The age-herald., 1898-07-13
THE SOLDIER BOYS
 ON BISCAYNE BAY Colonel HigdOn'S Command the Pride
 of Alabama. UNDER STRICT DISCIPLINE The Men Have Rapidly Developed Into Hardened Troops.
RAINY SEASON HAS JUST BEGUN
Each Day Rain Comes Down in Torrents, and After the Sky Clears the Mosquitoes Make
 Their Way From the Everglades and Attack Camp at Miami.
BY SEWELL HAGGARD.

Bureau of The Age-Herald, at Colonel 2Higdon's Headquarters, Camp' First Ala
 bama Volunteers, Miami, Fla, July 12.-
 ''They are veterans now remarked Colo- nel Higdon in speaking of his splendid com- mand and the pride of Alabama. A
 glimpse of the camp of the First Ala bama in every way bears out Colonel Higdons
 assertion.
 The regiment met sudden change when
 it broke camp in Mobile, but to pitch tents
 in Miami on the southernmost coast of
 Florida. Orders were required to be obeyed
 with greater punctuality, the penalties and duties were made severer, drilling more
 diligent and everything done to transform
 the men from the counting rooms and shops into vigorous soldiers. The effect is al-
 ready apparent. Under stricter discipline
 and Florida climatic conditions the men
 are healthier. Out of the seven regiments
 Many of these are still suffering from the
 effects of fever contracted in Mobile. Few
 of this number, happily, are from the First
 Alabama.
 The camps are laid out in sight of the
 railway station and Biscayne bay. The rainy season has just begun, and all day the white sand is drenched by heavy down. 1 pours and the samll vessels in the bay are l rocked by the tropical storms. During l these rains camp life would be undesirable
 were it not for the sand. The water does not stand and in few minutes after rain l the sun comes out and it seems magic to | stranger that the water is so quickly con stunned. In other climates malarial fever would be the result, but here the disease is 1 unknown. The sand saves the boys from i the work of ditching' and they lay about l under the cocoanut trees enjoying the de- ! licious breeze from the bay. a"They as froliesome boys" re- 1 marked Chaplain Fitzsimmons a prison- ] CT given ten days extra duty for some of- l fense tugged at a stump in the effort to remove it from the front of the colonels | tent and build a fire on a Sunday after | noon.
 l. Think of a fire in Florida in July. Ii was not because the weather was particu- l larly cold, but after a rain a calm ensued and the mosquitoes came in brigades and l divisions from the everglades. Smoke is I the best foftihcation to impede their pro-
 gress.
 l The prisoner went on gaily at his work
 and good hunoredly reminded the chaplain
 of the Bfb1ical injunction forbidding work l on the Sabbath day.
 | '.Yes, but when you have an OK in the l ditch you must get him out good hu-
 moredly responded the chaplain. With a brigade smile the soldier fell to l with his ax and when he had finished the | chaplain listened to the sweet, simple story of how his mother taught him the Bible in | his boyish days Shouldering his ax the 1 prisoner under guard marched away sd- l dier voices filled the air with melody and | a tropical sun stole behind it's furnished 1 shield and smiled at the dying day. | A jolly set are they These boys who l left their homes of luxury for hard blank | cts, bacon and beans and pitiful monthly l stipend. They are patriots, the bravest l of the world. Without a days training l they would stand under fire until the last l bleeding form was carried to the rear and | why?
 1 They are volunteers-the flower of south | ern .homes-the protectors of the glorious nation of the world-free America.