The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 1, 1904, Page 6

appes a-whif ve that > the s were awake, listen- ¢ the birds.out of insects 1 startied by with the ture outside. It was cough, almost a convin voice dis f some one with things as th were We a i our heads A " of ‘the bal- cony out ws. That was how we 1 I can vouch t he s anied by blue T black faced ng the ing, banana 2 huge squashed most idently it was which h another of his the half rotten banana fruit in a shed mahogany floor, where it struck with a soggy squash and made a nasty brown spot. Next he wipe his mouth with his hairy arms, then wiped them and his hands on a patient’s white shirt spread out to dry on the balcony railing. Having done this to his apparent sat- isfaction up agein and took in his sur dings with a quick in- vest ve. Then he gave a leap nside on top of the bed- first sergeant of Company The sergeant raised an emaciated hand as a f ly greeting, but the little imp on the bedpost rudely di regarded the advances and leaped on to the next bed, where lay the wounded Filipino boy who had been brought in the evening before. The jar of his dro. The monkey sat on the bedding before I the boy’s vellow fea- tures Spr t in a sickly smile. Those whc he look of recognition that passed between the two firmly be- lieve they before. Pedro al- ways denic »us acquaintance with t bundle of pure cussed- would own up to the respons nging him there, but the evidence clearly points the other v Anyway, the monkey never could be got rid of. He stayed and became as much a part of the establishment as the head steward himself. Like 4l bad characters he was known by vari- ous ng The natives in the casu- alty ‘W ed him first, EI Cabo, which the Corporal, because he was such a peppery little chap, and was a natural born leader of his kind. Most of the Yankee boys, whom wounds or other troubles had made fnmates of the hospital, referred to Bim as the Corporal at once as be- ing the literal translation of his native title in a military sense. Now in Span‘sh “el ¢a20” a.s0 means “the . THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL: P RS the, Corporal, alias the Limit made himself i fixture in the Second He al of Ramon. no yart of.thé premises too for him in which to introduce al evaded them led up and down the of all th should s roving about to orners on thé lookout for.all pos- é trouble, - and heralding his ap- ch with’ aggress.ve little coughs. the doc could not keep him e he found laying mar- bles with some -quinine pilis. We tho first we could tame the Corporal and make a general pet of him, but that was a mistake on gur part. The ¢ one to whose call he ever resp d was Pedro, and then he on me if his mood was agretable. t he was afraid. One of the boys threw some water at the Corporal one day in al joking sort of way, but the Corporal landed on that marr and didn’t leave, him until he tehed several handfuls of had r from a pate none too thickly cotered with hair anyway. Any of us could induce the Corporal to aceept some tempting bit of fruit from his He was never too bashful to come up and take it. Ir : saw A man eating some food that rticularly pealed chronie ate to make it off, and then deceiving in ap- appetite, he a dash for it and carr if the morsel prove pearance, he took it as 'a personal eri ce against him whom he had robbed, and would hurl it back at the offender as a missile. The moral make-up of the Corporal was the weakeSt thing about him. One day a big Missourian was brought to the hospital. He had been wounded in o of the eguent skirm- ishes with 1tk prowling guerrilla bands™ up the mountains. It in chanced that he had had a pet monkey over in the barracks, and the head ard weakly allowed him to bring st along. Perhaps the stew- sneaking hope that the new key big, husky fellow, would kill the Corporal in combat, or at least chase him off the premses. But that was where the head steward miscalculated. The big mon- key tried hard enough to oblige the steward, but when the Corporal got through with him the building was filled with cries of a beaten bully and loud, broad swear wor sworn in Missou have been a p as they are There might even al encounter be- tween the big Missourian and the Cor- poral had the rest of us not inter- fered. The result of that fight was not at all gratifying. Missouri’s monkey rec- ognized one would could lick him and he truckled to the Corporal ever after- ward. The two became as thick as all bad charact usually are and com- bined in warfare against public de- cency. Of course the Corporal was al- ways the leading spirit, but in his new companion he found an ever willing accomplice in all his nefarious schemes against our general peace. Where those two scamps spent their nights we never knew. They always disappeared at dusk a2nd only showed up again with the dawn of the next morning. The natives said they roost- ed in a big bamboo tree that stood in the plaza, but we never knew one who could confidently state that he had seen them there. One morning when the shell blinds were opened the two rascals bounced in, but not alone. They had with them a third member of their tribe, a big, black obstreperous looking fel- low with shaggy white whiskers. Where he hailed from we never knew, but we all felt convinced he had been banished for his misdeeds from some community of his kind up the moun- tain side where the jungle was espe- cially thick, and that he had come down to join fortunes with the Cor- poral, whom he had evidently recog- nized as a fellow after his own heart. It was only a week after this that the Corporal’s disreputable band was increased by another pecruit, who looked every bit as ruffianly. as the rest. We named him the Rake, be- cause he had the permanent appear- ance of having been out ali the night before, given him by his mangy coat of fur and one eye gone. Then he had a rolling sort of a gait which suggested a chronic state of inebriety. Nor did the Corpural cease *to in- 85y ALBERT SONMCHOING AUTHOR._OF > ~48 S pugnac little personality. with niliarity obnoxious to men st tr: 1g. The chief- sur- and the ad steward issued de- i number for his expul-- ° bordering on con- one more monkers of varjous sizes and kinds appeared, alike only in their one quality of being disreputable. troubleso, charaete: We thought when the ‘muraber .reached seven that Cornoral would have. enough re- d for mil rules to put the limit re, but t kent on coming until they numbered nine. There <ere monkeys ever:where; in the trees out- side, on the fenees, in the baicony, on the roof and ox the stairways. It is true thet only the Corpvoral himself and Missouri had the audacity to make tk lves at home in the wards. The others kept at least a re- dista ctful but they within hearing digtance. were ever The hospital socn-became known'all over Northern Luzon as a resort for outcasts -of the megnk tribe. When our chief went down to Vijgan for medical stores, they asked him there if he hadn’t better to keep a thug' »ply for a license drinking resort, which his hospital shment .seemed to . be. He couldn’t ‘convince them that the Corporal’s’ crowd w ous in the matter of They seemed o have the down there that > all indulged in nightly cerousals and that we men re not a bit more respectable than the Corporal and his gang. Thus the rumor 2w as they spread, until the repu ed considerably. Jet me tell of one of the many in- cidents wherein the Corporal brought us all into disfavor with the citizens of San Ramon, and obliged us to undergo the indignity of hav iig our personal honor- assaile It came about through one of the Cor- poral's raids on a local storekeeper. This was at a time when I had suffi- ciently recovered to go down into the plaza sometimes and sit on the big stone bench by the band stand. It was late in the afternoon one day, and I was sitting there breathing in the fresh bre I had a fine view of the hospital gateway and the corridor leading into the stairs. Suddenly, from a small side en- trance, I saw a figure appear in tHe gateway. It was the Corporal, and he stood alone, erect, alertly surveying the plaza before him. Then he ad- vanced cautiously, and behind him ap- peared first a face, then the figure of Missouri, and after him came Whis- kers and then the Rake, and one by one the rest followed in single file, ever alert, uttering low, conversa- tional grunts. I knew their methods well enough to realize that they were about to carry out one of their many plots against the public happiness of San Ramon. They advanced across the plaza shel- tered by a row of bushes, passing with- in a few feet of me with an utter dis- regard of my presence that gave me a painful sense of complicity. They went slowly along in single file, the Corporal leading, until they had crossed the plaza and were hidden in a clump of tiger lilies that stood opposite the frufts tienda of Jose Ramirez. There they remained some time, so quiet that I wondered what their tactics would be. Now and then the shaking of a lily stalk told me they were still there. Suddenly two of them leaped out, the Corporal and Whiskers, and advanced boldly across the road and made a dash for the tienda. Each grasped a ripe banana and with loud cries retreated down the road. Old Jose, attracted by their noise, rushed out and after them down the road, yelling in his high fal- setto and shaking a big stick. 3 Meanwhile I had kept an eye on the tiger lilies, and presently I saw the seven others of the band emerge on all fours and with shrill screams make a dash for the fruit stand. Some grab- bed eggs, some bananas and mangoes and nuts and oranges. From inside the tienda came a woman's scream and Juse's old wife emerged with a_broom, desperately trying to beat off the ma- rauders and shrilly crving for heln of our establishment suffer- . from the_ old man, who by this time had been inveigled quite a distance down the road. ‘Hearing his wife's screams; he turned and came pelting back to her assistance, but not before the seven thieves had successfully made off with all they could carry and had upset a basket of eggs in the skir- mish. The way those rogues scurried across the plaza into the hospital grounds was surprising, and the last I saw of them they were disappearing over the gable of the tile roof to security beyond. Then I got back to my quarters as soon as possible, before old Jose could see me and accuse me of complicity in the robbery. It was one night about a week after this that I could not sleep. The air was humid. Through the square shells of. the blind came a mellow flow of trop- ical moonlight. I started for the door to the balcony, thinking the air might be fresher there. In doing so I passed Pedro’s cot. It was empty. I was a lit- tle surprised, as he was still quite crip- pled, but expected to find him out on the balcony. He was not there, but I soon forgot Pedro in the beauty of the moonlit scenery—so brilliant that the birds chirped where they roosted. Every leal of the big mango tree close by shone out clear in the yellow light against a black background of deep shadow. The whole had a dreamy, somnolent effect on me, and I think I drooped over the railing, dozing, when suddenly a sharp -cry awoke me. s From far out in the jungle came the cry again. Then a rustle of leaves, and on the far side of the mango tree I saw a black object shoot up out of the shadow into the lower limbs. I heard the snap of twigs, the boughs nearest me shook, and the black object flew out and landed on the railing beside me with a thump. It was the Corporal. ‘““Hello, Corporal, what are you doing out at this time of night?” I asked. But he was too busy with other things to answer my greeting. Taking a seat firmly on the railing with his hand-like feet, he began industriously. to examine and analyze some object he held in his hand. He bit it—then swore, monkey-fashion. -It was hard. I reached out and grasped a long, nar- row black tape which hung to the Cor- poral’s prize, With a crisp bark he dropped it, turned once to me, then, shot upward and outward into the black shadows of the troplical foliage. He was gone. I examined the thing I held in my hind. It was a black waterproof cloth hat band. Attached to it was a three- cornered piece of brass, with cloth trimmings like a rosette. It looked fa- miliar. I had seen something similar before. I tried to remember. Then I knew. It took me less than two minutes to reach the major’s quarters, and in an- other I had him up and he was looking at what the Corporal had given me. On the black band, in big yellow letters, we read: *‘Brigada de Tino.” It is a fine sight to see men resPond to a sudden call to arms at night. I saw It ten minutes after I had called the major. The two companies were lined up on the plaza. No doubt, the guerrillas in ambush had intended to wait until moonset before attacking, but they must have heard the men tum- bling out. A volley came crashing out of the jungle beyond the hospital build- ing. Two of our men fell. Then the two comyranies concentrated their fires on the one spot. A few feeble spurts of flame answered—then silence. That ‘was all there was to the fight. At dawn ten ‘dead insurgents were brought in and iumbled into a ditch. But five of us from the hospital.re- covered one of them, and- carried if up into the jungle and there buried it alone. He had been a spy on our troops, but we thought enough of Pedro to do that. As for Pedro's confederates, , the Corporal and his gang, we never saw one of them again. But there came rumors from.the natives that the Cor- poral had been seen in a colony of his kind up the mountain, where he would ever trouble’ the major's dispatch file ( & SR EGANG y— — | Ghe Religious Parasite | — E hdd a little tdlk the other day about grafters of vari- ous kinds, and held up to condemnation persons . who utilize their connection with corpora- tions or.their positions in the city or national government for selfish ends. And we widened our thought of graft- ing to include every one who diverges from the path of strict honesty in cer- tain apparently trivial matters. It is an easy step from the line of thought to a consideration of the religious par- asite. He is not so bad as a grafter, to be sure, but either consciously or uncon- sciously he is taking sustenance out of an Institution without making any ad- equate return. This makes him a par- asite, “an animal,” as the dictionary puts it, “that lives during the whole or part of its existence on some other an- imal.” We find him within the ranks of the chureh. -He is typified by the man who said: “I thank God that religion is free. I have been a Christion forty years and it hasn't cost me a cent.” Such a parasite attends the services regularly, enjoys. the music, profits by the preaclL!ng, enters into pleasant so- cial relationships, but when the con- tribution box comes around he searches his pocket for his smallest ¢oin, or podsibly for a button. He seems to think that the responsibility for keep- ing the church.edifice open and warm and well lighted, the minister and the sexton paid rests entirelv upom the “leading men"—the deacons, wardens or elders—in fact, upon any one except himself. S But we find the religious parasite outside the church also. He is not so much of a’ hypocrite as his comrade within the church, but he is just as much of a parasite. He virtually says: “Oh, well, religion is good enough for old women "and childrén and .people who care for it; the church is all right — for those who belleve in it, but I can get just as much good by staying home and reading the papers, or by walk- ing In the open air, or by loafing at the club, or by calling on my friends.” And yet even a smattering of histor- ical knowledge or a few moments’ care- ful reflection on the world as it is to- day might teach this same man that he is a direct beneficiary of the Insti- tutions of religion. The parasite should not forget that into these institutions have gons the treasure, the devotion, the very life- blood of the best men and women throughout the centuries. Think of the patient, laborious effort put forth day after day, year after year, century after century, in building the cathedrals of Europe. Think of the architectural and artistic talent de- voted to their adornment. Think of the good men and true whom we have known in remote towns and villages of this land, who, in storm and sunshine, have harnessed the old horse and driven weekly over miles of rough roads to the “meeting house,” because they be- lieved with all their hearts in keeping up the institutions of religion, Now, Is it fair to ignore all this la- bor and sacrifice, to forget that we live in a land which philosophers and his- torians tell us has attained its present greatness largely because of the spirit of faith whica dwelt first in the found- ers of the nation, and whi~h led their descendants, as they traveied west- ward and .ever westward, to plant the church and the school close together, as the basal institutions of each new com- munity? HOWw mean and unworthy against such a historic background shows up the religious parasitism of to- day, whether in the church or out of it. Away with this torpid, indifferent atti- tude. If religious institutions benefit us, either directly or indirectly, let us not fllch their life away. Let us give something back.—The Parson.