Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-01-08


retired as soon as relieved from guard
and did not rise until o'clock, which is
about an hour after .'reveille,s the first
call of the day we had real nice rain
here Christmas Eve, but it was short and
sweet, as all showers are In this part of
the world. / was sitting in the Wash
ington Cafe taking glass of lemonade
or limeade, which is a popular drink here.
and outside 1t was raining buckets" when
l saw naval officer come in the door to
escape the drenching weather The Off
GER whom I recognized 70 be captain,
wished to be directed to the house of the
colonel Well. I gave him my gum coat,
called poncho, and accompanied him to
his destination. Capt. Mckenzie. COM
mander of the Mayffower, as it proved to
be, became very talkative on the way;
invited me to call on him aboard his ship,
and was very profuse in his thanks when
/ left him in the house of Col ]. S. Pet
tit. The captains kind invitation have
not found convenient to accept, owing to
my duties and the inconvenient way of
reaching his boat.
Christmas coming on Sunday, Monday
was also observed here as a regular hol-
iday, all duties being dispensed with ex-
cept roll calls at reveille and tattoo; also
the guard mount at 3 a. m. As soon as
got up Christmas morning I ate break
fast, consisting of beef steak, gravy. po-
toes bread and coffee. I then shouldered
my B-calibre Remington carbine, filled
my Spanish belt with cartridges and START
ed for the Yara river along with Private
John Rock, of our company. A large
number of our boys had preceded us on
their way to the river to take a swim
How does that sound to you in Wheeling.
where the weather is ''muy frio," as the
Cubans say? Returning to my narrative
we joined the boys and had a fine fresh
water bath, fired considerable ammuni-
ton, but did n0 get anything fit to eat.
refreshed by our bath, we sat down to
an excellent dinner, but or course 1t was
not like being at home, where no Christ
mas dinner is complete without turkey
and cranberry sauce. but here the above
named dishes We're conspicuous for their
absence, as the turkeys failed to come
as ordered. 1t may interest you to know
on what we fed Christmas dinner. AS
near as can remember, the menu was as
follows: Roast fresh beef, fish, mashed
potatoes peas, corn. lettuce, oranges.
small cakes, coffee with sugar and milk
pies, apple and peach. and jelly roll
You can see by perusing the above that
we did not fare so bad as it could have
been. though in a strange country Yes
terday CTuesday) afternoon a base bali
team from the regiment defeated a team
from the Mayflower by a score of % to TO-
The game was played down in the city and
was largely attended. both by sailors, sol
diers and Cubans. Everybody turned out
to the game. Colonel Petit Lieut. Col.
Cole and other officers of the regiment;
also Capt. Mckenzie and naval officers
from the Mayfower. 1t was strange
and novel sight to see an American ball
game played by Americans in a foreign
land. The sailor boys were not Sin it"
from start to finish The players were
divided among the seven companies here
in the city, one being from our company,
Private Morris, who played 1st base for
our team.
The mail boat comes in tomorrow and
/ will try to get this letter of and send
1t to Wheeling by way of Cienfueg;os,
Havana and New York
AIT present writing we only have one
man in the hospital. Private Bauer, who
has some sort of a fever. but does aot
appear 70 be III any immaculate QdHSSF.
Lieut. Huseman has been discharged from
the hospital and is now able to be about
and attend to his duties, but is looking thin
and pale. but is rapidly picking up
strength once more. The Red Cross, So
ciety sent several boxes to the regiment,
containing Christmas presents for the
soldier boys. Our company received so far
a part of their share, and my lot up to
date has been a fine comb. handkerchief
and several belly bands, which will make
good gun rags, as I think they are super
fiuous though / heard Huseman say he
had never been without one since on the
island We are now having a short after
noon drill from 3:45 to 4:30, which has up
to date consisted of bayonet exercises.
Oh, yes: I received a silver match box
engraved with my initials from a Pitts
burg girl. How is that for high? 1t
seems as if I have some friends outside
Of Wheeling. ] read the newspaper clip
pings enclosed in your last letter ana re-
garding the two weddings / will only
say that | knew all the contracting par
ties and We're intimately acquainted with
them. There seems to have been a sort of
matrimonial fever in Wheeling during the
present winter. Well, may they all be-
happy and prosper.
We are daily expecting several troops
of u s cavalry on a transport, but they
have not arrived as yet. The weather is
warm as usual but a shower tonight
cooled the air.