Hemingford herald. (Hemingford, Box Butte County, Neb.) 1895-190?, July 01, 1898, Image 3
X '1 t FEELINGS OF A MAN DURING A BATTLE, Takes Your Weight In Lead to Kill You Familiarity with Danger Undei Fire of Shot and Shell Increases Courage and Lessens Fear. Men who have never Been a battle are generally very desirous of seeing one, all the more desirous, perhaps, the Jess their prospect Is. As a rule, they want to take part In a battle, If not lor the cause It represents, for the nake of the experience, which they are opt to to be singularly nnxlous to share. Very few of our rlBlng genera tion have any personal acquaintance with war, which may account for the eagerness of many to participate in the Spanish conflict, before It Is too late. The older and parsing generation, who wer alive at the outbreak of the re bellion, have or had a realizing sense of the horrors of a long and terrible strife. When a boy, I fancied, like most boys, that fighting must be romantic and attractive. And the fancy was the more vivid and Impressive, per haps, because our country then en Joyed profound peace, without the least likelihood of Its Interruption In nn ordinary life-time. Some years later the firing on Sumter brought on the civil war, at which the north was sur prised, although it had no reason to be; impartial observers having regard ed It as Inevitable for years. That was my chance to see something of war. and ns military correspondents were In active demand. I attached myself to a New York paper in that capacity and was assigned to the southwest for ser vice. For the first ten months, In my de partment, the unionists had very little success. Wc were entirely new to war. We considered skirmishes noted bat tles, and those who hnd been In twi or three ranked themselves as veter ans. I had been In several campaigns without any positive results, though 1 bad had the satisfaction of hearing many guns fired In anger, accompa nied by a few casualties. But we were steadily, though slowly, learning the martial trade. I had often heard the whistling of bullets and the bursting of shells, but not In very dangerous proximity. Still, bb I was forced to admit to myself, I had not been fairly, fully, squarely under Are, and I felt humiliated by the fact, after being with the army five or six months. I was Independent, and could go where I pleased, as I soon learned, having a roving, exclusive, unconstrained, free-and-easy command of one, which pleased me. To be military correspond ent In the southwestern armies, as they then were, and to be In the twenties, too, was not quite devoid of compen sation, as things go. The first time I was fairly under fire was at Donelson, fought In February, 1862. . The siege lasted three days, though generally reported as but two. During those three memorable days I was in troduced to the music of musket and mlnle-rlfle balls and cannon shot; act ing as amateur sharpshooter, and win ning a reputation I did not deserve, and having served as aid for General Grant, bearing important oiders in n crisis of the battle. Comparing notes with many a vol unteer officer afterward as to hlB early sensations undei tire, I found that theirs were substantially the same as mine. Before any actual expeiltnee a man's notions are usually exaggerat ed, alarming, chaotic. He is inclined to think that he will never survive his first engagement; that every shot strikes somebody; that each explosion of n gun is followed by the death of a victim. After he has been awhile among the bullets, whizzing above him, to the right and left of him. and doing no apaprent damage, much less inflict. Ing visible death on all sldts, he Is likely to reconsider the question soine wlmt calmly, perhaps to underrate the peril. He may remember then the military declaration that a man's weight In lead, discharged In the form of bullets, Is required to kill him. Very soon the declaration seems monstrously untrue. He cannot understand what a vast amount of ammunition is wasted on every field. Raw recruits, burn powder at a prod igal rate, and do very little else. To um up their cartridges quickly Is theJr proof of valor and efllclei'icy. They enjoy firing their piece, though they fire it In the air. The sound and smoke of the field are to their minds what mainly constitutes the battle. A cool soldier seldom knows If he has killed anybody, such l.s the excitement, confusion and uproar of an engage ment; but the untried soldier Is prone to imagine he has slain many. Long after the latter has learned that tbe firing of the average musket is com monly harmless, he believes that his own Is n dealer of destruction. It is hard, if not impossible, to tell just how men feel in the midst of hos. tilitles. so differently are men consti tuted. But. as a rule, the longer they are engaged the less they feel. Every added moment reduces their apprehen sion, their nervousness. No one can calculate time on the battlefield. A minute may seem an hour, and an hour a minute. The excitement is In tense. A man Is keyed up to his high est, even though unconscious of It. He lives days and weeks, sometimes. In an hour. Fighting Is the hardest of hard work; It Is exhausting. The enlisted man Is not long actively employed at nny time, because he cannot bear the strain. After nn hour or two, at the most, he is relieved and fiesh troops areb rought up. The highest officers, who mainly observe and direct, who must be cool and calm, feel the pres sure, too. Only a certain amount of perfect rest, of oblivious sleep, can re store them; and every great general must have the power of snatching rest and sleep under the most adverse cir cumstances. No new soldier can think much, the enlisted men least of all, when under fire. The rage of battle, the fury for conflict, possesses and absorbs him. The wild beast Is In most of us; It Is roused to excess by the clash of arms, by the roar of guns. No doubt fighting is at once natural and unnatural. We lost our best, our highest selves in war fare. He who has gone through a bat tle Is never quite the Fame afterward. He sees himself and his fellows in a new light, aften at the worst. But he rarely regrets the experience; It Is eo strange, so tumultuous, so peculiar, and so Illuminating. And he Is almost certain, so perverse are we. to long for more experience of the name baleful kind. I remember that, on the first day at Donelson, another correspondent from New York and myself were In a sparse wood, not far from the breastworks, looking around for adventure. We were on fot, having marched from Fort Hen ry, eleven miles distant, across the neck of land sepaiatlng the Tennessee from the Cumberland river. Many of us had come without horses, tents or provisions, expecting to take Donelson before breakfast, and we were sur prised to find a formidable fortified post, for General Grant had been whol ly deceived by his scouts as to the strength of the place. While In the woods some field plecei opened on the fort, which we could noi see for the Intervening trees. The en emy's batteries Immediately replied Grape and canister rattled all arounc us, cutting off the twigs and boughs oi the trees over our heads, and giving ui a vivid 6ense of wnr. We saw that the locality was the reverse of safe, but w stood In the open, trusting to luck. Ir a few minutes a middle-aged Germar officer, who had seen service In hit own country, stepped from behind e tree and Insisted on our seeking similat shelter. "There Is no courage,' he said, "Ir exposing yourselveB needlessly. You only show that you are not trained soldiers. I have been In a number ol battles, and I have learned prudence. As the firing continued and the Iron hall still fell all around us, we followeO the officer's advice. The second day I was nenrlng the fortifications, where hostilities were very active. There I fell In with a com. pany of Blrge's Illinois sharpshooters, vainly trying to pick off a confederate gunner, whom we could not see, as he was behind the breastworks, but whose position we could determine, we thought by puffs of smoke from the vent. He hnd his cannon trained on some of our men and appeared to be doing them harm, us he fired steadily at reg ular Intervals. I was very anxious to silence him, and expressed my anxiety. "Do you think you could?" asked one of the sharpshooters. "Here, take my rifle and try." I accepted the rifle, got down behind a log, ns was the sharpshooters' cus tom; leveled the piece, and waited for the puff. Sharpshooters on the othei side were pitted against ours, Every few seconds n bullet whistled near my head, or struck the log with an oml. nosu thud that sugested sudden mor tality. Blrge's men often drew the I fire of the confederates by exposing a cap or a bit of an old garment, which was always duly punctured. And the trebel yell not Infrequently denoted thnt the enemy hnd been deceived Into thinking that another odlouB Yankee had been disposed of. Several times I fired at the Invisible gunner, and the familiar puff at the regular Interval Indicated thnt I had still missed. I tried harder and harder, though I did not privately assume to be anything of a shot. At last I fired once more, nfter preparing myself for several minutes. I had a faint hope that I had succeeded. The Interval of the puff passed. The sharpshooter lok ed at me significantly, and said: "J guess you've fetched him this time. I felt in my bones you would." I had no Idea that I had; but T did not wish to disturb the faith of the Illl noisan. So I replied: "I shouldn't won der," looked wise, and withdrew tc another part of the field before my rep. utatlon had been shattered. My limited experience as a sharp shooter had benefited me. It had great ly steadied my nerves, and I felt I was gradually getting used to be under fire. The third day I borrowed a musket as I had done befoie on several occa sions and did such service on my own nccount as I felt Inclined to. Strictly speaking, I was not right In so acting, for a military correspondent is sup posed to be a non-combatant. But I was liable to be shot at any time, going wher I chose, where I had no business. I felt, if I should be hit, thnt I would have the satisfaction of know ing that I had shot at the enemy re peatedly. Such a thing would not have been allowed In the Army of the Poto mac. Nor was It allowed in the army of the Tenessee, but if not winked at, It was not forbidden. Each and every man in that field had the broadest lib erty. If he did not abuee It, f-o long ah he kept out ! trouble. The freedom of the correspondents undei Grant was delightful, and they never clashed. On the third day, on the left, several western regiments scaled the breast works at Donelson. After they hud gut inside the entrenchments, a con federate battery opened on them, nnd there wns fear lest they might eventu. ally be driven back, though they stood their ground firmly. Several subordi nate batteries saw the threatening peril. We know that a union battery was needed to counteract the confed erate guns. But where could It be found, and who could order It up? I volunteerd to perform the service, and knowing where n Missouri battery and General Grant had been, a little while before, horseles sas I was, I started on a run to hunt them up. Grant, nn being found, listened Intently to the message I brought, and sent an order by me to the captain of the Missouri battery to hasten to the place Indi cated. The circumstance so flattered me that I ran back, over a mile, thro' a fire of shot and shell, never heeding, never thinking of it. I was big. for the moemnt, with my own Importance, with the responsibility of my mission, which wns faithfully discharged, and the Missouri battery rendered good service. It Is plain from what has been writ ten that courage, as clearly compre hended, Is chiefly the result of famili arity with danger. Experience nnd ob. servntlon both teach this. Bravery and courage, used Indisc'minately. regarded genernlly as synonymous, are very different Bravery Is much the rarer: courage much the higher. One Is Inherent, temperamental; the other nt firs unusual. In a sense accidental. It Is difficult to understand why courage Is so much praised, so universally. In deed, by none more than the Anglo Saxon to whom It is particularly at tributed. One might think It a rare glfe, an exceptional endowment, from the encomiums constantly bestowed upon It. But it is common enough, and It may be taught by discipline and ex. ample. The man of thought, of cul ture, of character, may be spontane ously timid; but his qualities, natural and acquired, enable him to conceal his timidity. The most ordinary mortals, without education. Intelligence or pride, may be drilled into courage. Many of the raw recruits, who, yielding to panic, ran like hares at the first battle of Manassas, afterward proved themselves heroes. Having grown used to danger, they despised It, ns men are apt to do. We soon learn to discriminate between actual and aparent peril. What we have often escaped from we come In time to disregard. Soldiers eventually grow almost unconsciously Into fatal ists. They ore disinclined to thought, which is troublesome, profitless and an. desirable In .their calling. They deter, mine to do their duty nnd let results take core of themselves. Determlna. tlon ultimately settles Into something like Instinct nnd becomes the ruling power. Physical courage alone 13 needed for the soldier, for the nrmy. Moral cournge. as much rarer as It is better nnd higher, is needful for the long, hard battle of life, whose grand er and permanent victories are al ways spiritual. BATTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR. The Interest In wnr rttnlnlvrnce ere nted by the present difficulty wltr Spain has Influenced me to contribute something to the numerous articles thnl have already appeared, but upon a sub. Ject not heretofore touched upon. Thrc the courtesy of Captain L. M, Kellej the obliging deputy ceimmlssloner ol pensions, 1 wns permitted to unenrtr ccrtain facts relating to the civil wni that will absolutely distinguish It at being a conflict truly tltnnlc; nnd nl the same time It may furnish a surprise to those who are only familiar wit the great battles. Captain Kelley, b the way, Is a gallant union soldier, and participated In many of the hard fought battles that engaged the ar mies of the west. He entered the ser vice ns a private ami emerged from the conflict ns captain of company A, Thlr-ty-sixth Illinois Infantry. A vast num ber of engagements were fought In states where only n few are ever spo ken of and of the actual number but little Is known. For Instance, should a civil service examination require an applicant to name the state In which the greatest number of battles took place, he would nnturnlly reply Ken tucky or Tennessee, while as a matter of fact more battles were fought In Missouri thnn In nny other stnte. In Texas the fewest took place of any of the Becedlng states, while Florida and Maryland came next In the ns cendlng scnle. The actual number of engagements thnt occurred In each state will doubtless surprise those who have not Investigated the matter. As Virginia was the great theater of that struggle we hear oftenest of Bull Bun, the Seven Dnys' bnttlcs, Fredericks burg, the Wilderness. Chancellorsvllle, Petersburg nnd the Valley campaign, but by actual count tnken from the records, 627 bnttles were fought In thnt commonwealth during the civil war. In Missouri the greatest prominence In given to the battles of Elk Horn nnd Wilson's creek, while ns a matter of fact, 417 engagements took place al together. Tennessee Ip famous Is the scone of the bnttles of Murfreesboro, Lookout Mountain, Chlcknmaugn, Franklin and other Important strug gles, but nt the close of the strife 378 engagements were put down as her quota. In Arkansas, one of the border states, there was much hnrd fighting. Pea Ridge was one of the Importnnt en gngements, but there were 294 bnttles In all. Vlcksburg was In the fury of n long siege, nnd the battles of Cor inth, Holly Springs nnd Jackson also took place In Mississippi; ndd to these the other engagements thnt occurred In thnt stnte, nnd we have a total of 284. Louisiana comes next In point of numbers, with 181, among those being the bnttles of New Orleans. Pleasant Hills and the siege of Port Hudson nB events thnt will live In history. Geor gia, the route of Shermnn's march to the sea. furnished many of the notable battles of the wnr, among them At lanta, Kenesnw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Resacn. Savannah nnd Ringgold, the total being 162. In Kentucky there were 1R3 battles during the war, thnt of PerryvlWe being perhaps the most Important. In Alabama there were UTi engagements, notable among them be ing th bombardment or Mobile nnd bnttles nround Selmn and Monttmm erv. Next on the list comes North Carolina with n total of 102 bntlb-s, among thorn Bentonvllle. Wilmington nnd Greensboro. In West Virginia 8 engagements took place. In South Car olina, where thi first gun of the wnr was fired, there were 75 battles. In cluding the capture of Columbia and the numerous bombardments of Fort Sumter nnd the nssaults that were made upon the batteries In Charleston harbor. In the Indian Territory there were 40 battle?, nnd In Florida there were 39, the most Important being the bnttle of Olustee. Maryland Is famous for strategic Importance because the battle eif Antletam took place within her borelers, but there were also 38 other engagements. There were 22 en gagements In Kanrns during the war, and In Texns 2. Gettysburg, the great, est battle of the war, was fought In Pennsylvania, but there were six oth er engagements In the state which have been overshadowed by thnt more Important event. In Ohio there were. 5 engagements, in Indiana 5, Illinois 1 nnd In the District of Columbia (Ear ly's raid) 1. According to the above figures, nnd thy are taken from the records, the totnl number of bnttles that wern fought betwee-n the union and confed erate armies from April It", 1861, to April 9. 1R6r.. Is 3.12.1. This period em braced the four years of the civil strife'. To give an Iden of how this compares with other struggles In which the United Ptntes has been engaged, It may be here stated thnt more bat tles took place in West Virginia dur ing the civil war than were fought In the entire country during the revnlu tlnnnry wnr or during the wnr with Mexico. Of course, therp were numer ous battles of grenter Importance dur Ing the latter conflicts, but by count the number of engagements by rum. parison Is In West Vlrglnln's favor His Holy 'l error. It was certainly the greatest battle that bad ever been waged on th sen. The admiral, by his sd-ntlflc tactics and superior knowledge cf naval war fare, had sunk or drslroyed every ves sel belonging to the enemy, whose loss of life, too, was enormous. They were absolutely demoralized, and quickly cupltulatt-d. Moreover the victors suffered no loss of life whatever. It was undoubtedly the most extraordinary affair that had ever taken place since the world began to revolve. Amidst the hush following the end of the strife the conquering admiral wns seen suddenly to shudder violently and then to turn pale. "Cut all the cables thnt connect the harbor with the rest of the world!" he cried. In stentorian tones, that never theless shook with emotion. It wns done Immediately, but every body wondered at his agitation. He who had been the coolest all during the fight now trembled like an aspen leaf. And so the squadron rested upon the heaving billows day after day, doing nothing. It was suggested by Beveral that some communication be made with home, but the admiral refused vehemently, his pallor Increasing at each suggestion of the sort. No, he would not! At last one of the captains, a per sonal friend, ventured to remonstrate. "Why do you not send home news of our glorious victory?" he asked anx iously. The admiral shook his head and gazed with a troubled look far out onto the horizon. "No, no!" he said, "and Vet I sup pose It Is my duty. But, no! How how can I bear It?" "Bear what?" asked the captain, won derlngly. "Benr the puns on my name the newbpapers will print when they get the news!" burst out the admiral, the drops of perspiration bedewing his brow. And It wnB long before he could be reconciled to facing the ordeal. AMUSING EFFECTS OF THE WAR SCARE, Rigid Surveillance of Strangers In WashingtonOfficials as Watchful as the Old Maid who Looked Under Her Bod Every Night. The timid spinster who never went to bed without looking under It for the burglar she was sure would one night be found there, ought to have lived In Washington In wnr time. She would then have found something actual for her Imagination to exercise Itself upon, In the ublquttouBness of the secret serv ice operatives. We hae no Seward In the state department with his "little bell" nt hand, nnd our fortresses nre garrisoned with something else thnn civil prisoners; but nny one Is liable to constant espionage and summary arrest ob a suspect, nnd the authorities are in no mood to make light of what would ordinarily be trifling evidence for conviction. Washington Is, of course, not the only place where this state of things exists. The precautions tnken every where by the government to prevent untownr dnccldents nnd defent the machinations of the public foes assume as many shnpes ns Proteus. The sud den suspicion aroused In the mind of Commodore Schley ngalnst the Cuban refugees whom Consul Dent hnd In troduced to him as a pilot able to tnke his fleet Bnfely through the tortuous channel Into Snntlngo hnrbor, hnB not laid Mr. Dent open to nny charge against his loyalty and good fnlth, but It can hardly fall to be annoying, for It putB him nt lenst In the light or pos sessing Indifferent Judgment of humnn nature. News comes from one nrmy headquarters on our southern const of the dismissal of nn ex-flllbustcr who had been engaged as n guide to a force about to Invade Cuba, because the commanding officer felt some doiibt as to the man's sentiments. The capture of the incriminating letter written by Carrnnzn in Cnnndn shows how far the ramifications of our secret service ex tend at a critical time like this. The telegraph censorship has been a delicate task In more thnn one sense. It Is all very well to assert the abstract principle that nn officer should do his duty unquestlonlngly when the welfare of the country Is at stake; but the same officer who would not flinch for a moment at facing a battery does draw back Instinctively nt nny sugges tion which savors of spying upon the correspondence of his fellow citizens, and of harnessing down a press whose freedom Is the common bonst of the country. It has been noteworthy that every officer who has been nble to shirk the direct responsibility of snylng "no" to the newspnpers or their cor respondents In the field his tried to foist It off upon General Greely, who has thUB been compelled to pose an n Spartan judge nnd Issue prohibitory mandates In defiance of the love or In dividual liberty which he cherishes to a very uncommon degree. But this has to be done by Bomebodv, and the general's shouldero nre broad. In Washington the chief outwnrd signs of an era of uncommon tension are to be found In the Increase of the police force nt thn Whle house nn'i the extra rnre p-rpipd nbnut the ndtnls- slon of visitors to the department uullnlrT"" " enter'!" the ground surrounding ibe pxppr''vp mansion, th strnrr-pr Prrl Vimpif I'mler the eve of a police- oPVer, nnd pnses from tbe supervision of one trunrd'nn to another nil t"e tlr he rr"nn'ns there. On en terlrg tbe W)i"o ibir'nr the- nnen hours the hh!p tWn Is noticeable. Always one. and usnlly two. gunrds an on duty nt the front door. rndv to Inter cept nny sns'ikioiis lnoVlne person. In side the lobby, n soon ns the visitor Is out or reach of one officer, he comes within reach of another. These nre all courtpnui. nttrntlve men, willing to give proner lnformntion to anyone who comes there obviously for an honest GETTING WAR NEWS. Durlngthe Four Years of the Civil War. With the breaking out of the wnr a southern bureau or department was es. ! labllaiieii in the office or the New York Herald. It wns the duty of the chief of this bureau to collect nnd file away all Information, of whatever charncter, thnt came from the south. Of the In structions issued to correspondents the principal one wns to obtain rebel news, papers. Neither trouble nor expense were to be spared In their acquisition. Contraband and deserters, abandoned camps and villages wen: se-arched ror them. Many were obtained, and are now In the office library of that Jour nal, The chief of this bureau compiled for these paper lists, or rosters, of the military forceH or the secessionists. Oc casionally these, In nn Incomplete form, would be published, but finally a very full roster of the whole rebel nrmy made Its appearance In the Herald. When a copy of this paper, with this wonderful array of numes and figures, reached Richmond It created n verita ble commotion in the war office or that capital. Several of the clerks, accused of furnishing the information, were placed under arrest. On the evening of Its appearance In New York one of the attaches or the Herald rode In a Fourth avenue car with George M. Snow of the Tribune ns a fellow passenger. "If anything were wanting," said Snow to the aforesaid attache, "to show the intimacy between the rebels in Richmond and the office of the Her ald In New York, the list of the rebel army, as published this morning, Is that thing." "What do you menn," asked the Her ald attache. "What do I mean? That roster of the rebel army could only have been ob tained from the rebel wnr office. That is quite enough, I should think." re plied Snow, with a touch of profession al Jealousy. "Why, Snow, you don't mean to say that the Herald obtained the list direct from the war department In Richmond? That Information wns wholly made up from advertisements nnd locnl news paragraps or the southern newspapers which were run through our lines." "Nonsense," said Snow. "Don't you suppose the Tribune and Times could have done the same thing?" " 'Let ub know,' said the Tribune on the 9th or June, 18C2, 'from what source und through what channels the Herald has twice procured ror publication the alleged muster rolls or the rebel ar mies. Let us see by what means the Herald has been supplied with rebel newspapers.' " It Is fair to suppose that the Herald did not tell the Tribune how these pa pers were obtained. On one occasion n union prisoner wns released from Llbby, where several Herald correspondents were confined. This soldier, on his arrival in New York, called at the Herald, cut off one of his hollow military buttons and presented it to the editor. "You will find a letter In that." e.'nl he. On tak ing It apart a letter found, written on tissue paper, describing affairs in Richmond, which made three-fourths of a column In the Herald. No one knew how that Intelligence reached the office. purpose, but quick to detect the vis itor with the furtive eye or flighty manner, for this Is a time when not only persons of evil design must be watched, but when "cranks" are liable to be attracted to the seat of power. At the state, war and navy building the most rigid rules prevail regarding visitors during the closed hours that Is, before 9 In the morning nnd after 2 In the afternoon. Then the ordinary pass is of no avail. A special card Is required, nnd this Is Issued only to persons who are personally acquainted with Custodian Bnlrd, and whom he known to have legitimate business nt the department. Any one else muBt be halted nt one of the main doors till hlB name and the nature of hlB errand are conveyed to the officer whom he wishes to see. If the officer Bonds word thnt he Is to be admitted, tha guards permit him to pnss In, and, If he Is a stranger, furnish him with a messen ger to guide him to the room where he In to have his Interview. At the other government buildings the old pnsscs nre still In force for the closed hours, for newspaper correspond, cnts, attorneys, etc.; but no matter what the hour he calls, even between 9 and 2, the unfamiliar visitor Is scru tinized by the doorkeepers, who must be satisfied from his appearance that he Is a safe person to be allowed to roam about. Occasionally funny things happen. One of the best known nnd most re spected members of the treasury staff hns been nccustomcel for some time to buy the fresh eggs for his home tnblc of a clerk In the department who lives out of town and hns a little poul try yard. The clerk brlngB In eggs three times n week, nnd the purchaser, who lives near the department, carries them In a paper parcel or a basket when he goes home nt the luncheon hour. One day his most convenient re ceptaclc for his eggs happened to be a little leather reticule with a somewhat uncertain handle. He wns going home as usual at noon, and took a short cut across the White house grounds. It was Just after some sensational arti cles suggestive of dynamite plots had appeared In the yellow Journals. As he entered the grounds a new police man, who had been stationed near the gate on the treasury Bide, was looking In the other direction; but suddenly turning, the officer cnught sight of the gingerly carried reticule. In nu Instant he shouted nn order to holt. The un conscious civil servant passed on, and the officer Bhoutcd again, at the same time making a significant gesture With hlB club. This time the order was un derstood and the man halted. The offi cer came up. "What have you In that bag?" he Inquired. "Only some things I am carrying home," was the answer. "What kind of things?" 'Oh, some household supplies." The officer wns not convinced. "Let me see them." By this time several passers-by had been attracted to the Incident nnd gathered around. With many blushes the Innocent gentleman gently opened the reticule, nnd the olfiour took a cnu tlous peep Inside, evidently expecting to see a stick of dynamite. The ex pression of his face when he saw In stead a dozen cream-colored eggs, was a study. Without exchanging n glance with the suspect he mude o quick mo tion with his club, Indicating thnt the reticule might be closed, turned on hlB heel nnd strode majestically away. If any crnnk docs succeed In terror izing Washington during the present crisis, it will not be because of nny lack of vigilance on the part of the police. THANKS OF CONGRESS. Is an Honor Seldom Conferred and What It Means. I have received several inquiries as to the effect of the vote of thanks by congress to Admiral Dewey, his ofll cers and men for their gnllant victory at Manila. The Impression seems to prevail In some places that the vote carried with It n sent In congress. This Is a mistake. The piivlltge of the floor, which Is n greater honor, Is the right to enter the house of representative at pli-asure, except when the latter body Ib In secret executive session. It Is conferred by law upon the president nnd the members of his cabinet, Jus tices of the supreme court of the Unit ed States, ex-members of congress who are not Interested as agentc In pend ing legislation and those who have re ceived by name a vote of thanks fiom congress. Persons not entitled to the privilege are compelled to enter the galleries to hear the proceedings and to send their cards to members they want to see. A vote of thanks by congress Is an honor seldom conferred. During the civil war It occurred only 12 times. It was first given on December 24, 1861, to Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, his officers and men for their gallant conduct at the battle of Springfield, Mo. On March 3, 1863, Major Genernl William S, Rosecrans was thanked by congress for the gallant conduct of his officers and men at the battle of Mur freesboro, Tenn. , Major General Ulys ses 8. Grant received the honor and a medal on December 17, 1863; Major General Nathaniel P. Banks on Januury 28, 1864, for services at Port Hudson; Major General Joseph Hooker, George G. Meade, Oliver O. Howard and the officers and soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, all In one vote on the same day as General Banks, for skill, ener gy and endurance In covering Wash ington and Baltimore, and for skill and heroic valor displayed at Gettysburg. Major Genernl W. T. Sherman, his offi cers and men twice received the honor, the first time on February 19, 1864, for gallant and arduous services In march ing to the relief of the Army of the Cumberland, nnd again on June 10, 1865, for gallant conduct In the brilliant movement through Georgia. Lieuten ant Colonel Joseph Bailey, or the Fourth Wisconsin volunteers, wns thanked on June 11, 1864, for distin guished services. Brevet Major Gtn eral Alfred H. Terry, on January 24. 1865. wns mentioned for unsurpassed gallantry and skill exhibited by his command In the nttack on Fort Fisher. Major General George H. Thomas on March 3, 1865, received resolutions for the signal defeat of the rebel army un der General Hood. The last on the list prior to Admiral Dewey wns Major General Wlntleld Scott Hancock on April 21, 1866. for his sei vices with the Army of the Potomac la 1863. When pe-ace was restored on May 30, 1866, "the officers, soldiers and teamen of the United States, by whose valor nnd endurance on lnnd and on pea the rebellion has been crushed," re. celved a Joint resolution expressing the gratitude of the nullon. SURVEILLANCE IN PARIS. More curious than n'l Its strange call ings and Its strange customs In the police system In Paris. When nn Eng lishman gets to his hotel he remarks, probably to his wife, "Well, now, Mar tha, we can do an we like. No worry about what Mrs. Brown would say If we had met her at Brighton, Hero we are free, nnd nobody knows who wo nre or enres who we arc." But before he has time to dress for dinner the police know thnt he Is In Paris and his name Is Inscribed at the prefecture. Every hotel must keep n register of all foreigners and hnnd It over dally to the special officers who nre sent around, to collect. In the case of the English or American citizen little Interest- Is, tnken unless their expenditure Is not. Iccably extravagant, and then a friendly) Interest Is taken In them, and their description sent to Scotland yard. It Is almost Impossible to concclvo the thoroughness of the French pollco spy system. You never know who 1b a mouchard In France. The waiter who serves you, the man who shaves you.thc! conchcr who drives you, are as likely ns not to be In the police pay. They) know everything and they know every body. Here Is an Instance that occurred) to a friend of mine only the other day. He received from the prefecture! an order to appear on the following day. So far ns he knew he had done noth-j ing particularly out of the way, and even If he had done It unintentionally The magistrate Invited him Into hi private roam and put htm at his ease at once by explaining that the affair did, not conoeni his personally, but ha wanted some Information on two or three of the English colony with whom, he wbb nBsoclnted. The answers werq perfectly satisfactory nnd. In leaving, he turned to the magistrate and said, laughingly. "Why don't you ask mei something about myseir?" "But I know) an about you," ne repueu. "wouia you like to know what you did on any parti cular day within the last three, months?" My friend replied at random "Take last Friday week. I haven't tho, remotest knowledge nn' to what hap pened." The mnglstrnte turned over, his donsler nnd replied: 'You got homo nt half-past two In a cub that you had taken at Madeline. You rode out; on your bicycle at half paBt 9. You lunched at the Cafe de rEnperancsl and so on throughout the day he re-j counted everything thnt had passed., There was no reason to have mado the Inquiry, ns there wn not, the slightest mark on his dossier, but Itj suited the police to know just how ha passed his time. A casserole that 1b to say, a mouch ard who has, by some Indiscretion, let, his connection with the police become known, nnd Is accordingly valueless once told me a lot about the working, him that It seemed to me thoroughly! Impossible that 1 could have my foot steps dogged during a whole day with out becoming aware of the fact. Ho answered: "Naturally. This, for In stance. Is how I should have acted If I had wanted to find out all about your movements. When you left thin cafe I should hove followed you until such time that I know you hnd noticed thnt I was at your heelB. Then 1 should have passed the signal." "To whom?" 1 suggested. "Have you ever noticed," he said, "that around all the big cafes there nre men offering novels out of dnte. but who nre alwnys scanning; closely the faces of those on the ter races? Well, 1 should nave passed tne signal on to one of those men. He would hnve followed you In a cab, If ne cessary, and on seeing you enter n cafe would have followed on the pretense of selling wares, nnd handed you on to another of the band. And so It would have gone on. After nil. are the French, police wrong? The foreigner comes here nnd Inscribes his name at the pre fecture of police, We nre not like you In England. We have only Just enough money for our own poor, and we do not encourage the out-of-works of the worle to come here. Nc'tner do we want to. harbor e'rlmnals. Accordingly the police trace the man. and If he Is honorably earning his existence he Is left alone; but If there Is a shadow of suspicion agulnst him, his dossier gets heaver every day, and one morning he finds: that he bus forty-eight hpurs In which to quit the country. tl is owing to this system that the police rim K comparatively easy to arrest criminals, the vilest class of ruflhiri and the painted woman meet In the night cafes are all useful the women especially. Your own servant may be spylnic on you. Your concierge certainly Is." Ho hostttated for n minute, -and then said to me In a seml-whlsper. "Watch that gentlemnn In front with the ribbon of the Legion of Honor In his button hot"." I looked at him. but noticed nothing particular, except thnt ho seemed very Intent In his newspaper. "That's a mouchard." he continued. "I'n prepared to Let lie" fias" heard every word that hns pnsae.l. If you rnd eyed him as closely ub I have you would have noticed that he hns been, looking nt the same paragraph for over an hour." The man paid for his drink: and went out. Next morn'ng, I suppose, his report was xent in. The ruse of tin se men In finding out persons who nre "wanted" have no limit. Only the other day the English police hnd sent over the description of n man they would like to put In the -lok. As ho spoke French without the slightest ac cent, nnd ns It wns certain that he, would be disguised out of all recogni tion, the task was a difficult one. One afternoon two of these defectives noticed a well dressed man and sus pected him. One of them took off his overcoat and hung It up side by side, with his. A few minutes later they got up ta leave and the wrong coat, was put on. In the most fluent nnd polite French the suspected man pointed Ajt the erroj The mouchard took It off and looked at the name or the maker and saw that It was a London, firm. They had found their man. vJho Is a An Idiot Genius, Jeptha Palmer is an idiot and a genius. Although 50 years old, he has to be cared for as If he were a child, but he cun make wonderful machinery, construct musical Instruments, play upon them nnd compose music. He lives near the village of Fair mount, In the Georgia mountains. He, is poor and helplessly Ignorant. When he wns a child he could not! ask properly for food or find his way." from the barn to the house. One day, a horsepower wheat thresher was brought to his father's farm, and he examined It closely. He announced his Intention of mak ing a thrasher himself and he did. He4 completed a model of pine bark, with strings for belts. He made a clock of wood, with stone weights. He built a pounding mill, using a dammed-up Spring to give the power. Musical In struments he made and played upon them with marvelous skill. He has built an ergan; he has com posed waltzes, marches and song mu. sic which critics call remarkable. MIfs Addle Lake of Elizabeth, N. J., now Mrs. Cecil Stanley Newberry, .. soldier's bride, had said her last good bye to her warfarlng lover when he hnatched her from a moving train and carried her off to the regimental chap, lain.