The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1898-12-23
Litchfeld County.
WASHINGTON.
HOME FROM PORTO RICO.

HOME FROM PORTO RICO.
Ben Foulois, member Of the LIST regi.
ment volunteer engineers, left Porto Rico
with his regiment on November II, ar.
irving in New York on Thanksgiving
day. His regiment went down 12OC
strong but came back with only 800 men
When he left there the thermometer
ranged above 100, and in New York they
were greeted by raging snow storm.
Mr. Foulois has furlough of two months
which will expire on January %. The
regiment to which Mr. Foulois belonged
arrived in Porto Rico on August Is, and
while there was a great amount of sick.
ness, he escaped it by good care and a
iudlcious use of quinine. He expresses
himself as greatly pleased with the new
possessions of Uncle Sam. He enjoys
army life 80 well that he plans to study
for entrance to West Point. Mr. Foulois
letters to Washington friends, which ap.
peared in The BEE, were enjoyed &c
much, that another is given, written un-
der date of October 80, as follows:
You can understand tina, a sol.
der never burdens himself with
unnecessary things, and after we
have been on march, l have often
thought that q pencil was heavy enough.
L have learned great deal in regard to
military ways, and it will always be OF
use to me in after life. You probably
from Ia ha. kna ;,tx
ness we have had down here. Well, il
was just as bad as the papers gave it.
Ii was an every day sight to see two OF
three wagons going along with q squad
of soldiers behind them marching to the
Soldiers cemetery. OF all the regiments
on the island, our regiment was in the
best condition, land even then we had over
400 of our men sick. But very few died.
One reason why our company has kept
80 well, is because we have been detach.
ed from the rest Of the regiment. About
two weeks otter we landed, an order
came from Gen Wilson to our colonel
for one company to act as his escort. We
had the reputation of being the best
drilled company in the regiment and also
the best disciplined, so the colonel picked
our company out, and ordered our captain
co report to Gen Wilson's headquarters,
about four miles northeast of Ponce
We are still detached, although the head
quarters have been moved into Ponce,
since the quarantine has been raised. We
have one Of the finest camps on the
island. 1t is situated On rather high
ground, and on one side is a small brook
1t has habit of flooding its banks about
once week, and makes things unpleas.
ant for as. never saw water rise and
fall so quickly as it does here. About q
week ago we had heavy storm here. Ii
mad been raining all day, and that brook
raised 10 feet in as many minutes. The
reason for these sudden risIngs is range
OF mountains about half mile from our
camp, and they catch nearly all the
heavy storms that come along. They
come along pretty often too, and the
mountains don't catch all of them either.
We have had more than one tent blown
inside out by the storms. The tents thai
we have now would make first-class
sleeves. That is part Of the black side
of'the island. Now we will try the othe,
side. The scenery is fine, and the sun.
rises and sunsets. Well, they are some
thing shall never forget. L don't be-
lieve that any artist could paint the sum
sets they have here, and you could never
realize how beautiful they are until you
had seen them. l haven't had much OF
chance to see the island, except eight
or 10 miles around our camp and around
Ponce. Although did have the good
fortune to 60 with Adj5 Gen Gardiner, of
Gen Wilson's staff, to a town about 80
miles from camp, where we elected a ne "
mayor, but you probably read about that
In one of my letters to my mother. Well
can think of nothing else. Yes, can
too! And it ia pretty important, too
We expect 70 be on our way home in
about 10 days, SO perhaps by the time
this letter reaches you, we may be on
our way home. There is only one regi-
ment to leave ahead OF us, and that ia the
lst Kentucky. The boys are all just era.
zy to get back, and don't blame them.
This is not the healthiest place on earth.
l don't believe you will know me when
get back. Well, will close now, thank-
ing you very much for writing, as letter
from home is one of the best things that
a soldier likes to receive.-CB. D. Foulois,
Ponce, Porto Rico, October 80, 1898.