realized.
“He wants a pane o’ windy glass tin
inches by foorteen,” said Patrick one
day, as he entered a shop where his
employer, a master carpenter, traded
In the shop was a young clerk, whc
never missed a chance for a little
joke at the Irishman’s expense.
“If we haven’t any ten-by-fourteens,”
he said, “I may have to give you a
fourteen-by-ten.”
Patrick rubbed his head thought
fully. Then he stood pondering for a
moment, and at last remarked:
“He's in a great roosh for it, and
there’s no other place near to get It.
Give me wan o’ thim foorteen-by-tins,
and if he turrns it sideways and oop
side down, there’s not a sowl would
know the difference."—Youths Com
panion.
Gov. Long Claims His Own Feet.
While returning home from his office
one day, feeling very tired. ex-Gov
Long boarded an electric car. After
he had been seated about five minutes
a young man boarded the car, and as
there were no vacant seats he had to
hang on to the straps. The young
man was rather uncertain on his feet,
and happened to step on the govern
or's toes four or five times. The gov
ernor got tired of pulling his feet out
of the way. and remarked: “Young
man, I know my feet were made to
walk on, but that privilege belongs ?to
me.”—Boston Herald.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Story.
The following story of Oliver Wen
dell Holmes was told me some years
ago by a physician who was a student
In the Harvard medical school wheD
Dr. Holtaes was an instructor in anat
omy there.
One day the subject before the
class was the cranium, and a human
skull was passed from hand to hand
the instructor asking the members ol
the class to describe the prominences
cavities and apertures. Student aftei
student gave the names and locations
of the orifices, until finally the in
quiry narrowed down to one opening
which baffled every one.
Dr. Holmes waited patiently foi
some one to distinguish himself, bul
no explanation was advanced. Wher
all had given it up the doctor rathei
dryly remarked: “That is Holmes
hole; I made it myself.”—Boston
Herald. i
- I
Ambassador Would Move.
Ambassador Hengelmuller of Ana
tria-Hungary is endeavoring to have
himself transferred from Washington
to some European post, as he cannot
stand the rigorous winters.
'v' . I
CUSTOM OF DEEP DRINKING
Students at German Universities Attain Mar
velous Proficiency in Draining Deep Draughts
A clever writer In the London
Chronicle says: “A Rhodes scholar
has been telling The Chicago Daily
News that in Oxford a man has only
to drink a quart of small beer with*
ait a breath and at once he becomes
a hero. This is a picturesque way of
referring to the ancient and honor
able custom of ‘sconcing’ at dinner
in hall. For certain offenses against
etiquette, such as punning, swearing
or talking ‘shop,’ an undergraduate
may be ‘sconced’ or fined by the head
of his table, the sconce being a quart
of beer or similar fluid. In the normal
course of things the sconced one sim
ply takes a sip at the tankard and
then circulates it round the table for
all w'ho choose to follow suit. But.
at some colleges at least, if he can
drink the quart off without taking
breath he ‘sconces’ everybody at the
table in a like penalty.
“If the Rhodes scholar w'ho has
been describing to Chicago the Ox
ford system of ‘sconces’ had gone on
to a German university he wrould have
I
found that the man who can drink a
quart of beer without taking breath
is not a hero, but only an ordinary
student. At the German kneipe, or
club meeting for the drinking of beer
and the singing of students’ songs,
there is a special challenge to a bier*
konig (beer king) contest. The huge
pots are filled, the duelists face each
other and at the word of command
they drink. The first who can invert
an empty pot and sputter ‘bier konig’
wins.”
Drinking without going to the trou
ble of swallowing is thus described
by the same writer: “This form of
friendly duel has evolved a method of
drinking that may be seen in Egypt,
where a native seems to pour water
down his throat without that sort of
lock system that our less educated
canals demand. A German student
will bring pot and mouth to the inti
mate angle and down goes the beer
without a tremor of the throat. This,
of course, gives no pleasure, but to
the wondering unlooker; it is merely
an acrobatic feat.”
SYSTEM THAT DIDN’T WORK
Fatal Flaw in Young Man’s Scheme
for Remembering Names and Faces
Some of the feats in remembering
names and faces of persons only seen
once performed by bank clerks and
persons in similar positions are as
tonishing, but it is a fact that very
few of them owe this faculty to any
of the artificial systems of mnemon
ics so widely advertised. Either the
gift is a natural one or is acquired
at the expense of much hard work.
The cashier of a downtown bank
who is noted for his memory for
names and faces got talking the other
day about his faculty and confessed
that it had been acquired with much
labor.
“When I was a young fellow.” he
said, ‘I was secretary to the president
of a New Jersey bank, and I made up
my mind that a good memory for
names and faces would be a valuable
asset, and set to work to supply what
nature had not given me. I invested
$50 in an elaborate system of mne
monics, and the first opportunity I
had to use it was when my employer
sent me to a hardware store on a per
sonal errand.
“My system consisted in associat
ing the man in my mind with some
simple article connected with his I
trade and prefixing or suffixing a let
ter or more as necessary. For in
stance, Sanders the grocer would be
associated in my mind with sand, and
I would of course remember to add
the three letters needed to form his
name.
“Well, I framed up a plan on this
system to remember the hardware
man's name, and in two weeks I came
back again. My system was w’orking
beautifully. I walked in as brisk as
you please and hailed my friend.
“ ‘How are you, Mr. Snails?’ I said.
“Something in the man’s face made
me fear that there had been a slip
somewhere, ‘Are you not Mr. Snails?’
I asked.
“ ‘Young man.’ he said, ‘you are
too blamed fresh. My name is
Stacks.’ ”
GREAT SCHEME THAT FAILED
Uncle Joe's Brilliant Idea to Escape Conscrip
tion Foiled by Stupidity of Medical Agents
“Speaking of conscripts.'’ said the
sailor, as he laid down a book on Rus
sia, “did I ever tell you about my
Uncle Joe?
“Well, Uncle Joe. in the time of the
Civil War, had a friend named Hiram
Haines. Hiram was conscripted, but,
when he came to take the medical ex
amination, he didn’t pass. The doc
tors said he was no good for a sol
dier. They said he wasn’t strong
enough to fight.
“Hiram told Uncle Joe about this,
and Uncle Joe said, after thinking a
little while:
“ Txxik a-here. Hi, I’m conscripted,
too, and my examination is set for next
Thursday. What’st the matter with
you taking it in my name? I’d pass
sure, if I took it myself, for I'm as
strong as an ox. But if you took it
for me, fakin’, you know, why I’d get
off.’ 1
“ ‘But the risk,’ says Hiram. ‘Think
of the risk, Joe. Oh, by Jimmy, no, !
couldn’t do it.’
“ ‘There ain't no risk,’ says Uncle
Joe. ‘In these confused times, with
the army doctors examinin’ thousands
of conscripts a day, there ain't no risk
whatever. Come on, Hiram. Oblige
me. I’ll give you $200 if you do.’
“Such a lump of money as that
brought Hiram to terms. He said he'd
take the examination in Uncle Joe's
name, and sure enough, he done it,
first gettin’ his pay in advance. He
wasn’t detected, either. But, by jingo,
this time the doctors passed him.
This time they declared him sound in
wind and limb, and the makin's of a
fust-rate soldier.
“That is why Uncle Joe has been
so down on war all his life. He lost,
you see, $200, and had to fight four
years.”
RUSSIAN CAPITAL IS GAY
Present Conflict, With National Prestige at
Stake, Has Very Little Depressing Effect,
War or no war, the aristocratic Rus
sian pursues his pleasures with an
abandonment that speaks of unlimit
ed resources or unlimited reckless
ness. The pleasures of the table are
protracted to an inordinate degree. A
lunch, in which the courses are plen
tifully watered with champagne, will
spread itself through the afternoon.
You may barely escape at 5 o'clock,
though you began to eat at 1. The
host never sits down, plying his
guests with a succession of good
things, liquid and solid. Even the
afternoon tea in middle-class circles
is a very formidable undertaking. It
includes dishes of various sorts, in
which meat will certainly figure, and
Russian tea, served In a glass with
lemon, is but the pale comparison to
sparkling champagne. The appear
ance of the streets tells of wrealth,
too. No finer equipages exist any
where than those which, horsed with
coal-black steeds, dash at full speed,
in lefty disregard for the mere foot
pass^nges, down the central strip of
wood pavement in the principal “pros
pects,” as the wider streets are de
nominate. Holding the reins in his
two hands, with arms outstretched,
the driver, mediaeval in dress, has
the summary methods of a Roman
charioteer. Indeed, there is something
of imperial Rome in this second cap
ital of fhe czar.—Correspondence from
the Pall Mall Gazette.
STORIES OF BEAU BRUMMEL
One Occasion Where a Famous Wit Had
Decidedly the Worst of Exchange of Repartee
An English paper prints a number
of stories of Beau Brummel, some of
which, perhaps, are not generally
known. At the Pavilion, at Brighton,
he ordered the footman to empty his
snuffbox into the fire because a bish
op had taken a pinch unasked. A
man whom he had met at dinner of
fered him a lift in his carriage to Lady
Jersey’s ball. “Thank you, exceed
ingly,” said the Beau, “but how are
you to go? You would not like to get
up behind, and I cannot be seen in
the same carriage with you.” He
made no secret of his humble birth,
and when asked about his parents de
clared that ‘‘the poor old creatures
both cut their throats years ago, eat
Ing peas with a knife.” Once, at least,
Brummel met his match. He was
playing hazard at Brooke’s, when a
well-known hlderman, a brewer, was
one of the party. “Come. Mashtub,”
said Brummel, who was the caster,
“what’s your set?” “Twenty-five
guineas,” was the reply. “Well, then,
have at the mayor’s pony,” said
Brummel, who proceeded to cast, and
by a run of luck won the stake twelve
times in succession. Pocketing the
money, he. thanked the brewer, and
promised that* in future he would
drink no ore’s porter but his. “I wish,
sir.” replied the brewer, “that every
other blackguard in London would
tell me the same.”
TO THE UNASSUMING DAISY
“Repair My Heart with Gladness and a
Share of Thy Meek Nature.”—Wordsworth
With little here to do or see
Of things that in the great world be,
Daisy! again I talk to thee.
For thou art worthy.
Thou unassuming commonplace
Of nature, with that homely face.
And yet with something of a grace.
Which love makes for thee!
Oft on the dappled turf at ease
: I sit. and play with similes.
Loose types of things through aJ de
Thoffiu Of thy raising:
And many a fond and idle name
I give to thee for praise or blame,
; As is the humor of the game,
While I am gazing.
[
A nun demure of lowly port.
Or sprightly maiden of love 0 court.
In thy simplicity the sport
Of all temptations:
A queen in crown of rubies a rest,
A starveling in a scanty vest. _ .
Are all, as seems to suit the* best,
i Thy appellations.
A little cyclops, with one eye
Staring to threaten and defy.
That thought comes next—and instantly
The freak is over.
The shape will vanish—and behold
A silver shield with boss of gold.
That spreads itself, some fairy bold
In fight to cover!
I see thee glittering from afar—
And then thou art a pretty star;
Not quite so fair as many are
In heaven above thee!
Yet like a star, with glittering crest,
Self-poised in air thou seem’st to rest;
May peace come never to his nest,
Who shall reprove thee!
Bright flower! for by that name at last.
When all my reveries are past.
I call thee, and to that cleave fast,
Sweet silent creature!
That breath st with me in sun and air.
Do thou, as thou art wont, repair
My heart with gladness, and a share
Of thy meek nature!
—William Wordsworth.
A Soldier's Singing.
Give me three breaths of pleasure
After three deaths of pain.
And make me not remeasure
The ways that were in vain.
The first breath shall be laughter,
The second shall be wine;
And there shall follow after
A kiss that shall be mine.
Roses wdth dew-fall laden
One garden grows for me;
I call them kisses, maiden.
And gather them from thee.
Give me three kisses only—
Then let the storm break o er
The vessel beached and lonely
Upon the lonely shore.
Give me three breaths of pleasure
After three deaths of pain.
And 1 will no more treasure
The hopes that are in vain. „
—Gouverneur Morris. “Aladdin O’Brien.
The Memorial to ‘Mother Bickerdyke.
The land is dotted with monuments,
in memory of heroes of the Civil war,
but the memorial to “Mother Bicker
dyke” is the first for a woman of the
war.
The design, like the woman it is in
tended to commemorate, is strong and
simple. A wounded soldier on the
battlefield has been tenderly lifted into
a half-sitting posture by the army
nurse, while she holds a cooing drink
to his parched lips. The figure of the
soldier is admirably done, and there
is fine feeling in the figure of Mother
Bickerdjke—the plain, tender woman
whose mission it was to relieve suf
fering soldiers wherever she found
them. Her hair is done up simply.
Her dress is that of the army nurse,
but the feeling of genuine tenderness
in the face and figure of the woman
positively ennobles her. It is truly
that of a mother bending over her
wounded boy and ministering to his
immediate wants.
The life-size group rests on a gran
ite pedestal without ornament, and
only the words “Mary A. Bickerdyke—
Mother,” inscribed on the sides. The
simple lines of this pedestal and its
shape lend much emphasis to the
groijp on top.
Mother Bickerdyke’s biography,
strange enough, is missing from the
encyclopedias, while those of many
women less famous are given. Mary
A. Bickerdyke was born near Mt. Ver
non, Knox county, Ohio, July 19, 1817.
Her mother died when she was only 17
months old. One of her grandfathers
fought in the Revolutionary war. She
married young.
After some years of married life her
husband died and left her with several
little children. When the war broke
out she was one of the most active of
the women in Galesburg, 111., to work
for the soldiers at the front, and when
at one time a trainload of supplies for
the army were sent from Galesburg to
Cairo, she accompanied them as a del
egate. After the battle of Belmont
she was assigned as a nurse to the
field hospital, where she was indefati
gable in her exertions to relieve the
wounded soldiers. Her first sight of
real battle, however, was at Fort Don
elson.
The inadequacy of fhe hospital fa
cilities and the hospital supplies
shocked her and she made several
trips north to arouse more interest in
these matters. She inaugurated the
celebrated “cow and hen” mission,
through which she was enabled to
send 100 cows and 1.000 hens to the
hospitals of the West.
In the winter of 18G3-64 she went
home, but. returned and took part in
-the establishment of the Adams Block
Hospital at Memphis. Tenn. This ac
commodated about 0,000 wounded men.
From this she became matron of the
Gavoso hospital, where more than 700
men had been brought in after Sher
man’s battle of Arkansas Post.
She next took charge in Memphis
of the smallpox hospital, which she
cleaned and renovated with her own
hands while nine men lay dead of the
disease in the building. She followed
the Western armies through Vicks
burg, Lookout Mountain, Missionary
Ridge and Chattanooga, and tended
friend and foe alike.
She next accompanied Sherman with
his 100,000 men in their march to the
sea. She helped care for the 13,000
men who were wounded at Resaca,
Kingston. New Hope, Carsville, Al
toona, Dallas and Kenesaw Mountain.
When Sherman cut his base she went
north, and raised great stores of sani
tary supplies for the soldiers.
When Sherman entered Savannah
she sailed south to take care of the
liberated Union prisoners of Wilming
ton. She pursued her mission at Beau
fort, Averysboro and Bentonville, and
at the request of Gen. Logan and the
Fifteenth Army Corps she marched
into Alexander with the army.
Then when the last battle was
fought and all the soldiers marched in
review at Washington, she was one of
the most noted figures in the great
parade.
After the Rebellion she went back
to her home and lived with her son,
Prof. Bickerdyke, at Russell, Kan.
But she never lost her interest in the
old soldiers, and she devoted much of
the time in her late years to attend
ing to their wants in various “homes”
and in aiding them to secure pensions.
The Soldier Spirit.
“Speaking of soldier dignity,” said
the Major, “reminds me of some very
trying experiences in the old army in
the first year of the war. The day be
fore Buell's army was to march
through Nashville about half of the
men in my company got silly drunk.
Up to that time my company was a
thing to be proud of, and I had looked
forward to the march through Nash
ville with pleasurable anticipations,
and the colonel had told me that he
expected my company to head the
regiment and brigade.
“When I found so many of the men
were drunk I was furious and I went
to the colonel with a tale of woe. I
was intent on tying up every delin
quent, but the colonel, who indulged
himself, took another view. The next
morning he insisted that I should put
every man in line, and I was ashamed
of them, they seemed so nerveless and
unmartlal after their spree. The col
onel smiled as my poor fellows scram,
bled Into position at platoon front like
a lot of spavined horses, but the band
began to play, the bugle corps did its
best, the colonel roared out the com
mand to march, and forward we went.
“We had a mile to march before we
entered the city, and when we struck
the main street, along which our divi
sion was to pass in review, my men
were alert, self poised and dignified.* ^
The soldier spirit was in control, and
as they marched they warmed to the
work and did better than usual be
cause of the unsoldierly record of the
night before. As luck would have it,
the supreme test came just as we
passed General Buell. Some one threw
crockery at my company from the up
per windows of a large house, and
even the dignified general lost his
composure. I knew my men must be
in ugly mood, and I expected a demon
stration.
“I did not know them then as well
as I did later. Not a man batted an
eye or lost step. Buell looked at them
a moment, the soldier’s pride in sol
diers shining in his eye. Then he said
quietly to one of his staff: ‘Arrest
every person in that house, arid hold
all subject to my orders.’ I expected
this to cause a commotion in tho
ranks, but only one man said, “Bully
for Buell,’ and he didn’t turn his head.
I was never prouder in my life than
when we marched past the general
commanding, and I knew that the sol
dierly spirit under the influence of
martial music and scene had tri
umphed over the weakness imposed
by debauchery. But it was a narrow
escape.”—Chicago Inter Ocean.
Glorious Thirteenth Illinois.
May 9, 1861, the Thirteenth Illinois
regiment was mustered in. Its subse
quent history was a glorious one and
the veterans of the organization wlio
still live have wonderful memories
over which they love to linger. At
Missionary Ridge on November 28,
1863, the Thirteenth bore the brunt of
the fighting of the famous Fifteenth
corps. The terrible struggle at Look
out Mountain, the conflict at Chatta
nooga, the fight for Lookout Rock, on
which the Thirteenth first planted the
colors, and the hand-to-hand struggle
on Chickamauge Creek all form part
of the records of this regiment.
During the fighting at Chickamauga
tfie standard-bearer of the regiment
was killed and five minutes later the
man who took his place was also kill
ed. But the flag was saved and now.
with the blood of both these men upon
it, it hangs in a glass case in the
state house at Springfield.
In the progress of the fight at Ring
gold Lieutenant Joselyn, with his com
pany. made a dash into the very cen
ter of the Eighteenth Alabama regi- ^
ment and took its battle flag. It was
at this place that the regiment lost
Lieut. Col. Partridge, Major Bushnell
and Capt. Blanchard within ten min
utes, and several times it was in dan
ger of being cut to pieces. Once dur
ing the day it held a position single
handed against seven southern regi
ments. and when the fighting was over
Sherman and Hooker both personally
commended the magnificent bravery
of the Thirteenth, Sherman in his dis
patches going so far as to say “This
regiment executed every order in glor
ious style, charging time after time in
the face of grape and canister that it
seemed foolhardiness to struggle
against, and displaying in every part
of its organization the most splendid
intrepidity imaginable.”
War and Peace.
During the civil war, as near as can
be told, 44,238 L nion soldiers were
killed in battle, and 49,205 died of
wounds. The Confederate losses are
imperfectly recorded, but were cer
tainly not greater than the Union.
Doubling the foregoing figures and di
viding by four gives a yearly loss from
war of 46.722 lives.
Deaths in the Union army from dis
ease and unknuown causes were 210,
400. Doubling and dividing by four as
above, this gives a yearly loss of 105,
200 lives. Yet this was only 3 in 1,000
of the population in 1860, whereas the
death rate from all causes, w'hile much
lower than forty years ago, was still
over 18 in 1,000 in 1900. Hence we
cannot assume that the soldiers who
died of disease would not have died
had there been no war.
Of course all this does not prove
that war is not a great evil. But it
does prove that those who argue
against war ignore the fact that it is
little, if any more, destructive of hu
man life than the daily work of peace.
Explosions on Old Battlefields.
The forests in the mountains known
as Loudon Heights, opposite Harper’s
Ferry, took fire recently and burned
with great intensity. After some time
a series of explosions were heard
which startled the inhabitants, and the
concussion was so great that it broke
windows in some houses in Harper’s
Ferry, across the Shenandoah. The
explosions were caused by the burst
ing of shells which had been thrown
on the heights at the time when Gen
Mills surrendered to Stonewall Jack
son in 1862. These had failed to ex
plode when they were fired, and had
remained there for more than forty
years.
March Pension Certificates.
The total number of pension certi
ficates issued by the pension bureau
during the month of March, 1905, was
12,867, an average of 613 certificates
for each working day of the month
The number of unsettled claims on file
in the bureau show a steady reduc-W
tion; on July 1, 1904, they numbered ^
285.523; on March. 1, 1905, they Were
223,765. New York applications to
the number of *U48 were filed during
the month of March, 1905. 8
Vermont Soldier’s Diary
E. H. Wood of Rutland. Vt has
ceived a letter from A. H. Stafford Tt
Jamestown N. T, announcing ?„?[ ,
the la ter has In hta possession a at 1
ary belonging to Quartermaster Geo™
E. Jones of the Seventh Vermont ™?
?"*«"• Th<- diary Is for the via, L
ZVa”r W1S fOU"a lD FlorMa aft? 4