Little Falls herald., 1898-08-05
Corporal Van REaAE WEitae
On the Situation.
There.
new: 1ElEPBoIE SYSIEI
Work Begun on the I4Dng
Pro1nised Central .Eale-
" phone Exchange.

likely any Minnesots troops eiA go
to Porto Rico
Camp Thomas, Ga.. guly ~, Gea.sse'.
EMToR HERALB:
The Fourteenth Minnesota iis On
the eve Of it's departure from Chick :.
amauga Park. The regiment will
break camp by ReKt Saturday ln ann-
ing. The boys are all anxious to @e
to the front and there neHer will he e,
happier or healthier set of men GO to
the front than the boys Of the -Four
teenth.
Everything is in readiness, :sond ;ali
that remains to be done Ss to Pack
the large tents. which will he stared
away until the tsegT meut RETURNS so
the United States. T'ke regiment
will march from here TO Ringgsld,
Ga, a distance Of tea miles, wkeEe
trains will be takento Newport News.
From there We will 60 aboard the
transports, bound fer Porto Rieo-.
The regiment is Cow supplied mittt7sss,a
the old Springfield rife, but before
the start is made each nan viii be
equipped with ore tsf the new Erag~
Jorgensen carbines~
The regiment is Row fully eg napped
and travelling cations and large
boxes Of ammunitioR are pAed in the
-quartermaster' department Waiting
to be issued to the naep.
There are about 6fty 9nen ia 6he
regiment who have done ver5 4ittae'
drilling since camp has been esta@-!
lished on account Of peer keaitk Ind
those that can be cured win either be
sent to LETTER hospital or Fort
Thomas, Ky., &nd those that the
doctors will not be able to cure with
out much trouble and expense will.
be given discharges and sent to their
homes in Minnes0ta. !
We are compelled to carry On our:
back y shelter tent, rubber poaehos
I Woolen blanket, tent stakes, pair
of socks and soap and towels, be-
sides a canteen for wate- and a
haversack in whick we carry osfr
dishes and rations.
The health OF the regiments good,
there being less than 30 naen In the
hospital, and the majority sre sick
with the malarial fever.
The most disagreeable thing about
camp life at this time is the rain. it
has been raining here for the last
two weeks, and we have been forced
to keep to our tents for the last "a
hours, only going out to get our
meals, which have been from two to
three hours late. 1t is almost i'm
possible for the cooks to keep the
fires going. The drills have all been
broken up, on account Of the rain.
Our tents have become old and
leaky and when it rains We geRer ally
get a wetting even if we stay inside.
Col. Van Duzee has purchased a
half interest in q bath house abe ut
half a mile from camp and We are
allowed to take a bath every other r
dav. ~--.
The behavior of the men Of the
Fourteenth has been very good.
There are only II men confned ia
the regimentai guard house, and
most of these are in for neglect of
duty while on guard. . +.
As for myself, l have not: seen .
sick day since I enlisted 4 nom
commissioned officers duty is lig At.
He is exempt from doing guard duty,
except as the corporal Of the guard,
and from carrying water: cleaning
the streets, chopping wood, working
in the cook shanty and all fatigue
duty, / like army life fairly veil, bat
atthe present writing have no idea
Of re-enlisting when ny two years
are up.
We expect to have another pay
day in . couple of days.
Weare given lessons eyesy d i