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 highest, and there were enough civilians who were willing to pander to their appetites. The following extract from Taliaferro's diary for March 22, 1831, is undoubtedly characteristic of many a forgotten episode: "Nothing of importance transpired this day. Two drunken Soldiers in crossing the SPeters broke through the Ice & were near being drowned. They were exceeding alarmed & made a hedious Noise & yelling for Assistance--the men from the Fort relieved them although late at night." Not always was assistance on hand in such circumstances. A report was made in March, 1840, of a certain officer who "disappeared on the evening of the 5th of March, supposed to have been drowned by falling through the ice."[235]