Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 April 1884 — An Agonizing Suspense. [ARTICLE]

An Agonizing Suspense.

Among the numerous applications for pensions received by the Commissioner of Pensions is one sent by an exsoldier, who has discovered an entirely new ground for relief. He stated that he had no wounds and was not disabled by disease, but while? fighting in the Union ranks at the battle of Antietam he lost his coat, vest, and one suspender. “The other suspender,” he wrote, “was my only stay and support. Imagine my dismay when a bullet came along, and, slightly scorching my skin as it passed, cut the last precious suspender clean in two. There I stood in the presence of many thousands of men. My emotion cannot be described. You, Mr. Commissioner, can imagine them. I am certainly entitled to a pension for the wounds given to my feelings on that occasion. Possibly you may not decide that a pension should be given me, but, at least, I ought to have enough to keep me in strong, reliable suspenders all my life. ” —Boston Journal.