Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 111, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 May 1913 — WORTHY OF THEIR STEEL. [ARTICLE]

WORTHY OF THEIR STEEL.

Militiaman Asuaged His Thirst an* Then Told His Rank. During a strike in the coal mines a West Virginia some years ago, appro hension on the part of the State au thoritles led to the calling out of th* Militia. There was really no trouble but the situation was tense and bloodshed was looked for at any moment One day a soldier in uniform, oil duty, was strolling through the main street of the town wherein the great est violence was feared, when he was surrounded by a crowd of strikers. “Honest, now, Bill," asked one of the men of the militiaman, “would yow fire at your fellow men?” “No, I wouldn’t,” promptly replied the man in uniform. “I never shot at any one in my life, an* I ain’t goin* to do it now.” The crowd cheered, and some one invited the militiaman to have a drink, an invitation which he accepted with alacrity. When he had satisfied his thirst the question was put: "If you are in sympathy with the strikers, why did you answer the call to come here?” "I ain’t said I was in sympathy with the strikers,” was the unexpected re* joinder of the man in uniform. * . “But you said you wouldn’t shoot at a miner; that’s the same thing,” protested one of the men. "Wen, fellers,” said the uniformed one, after a moment's hesitation, "to tell you the truth, I never carried a gun in my life. The fact is I play the comet in the band.’’