San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-07-14
AUSTIN LETTER.
Special Correspondence.
AUSTIN, Tex, July Is, l89:

The soldier boys have settled down
to business and are doing the thing
up brown. Guards are posted al all
the entrances and there is (supposed
to be) no leaving camp without q pass
signed by the captain anu colonel.
But, oh! in one sense of the word,
what fake The fence surrounding
the campis of barb wire, wires strung
q loot apart, and the boys, rather than
ask for q pass, will crawl through
them. This will be stopped shortly
and the boys will not pay quarter
to see the town. The officers treat
the men with the greatest courtesy
and are exceedingly patient with
them. Learning the majority of the
men their duties would try, it seems
to your correspondent, the patience Of
Joe.
This morning, ut $50 o'clock, all
the companies In camp were out being
instructed in battalion drill. This
lasted about two hours, and the
mpanies were dismissed tor break
fast. At $50 they were ordered out
tor extended company drill, which
also lasted about that time. Taking
into consideration that some of the
officers and men heretofore have
never been instructed In this, their
work WAS good. The new tactics
come rather difficult to the "old" men,
especially in the field movements. 1t
has been beaten and drummed into
their heads by captains and majors
for the whole line to keep q gentle
tonch at elbows towards the guide"
and they very often forget themselves
and dom: keep the six inches dis.
lance.
There is nothing about the camp to
report. 1t lie the same old hum drum
life. There is nothing to amuse the
boys except their own tricks, which
are many and close together. A great
! many OF the boys thought that there
would be dancing pavilion on the
grounds, but they are sadly disap-
pointed. Speaking of tricks, this
| afternoon Lowdy sent man (from q
company whose knowledge of raising
corn is more cultivated than that of
military camp life), to Capt. Green's
headquarters for a "lett handed
| monkey wrench" Capt. Green WAS
not in, and one of his men told him
that it had been lent to Col Bruce,
and told him to GO there for 1t.
He left and the last seen of him he
| was plodding his weary way toward
that officers camp, "But he never
came back" 1t il said that he was
sent to the guard house for visiting
headquarters without the compli-
ments of an officer. A private is not
allowed to visit regimental or brigade
| headquarters unless sent with
q message by his captain.
Another man was sent from the
| same source with q note for man at
the "hoss-pital" as he expressed 1t.
| The note, which read as follows,
keep him moving" was received by
| Anderson, who sent him over to the
artillery camp, about mile away,
time 2:S0 p. m. He must be moving
yet for he has never returned for the
quarter. Boys have been coming into
| camp all the afternoon for "stOne
| stretchers," johnson bars" and
other useful articles.
| The fare is improving but the Bel
knap's hay hasn't come yet and the
boys are enjoying the luxury of dirt
bed. They are strictly in it though.
| This afternoon the camp was visited
by the sponsor, her mother, Mrs. w.
X. Tobin, Miss Ada Waelder, Miss
May Lane, Mrs. Milton Everett, Mrs.
| Captain A Faulkner, Mrs. J. J. Tobin,
Mrs. Mari and q good many others.
The boys enjoy these visits. but they
do wish the ladies would sound q
bugle call before entering the con-
fines OF camp.
Friday night the young men of
Austin will give q grand german,
complimentary TO the encampment
visitors. The commissioned officers
are all invited to be present The
reason for not inviting the "non-
CONS" and privates is not
because they do not consider
them worthy of the compliment,
but 1t would be impossible for them
to accommodate the vast crowd. The
Austin people are doing every thing
in their power to make the time spent
here by the militia, pleasant.
The Belknaps' sponsor will give her
proteges a reception Friday night,
and it will be grand affair. Those
boys who can get off should attend; it
Ms worth the trip over. All of Aus
Tins fairest girls and some others
will be there.
! This evening at dress parade, which
by the way was q great improvement
on yesterdays, Captain Green, ow-
ing 20 the sickness of Captain Reich
ardt, commanded the Houston Light
Guards, while Lieutenant Altgelt
commanded the Belknaps. Lieut..
Altgelt is exceedingly popular with
the boys. He knows his business
thoroughly and is always ready and
willing to impart his information to
the boys. Things will commence to
get interesting tomorrow. EVERETT.
List OF Patents
Granted to Texas inventors this
week. Reported by G. A. Snow & Co