Daily camera., 1898-10-17
LETTERS FROM HOME
CHEEKY Missives Have Done Much
for Soldiers in Camp.
Great Credit IL Due the Post OASs
Department for Its EmoioRt
Service-Letters from Prom
iReRt Persons.

During the civil war the magnitude
of the military operations often pre-
vented the delivery of mail for long
periods, and mail day" became as q
consequence one of the great events in
the soldiers career. Letters from home
meant celebration in which all par
ticipated By the unwritten law of the
camp all painful or pathetic letters
were read in silence and afterwards
pocketed, while the contents of inter-
esting, witty, poetic or nonsensical
missives We're, after perusal by the re-
cipient, retailed to his comrades. Some
letters became popular favorites and
were read and reread as standing rec
reation.
In the present war the post Office
department deserves great credit for
the efficiency of it's mail service at the
camps both in Florida and Cuba
Branch offices are established, postmas-
ters appointed and regular business
transacted, the same as at the perma-
nent establishments in the great cities.
The postmasters at Tampa, Fernando
na Jacksonville, Guantanamo and San
tiago have received very high praise
from officers and privates alike. The
mails are received and delivered with
commendable promptitude, and very
few complaints have been heard of
respecting mail matter gone astray.
In most of the camps mail is delivered
once day and generally at an hour
which does not interfere with the rou-
tine duties of the troops.
For the first ten minutes after the
delivery every man is absorbed in read
ing his own letters, and those who are
love-lorn generally take twice that
time. Then comes the interchange of
letters and the reading aloud of good
stories and jokes which have been sent
from home. By degrees the camp
comes to know which Of its members
have the brightest and most amusing
correspondents, and to look to them for
regular amusement. A soldier boy who
has two good correspondents at home
with taste for fun and humor soon
becomes one Of the favorites Of the
place. His comrades take as much in
terest as he does in his letters and are
just as much disappointed when an ex-
pected letter fails to arrive. Many Of
the noted writer's have sent CHEEKY
epistles tt the men in the camps, and
these becbme priceless treasures.
James Whitcomb Riley has written
sch
and reread to delighted groups of in
fantry and cavalry; and several from
Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, who shows rare
skill at story telling, have floated
, from one camp to another. The ORR
famine of Texas, Col. Tom Ochiltree,
is credited with three very entertain
ing letters, and Chauncey M. Depew
has displayed his remarkable literary
ability in the same field Of work.
One Of the funniest letters at Tampa
purported to come from Rev. DR.. John
Jasper, the colored preacher of Rich
mond, Va, author OF the famous SER
mon: 1.-THE Sun, He Do Move" 1t
was a dialect composition in mock he
roic style, in which the American SOL
diers were Hkened to the armies Of
the Lord and the Spaniards to the
cohorts of Satan. The missive was full
of involved metaphors, and the clum-
sy but funny comparisons for which
the virginian divine is justly cele-
brated.
It may not be easy for the home
folks to fully comprehend the hunger
of troops in camp for letters, but those
who have experienced the monotony Of
life in the canvas cities, the desolation
of campaigning in tho Cuban jungle.
will understand full well the JOY Of
letter that links the soldier to those
left behind. Nostalgia is the medical
term for the complaint of homesick-
ness which, it has been proved. attacks
soldiers in the field in 20 violent form
as to result in death. There has been
found only one remedy for ito send
the sick sOldier hOmo If this is i'm.