ound of raisins for fifty cents. Shoes, soap, and
currants totalled $1.50 on April 7th; and on March 20th, two pounds of
butter sold for thirty cents and a pound of cheese for forty-two cents.
Private Ryerson had more varied needs. On March 7th, 1849, he purchased
indigo; on March 16th, paper; on April 9th, alcohol and suspenders; five
days later, needles and sugar; and on April 23rd, apples, butter, and a
tin cup. The quiet waters in the neighboring lakes tempted Eli Pettijohn
on a spring day in 1855 to invest $2.50 in "Fishing Tackel".

That the officers did not live upon the same fare as the soldiers is
indicated by the entries under the title "Officers Mess". On July 31,
1855, there was purchased ten cents worth of cloves, ten cents worth of
pepper, and ninety-five cents worth of cheese. Under the date of August
8th "Bread tickets" were purchased to the amount of one dollar; and on
August 30th, fifty cents worth of "Yeast Powd'r" was charged to their
account.

Saint and sinner both patronized this store. The Reverend Ezekiel Gear,
who was the chaplain at the fort, evidently believed that cleanliness
was next to godliness, for on July 31, 1855, he paid thirty cents for a
scrub brush; on August 4th, he bought a broom for fifty cents; on August
30th, he purchased twenty-five cents worth of starch, and on October
19th, a large broom. Indulging in some luxuries, on August 2nd, 1855, he
bought five cents worth of candy. Probably this was a treat for those
two boys, his son and his grandson, whom a visitor two years
later found sleeping in the little cemetery at Morgan's Bluff near the
fort, their resting place marked by a rude slab with a Latin
inscription: "Lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in death not
divided."[234]

None the less clearly is the character of Sergeant Mahoney portrayed in
these accounts. On July 31, 1855, it is recorded under his name: "1
Flask $.75". On August 20th, the same officer paid seventy-five cents
for a bottle of cider. And the chaplain would have had an excellent
illustration for his next sermon on intemperance if he could have read,
as we can to-day, this melancholy note made in the sutler's book on
October 17th: "Sergeant Mahoney, Cash Loaned 20.00".

There was need for sermons on intemperance. During the early years
whiskey was issued as a part of the soldier's ration, and this only
served to stimulate the desire for more. The class of men in the army
was not always of the highe