THE SKELETON ARMY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6667, 31 March 1883, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE SKELETON ARMY.

11 The Skeleton Amy M ia the name given to | j an organised of "owdies and g £ guards that are at present infesting the more § ■ densely-populated districts of the metropolis. 1 j i ike the Salvationist-, they go in extensively 3" I for display. They simehow pr cure cast-oil" S- | military jaeke:a and helm-ts, and their 1 j marching banner i* a sheet of calico, on s j which ia dra'vii at full length a skt-leton, M i and the ragtag and-bobtail behind carry I « s.n*dler ragged coloured pocket- a 9 handkerchiefs, generally attached to I | sticks, handy for headbreaking in the fossin'e 6 j event of a row. Musical instruments oth'tr fi ! than an old drum and a few tin whistles 3 | tht-y have ro menus of providing. Hut 1 £ '■jittered pot* and co t nothing, and, g | filled with st-'iies, constitute a "rattle'* t | i ntiy deafening an a hideous to satisfy g P th - most inverterate peace-hating that K . fij ever ban 'led one. This ia the ordinary t 1 metb d . f procedure, but the Skeleton § I Arun has its field days. It is cot maiß - | Sundays since that the writer encountered k f a mob of thein making their W3V S £ through a quiet and respectable street li B towards Koad", and two t l tht f: 9 captains were on horseback. The razeed j| j star! and the >i;I-raiF bribing ::p the rear g i were discordantly yeliinc rhymes of their owr. |. j making to well-known ' ;>alva*ior.i?: hyn.n tun's. If vulii i*J3 were e-nt-nt. as a. rule, to march alone, it would be Lad enough ; 'gp but, for them, the fun is t-> follow linmediately in the wake of the § whnot to be outdone by the D-. vil, ft" they sv,, use the most desperate endeavours g to drown th" din b hin-I them. And when S t'nid happen?, what with the tambourines Ar.'l a. tr e ' raving of trumpets, »:id the loud about- g inu of hymns, ni'.iigied wi h the ti'Otliii-! of fl . tile WMstied, the rnttliu LC r >i brickbats in old S saucepwi.s. ami th-> iiK-eki:^'inclosed of the ]j roughs, it is hardly Hint peaceful g rcsfJjr'ir in <•- .'iricts mos; g j :dliictt-d shuuli! be lo>:d in complaining that, jg 3 having m'ven oiienco to no one, they B.| be subjected to such annoyance. || i