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contact with New York Irishmen, my first opportunity to observe their remarkable talent for politics. Soon after training began, a New Yorker named Flynn started taking up a collection to buy a present for our company commander. We were serving under a regular army captain of infantry, Ben Nicklin. We heard that he was being promoted to major, a rank that entitled him for the first time to ride horseback on duty. Flynn proposed to buy for him a saddle and its accoutrements. The saddle was duly presented to Nicklin, with a list of the contributors. Flynn naturally made the presentation speech. 

The same thing happened again a few weeks later, when I had been transferred to an artillery unit commanded by Captain Alfred L. P. Sands. Sands likewise was promoted to major (all the regular army officers skyrocketed upward in 1917). Another New Yorker named Sweeney started a collection to buy a present for Sands. Being in a mounted service he was already provided with saddles. He played on regimental polo teams, and prided himself on his horsemanship. I forget what he bought for Sands, but it was something handsome, and Sweeney did the honors. 

I am ashamed to admit that I contributed to both of those gifts. I did so reluctantly, partly because I thought it unethical for us to offer presents to our superiors, and equally so for them to accept. We were candidates for commissions, and our instructors were supposed to judge us impartially. It was as if a litigant, in a case pending court action, were to send a case of liquor to the judge. And besides the hurt to my own conscience, I was afraid that Nicklin or Sands might be insulted rather than pleased by our gifts. As it turns out, neither of the recipients seemed to feel any scruples. Flynn and Sweeney knew army attitudes better than I did. 

Not all the New Yorkers were like that. Some of the Irish turned out to be agreeable companions. And there was Robert Low Bacon. He was wealthy, the son of a former ambassador to France. He was probably the oldest among us, and was plainly an outstanding officer candidate. He served as first sergeant in our battery. In later life he became a congressman from a Republican district on Long Island, and served in Congress until his death. 

On August 15 Bacon called us into formation for the last time. Sands appeared, and the telegram announcing our commissions was read to us. Bacon had become a major, the only one of us to draw that rank. We had four captains and a dozen or so first lieutenants. All the rest of