The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1898-07-08

Letter From Chickamauga.
Co. Gs fst Rog,t Vt Volunteers,
0apaR efeF Fl. Thomas
t5hlckat atnauga Park, Gas,,
eek ending July y
fspRcIA1 ro THEe 9PillToz
Seated. or rather ly4s6g BY my campfire
which by the way is q candle e-at the
close of this last day Of the egentfuli
month of June, and after hsaYln4 spene I
six weeks encanlped amid the vast tllkong
Of forty or fifty thousand men who eon-
Fstitute part OF Che army Of INVASION ~
the present war with Spain, ! can yet
hardly realize that we are soldiers in the
field, patiently Awaiting orders that VIII
send us speeding tothe scene OF actlon
where hebOom of cannon ana crack ol
musket Is Fett0 be heard, accompanied
by whistlihg lead and clash of steel, to
bring us to afull realization OF what we
have undertaken and for this reason rs
much as any other, for this lack OF reall-
zati0h we aie anxiousfo 1 hose orders TO
come itas nolindividual desire, no desire
Of a few, but the unanimous desire. 70 y
man believe. Hcw long it may be be-
fore these orders will conleI am entirely
unable 10 say, and have fully decided 70
discontinue guessing as feel it is q USE
less eXertion on my nerves with very un-
satisfactory results. OF course the daily
papers pretend to know, and each one n
bound to have its own special brigade, sdl-
vision and corps that is going TO Leave,
and equally bound to have its own time
of departure and destination OF troops,
but what they don't know would, leave
butfew blank pages in good sized pub
lication.
have until recently been OF the opin-
ion that the readers of the OPINION had
seen and read OF heard enough OF this
~. ~ So -fa1llH
hardly care for any further description,
bat find am mistaken to- some extent
at least, as have recently received in
quiries from friends ia regard to 1t. and
am going to make an effort
to offer some information, although feel
helplessly inadequate to the task which q
itlstihable DISSOLUTION of the country and
its facilities would merite
From what observations | have been
able to make, from the towers located at
elevated p4infa itEahe park and from the
t0pa0f lA5bKotif lM0u1itain the surround
ing country seems to be YhillXto quite an
extent although not verw Ugh lookout
being the highest i shouid3ndge, the ele-
vation of which is $500 feet above, sea
level Theland around thef0ot ofsLook
out and the meadows oluae tennessee
river have the appearance ~ being fer
tile and productive, but here III the park
the ground is for rthe most part hard and
stony, in fact where we are locatedRi is
quite impossible tosdig without the use
a pick Only asnfall part of the land in
the pak&4zam AIRED, most of it being coy-
e. ~ Aaowth of pine and oak,
b h has been entlfelS
= it particularly suit
l Is b as the One which
whe roads through the
PARK aTN~sIfG tffirr show marked degree
of care and labor not usually found in so
unsettled a section of the country, still 1t
is in no wise surprising when you COnsid-
er that the government is responsible.
OF course the strawberry season is long
past, and blackberrieS are even beginning
to be a thing of the past. Cucumbers,
string beans, green peas and new pota-
toes are plenty, as well as apples and
peaches to say nothing of watermelons,
although | think the latter are imported
from the southern part of the state. Corn
is raised on small scale, but grass is
about as scarce an article as there IS so
far as | have seen, millet seems to be the
substitute.
There is one thing that | would like to
be able to give you some description OF,
but | shall not attempt to however as 1t
would in no wise prove satisfactory as the
only satisfaction can be had by seeing
them ones self, and that is the mOnu-
ments scattered here and there through
the park, elegant monuments some OF
them, marking the spots where our IA
theirs fought for union that constitutes
one of the greatest and grandest coun-
tries on the earth, and country that
stands for peace with humanity and JUS
tiCe with no exceptions.
| had previous to enlisting in the vol
unteer army of the United States heard
of such things in connection with camp
life as tleas, 'Old army grey backs and
such things, but hadn't heard Of "Jiggers2
therefore it is little wonder that well
in fact that we | should say, as the rest
of the boys were not much better posted
than mySelf-were surprised to ilnd that
on getting ready to retire we were seized
with an irresistible desire to scratch and
we did scratch and while we scratch We
wondered. and many and varied were the
theories advanced by the men, for they
were men of many professions, most of
Them with a surprising amount OF prac-
tical knowledge, some of them, and very
sure that they were right, Individually,
all of them. Some knit their broWs and
said they knew il was poison ivy, while
their neighbOr looked equally wise and as
positively asserted it to be poison oak
while a few kept still and scratched; but
the truth is known at last and it is jiggerS. |.
You may wonder what a jigger Is, un- .
doubtedly many of yOukn but perhaps .
there are some who don't, well 1t Is some
thing vOu won't know anything about .
/
the skin. when it has gotten full of blood
it takes the form of pimple accompa-
MED by a severe itching, if you squeeze
the pimple you would find it would eject
a small worm or bug, ! don't know Just .
which You would call it, but II Is some
thing of that character. The pleasure OF
a visit from these insects doesn't stop as
soon as it is removed but continues Tor
several DAYS. / shouldn't dare tell you
what the boys say about them as am
afraid it would give you an impression
-hat they were nf deadly nature winch
.hey are not, and | am inclined to think
perhaps they are of some benefit after al
As the bows are not apt to get homeSlck
while they are infested with them. hero-
;ene oil is the only effective remedy with
Which to fight them.
NV friends will forgive me think for
being so ungrateful as to say that | have I
hardly heard anything from Bradford TOR
week or two excepting the celebratQh
or the Fourth. Well, now | am deeply
of the information and clam
| right to have an interest in it myself
md sincerely hope it will prove grand
uccess, of course it will be all over by |
he time YOU read this letter, but while
I'M speaking might as well tell you we
re going to have a celebration mere
cox-ara1 rpuimpntS 10 be