The G.A.R. Men

Josh decided to go down to the lobby. There were four men wearing suits, each with a large brass button on the lapel. They were all in their seventies, and all were groomed with either a moustache or a moustache and a long patriarch's beard. Being bored, he sat down at a discreet distance and listened in on their conversation.

He was able to pick out their names, Gideon, Matthew, Simeon, and Ezra. Gideon seemed to be the leader of the local G.A.R. encampment. The G.A.R. was an organization for veterans of the Union Army. Matthew was the only one with out a full beard. He had once had some important job with one of the railroads - all these men had retired - and had a hobby - fiddling around with his automobile and driving out into the countryside and to the next town. Simeon was a farmer and an elder at the town's church. Ezra had traveled a lot after the war, and had settled down late in life.

The conversation started with Gideon recounting some events of the last national encampment in Detroit, and talking with Matthew about ideas for arranging a special excursion train to the forty-ninth encampment in Washington next September.

From there, the conversation drifted to national politics - whether Roosevelt was finished, and whether the Republicans had anyone who could beat Wilson in 1916. The conversation then segued to the future - whether airplanes or automobiles would become practical means of family transportation.

1. Josh listened as the conversation continued.
2. Josh picked up a discarded newspaper.
3. Another person arrives at the hotel.

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