Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1898-10-06
A SOLDIER BOYS LETTER.
II. B. Wilson'S son, Will, Writes a
Splendid Letter.

SAN FRANCISCO, GAL, oct. LIST, 3S.
DEAR FATHER:
/ received your welcome letter yester-
day and was glad to hear that you are
all we'll / have just come from guard
duty and as I am relieved from any
other duty until this afternoon, I will
try and answer your letter. We have
had the finest kind of weather since the
rain of week ago. We are all we'll and
hearty with the exception of Henry. His
lungs have been bothering him consider.
able lately, but he did not like to go
to the hospital for fear he would be sent
home and not get to take the trip to
Manila with us. Clyde and talked it
over between ourselves, however, and
finally come to the conclusion to talk
Henry into the notion of getting dis
charge. We both knew that if he accom-
panied us to Manila that he would never
come back, so we finally, after good
deal of persuasion, got him to go to the
hospital. The doctor examined him
little and looking up into his face re-
marked: you are good for discharge"
So we expect to see him leave us most
any day. OF course under any other
circumstances we would have hated to
see him go, but we know that he isn't
able to go across the ocean.
Providing We go. We all have our
doubts as to our going. Two transports
have arrived from Manila since we re-
ceived our orders, and it doesn't seem as
if they are making any progress of coal
ing up and leaving with troops for
Manila. We most all want to go bad
enough, but of course there are few
who oonot. There are few men in our
regiment who can never be satisfied. As
well treated as the troops are here at
the Preside, / notice that letters are
written back home to the effect that we
get barely enough to eat to keep us alive,
and that two-thirds of the regiment is
sick and dying off like sheep. They even
complain of our officers, and am sure
no regiment under the sun has better
officers than the 5lst Iowa. Our Colonel
let's us off from drill when ever he pos
sibly can. If the weather is little bit
foggy he orders recall" Besides, we
only have to drill two hours and half
a day anyway, and what does that
amount to?
AS for sickness, it is not so awfully
bad. The doctors have checked the
progress of typhoid fever. OF course
there are great many men who 60 on
the sick-book every morning who are all
right in every way, but by going on the
sick-book they get out of drill. That is
the reason that the companies have only
four sets of tours sometimes. AS for
eating, we have just all man can eat
and number of varieties also. We
don't eat pork, bread and beans every
meal, week in and week out. We have
most all kinds of vegetables, beef, rice
and on several occas ons the cook has
baked US peach pudding. And as for
the quantity of food, I haven't seen the
meal yet that did not get all l could
eat; and as you know | have an appetite
of the best.
l don't mean to say that the volunteers
who went south should not complain
for know nothing about how they were
treated. 1t seems by the papers that
they were treated like dogs, but accord
ing to some papers we were treated the
same out here. When we were camped
at Camp Merritt, when any soldier would
have been justified in complaining, there
was not murmur from any one. But
now We are encamped on side hill with
a beautiful view of the San Francisco
Bay with the mountains bounding it or
the north as far as the eye can see. W.
can go fishing or swimming, ride any
where we please on Uncle Sans tug
boats, can 60 across the bay and climt
the mountains, go out to the coast anC
watch the waves come in and pick W
shells, and in fact we can have most al
kinds of pleasure here. Still some com
plain. Of course camp life gets tiresomt
and some say, IF we could only ge
started to Manila we would be content,
but the same men will undoubtedly bt
the first who will want to come back il
we do 60.
There is great deal of complaint
made against the president also, for the
way the troops have been treated. II
the volunteers from the southern camps
have really been wronged 1 don't think
it is the fault of the president. For see
how quickly he appointed commission
to investigate the conduct of the war
A great many people did the president q
great injustice in the first place, and even
burned him in efiigy, because he did not
plunge the Nation into war sooner; end
now that they plunged themselves into
it, he has nearly gotten us out of il
already and we haven't been at war six