The Haskells, Père et Fils.
Reading edition
It will delight the venerable editor of “The Boston Herald” to learn that his son, Will E. Haskell, has been commissioned a member of the military staff of the governor of Minnesota, with the title of major. As we learn by reference to Lossing’s “Field-Book of the Massachusetts Militia,” Haskell père himself is a soldier, having been commissioned a captain of militia as far back as 1844. In this same reliable volume we read that “on July 4, 1847, the Cambridge Israel Putnam Fusileers, under command of Capt. Haskell, elicited rapturous huzzas by the alacrity and precision of their evolutions and manœuvres during the general training on Boston Common” (vol. iii. p. 268). As we understand it, young Major Haskell’s military promotion will not necessarily involve service upon the field of battle. Minnesota is now in a condition of peace, and is likely to remain so. All that will be expected of Major Haskell will be the purchase of a suit of regimentals, a roan gelding, and a fine sword: upon state occasions, the major will have to wear these regimentals and this sword, and will have to ride the roan gelding to and fro through the streets of Minnesota’s capital, bearing sealed orders to and from his excellency the governor, and bestowing ineffably fascinating smiles upon the throngs of 211admiring ladies. Young Major Haskell is a handsome man, and it makes us tremble to think of the increased powers and the illimitable possibilities with which his regimentals will invest his native pulchritude.