Evening star., 1898-08-09

camp, the men of the regiment are much
more comfortably situated thar they have
been since leaving Tampa. Their raticns
and equipment have all been landed from
the Catanfa, and they now enjoy their
full share of provisions and fairly good
shelter, though they only have their dog
tents supplemented by such makeshifts as
they can devise. 1t Is quite amusing to see
some of the novel habitations they have
erected to protect them against sun and
rain Here one sees a hammock swung
between two trees and rude brush shell
ter constructed over 1t. Another makes
use of his rubber poncho for the same pur-
pose. The bamboo plays an important part
in this improvised architecture being light
and strong and easily obtainabl Bile. In feet,
the bamboo plays an important part in the
domestic economy of the natives here as
we'll They use it to build their houses,
they use it to carry water in, and 1 am not
sure they cannot use the larger pieces to
boil water in. Our boys have copied the
local custom In all these uses and gone the
natives one better. They were short of
pipes, and there were none to be had in
the commissary, some ingenious chap
thought of the ever ready bamboo, and now
pipes made of that material are quite the
u.
But. after all, the bamboo is not fully
equal to the emergency of heavy rainfall,
and In such events the denizens Of the i'm
provised houses have to scurry for their
shelter tents.
Ihose who saw the District men march
down Pennsylvania avenue as they started
for Camp Alger would scarcely recognize
them in these bronzed men, in nondescrpt
"a In.
deed, the makeshifts in dress are no less
marked than the apologies for shelter en-
pioyed by the smen. 1t would be hard to
md two men dressed alike now. All who
could do so have secured the brown duck
suits provided for the army. A little per-
sp1ration changes the color of this ducking
ana there is great variety of shades of
brown in the apparel of the men. Then
there Is a go-as-you-please style OF dress
assumed by everybody. I have seen gen
erals sitting at a restaurant table in San
t1ego dressed In an old pair of cavalry
boots, dirty yellow duck trousers, blue
shirt, no coat and a hat which would be
scorned by Washington roustabou..
Cause of the Camps Name.
Our camp here was named by Chaplain
Dudley. His tent which he calls "The
Church" is just across the street from that
or your correspondent. The ground all
around US both Is literally honeycombed
with tarantula holes. These hairy little
monsters got so familiar that the church
and the press entered into an alliance Of
fensive and defensive to eXterminate them.
We got bucket of hot water, and while
II lasted there was such hustling among
the natives as had never been known be-
1cre But there was a limit to the water,
put apparently none to the number of the
tarantulas. Then we conceived the happy
idea of plugging up the holes.
When vice cannot be overcome when
net out in open combat, barricade the ave-
nues through which the monster stalks"
was the chaplain's comment as we plugged
up the holes. We are hoping the regiment
will get away before the tarantulas dig
their way out, else 1here may be hot
time IN the old camp some night.
Next in point of nuisance to the taran-
tula is the sand ant. These Industrious
little insects are about the only things that
show any signs of thrift down here. They
build roads through the iungles from one
to three inches in width, over which they
pass incessantly, carrying food and ma
terial for house building. But while they
form a most interesting study in natural
history they are not agreeable companions,
ana when they take notion to the vi
cinity Of ones tent the occupant will save
time and worry just. move somewhere
else.
Then there is the sand crab, most re-
pulsiVe-loolsing object. of which the woods
are full hereabouts / saw one of the Dis
trict boys dissecting one a few days ago,
and on inquiry learned that he had dis
covered that the claws of the crab con-
tain most excellent quality of glue. The
soldier had NO envelopes, he turned his
discovery to practical account in manufac-
turing some. He now has envelopes to sell
to his comrades.
But with its tropical sun, daily rains and
numerous varieties Of pests Cuba is not
half bad place to make a home in if one
went about the matter in business-like
way. The temperature up here on the hills,
as observed by Surgeon Pyles. ranges from
a maximum of 81 degrees to a minimum OF
6S degrees Fahrenheit. The maximum tenn