By 
The 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry appeared at the Howe House last Sunday.
That’s Lane Ryno of Emporia playing the drum.
Tom Schmidt of Peabody tells me how much it costs to outfit an infantryman like Darren Biggs. About a thousand bucks goes into his uniform and equipment.
The guns, are they operational? Are they black powder?
Schmidt seems to be a common name in this part of the country. The doctor who operated on my knee is named Schmidt.
I know Tom Schmidt but didn’t realize he was there last Sunday. His son, Ethan, is a member of my fraternity and just received his PhD in History from KU. Ethan started teaching History at Texas Tech this fall in Lubbock, Buddy Holly country.
Yeah, those guns worked. Boom! They shot in the air.
Black powder or pellets or something, I didn’t pay that close of attention.