El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-18
MANY HARDSHIPS IN
GUARDING BORDER
Continued from Page one).

or near a hospital In the towns where
the Mexican settlements are close by,
the water is usually procured from
some shallow well that is in much
danger of contamination, owing to the
lack of sanitary precautions on the
part Of the natives.
How Soldiers Eat.
In regions where there Is necessity
for undue activity, as in the vicinity
Of the larger border towns, many of
the squads, being close together, COM
bine IN a company mess and cook in
some shed or under a bridge, where
they have tolerab1y fair protection
from the dust and dirt that blow with
every wind-at times the men have
to walk a mile to reach their meals
but out in the open country where
the cavalry must ride for great dis
tances and where 1t is not possible to
keep the detachments encamped close
to each other, each little squad has
to do its own cooking And some of
these squads are located as far as 125
miles from a railroad, especially those
along the Rio Grande east Of Ell Paso
and south Of the Southern Pacific rail-
road in the country called the Big
Bend" Food and even hay for the
horses must be transported by wagon
and the contract price is four cents
!
the wagons fail to arrive on time, men
and horses must wait; the only sub
sistence the country affords is goats
and occa sionally beef, but soldiers in
the field in small squads cannot con-
sumo a beef and, besides they have
no authority to buy one. The cooking
must be done in the open, under the
shelter Of a mesquite or a tornilIo tree.
and boiling is about the only method
~ win ola -
the commands have field ovens for
baking.
The cold Timer
To the old timer who fought indians
and often had nothing to eat, this
duty is not considered hard, for there
is in the present instance no fighting
he would say, to add to the discom-
forts. but the youngsters declare that
a fight once in awhile to add diversion
to monotonous life would be a relief.
There are few "old timers" in the army
now as ''old timers were considered
a few years ago. There are very few
were there before the Spanish Ameri-
can war, and a man with a sergeant's
stripes who has been in the service 10
years or more is a rarity these days,
whereas a few years ago. few men wore
the stripes OF a corporal with length
Of service under five or six years The
"old times" have gone out many Of
them have retired on two-thirds pay
many have gone into civilian positions
in the Philippines, some Of the best
of them have been made officers in
the Philippine constabulary, a number
have received commissions in the regu-
lar army, and in many other ways, they
have disappeared from the ranks of
the fighting force The army Of to-
day is made up Of new men, but the
discipline Is good and the personnel is
undoubtedly higher than it ever was
C1ean-cut young men athletic looking
and intelligent, make up the majority
Of the fighting strength Of the army
1.-The grizzled sergeant" is misnoner;
the sergeant OF today is young man
i'm the majority of cases-and he
comes nearer emulating the type of
men who wear the shoulder straps than
the type that formerly wore the cheV-
rons and had to have company clerk
make out his papers. The old sergeant
held his position as Ebert Hubbard
says, because he could whip any man
in the company" the new sergeant
because of capacity as q commander.
The army pays better then ever; It
offers inducements for advancement
more rapidly and there are so many
more positions of Importance and good
who is attentive to duty, that a differ
ent class of men is attracted. This is
not in disparagement to the sergeant
OF the old school; conditions have
merely changed in the army as in
every walk Of life. The newspaper man
who thought he had to be tipsy before
he could write good story in the old
days, now Ilnds no place in the office
Of the modern paper; the railroad SUI
perintendent who got to the top from
section foreman because he could whip
more men into submission is now re-
placed by the young man with an edu-
cation who shows that he can handle
men without the command Of brute
force. It is the same in the army, and
these new soldiers Of the United States,
many of them getting their first taste
of active service, are undergoing many
hardships because of the friendliness
Of their government for another re.
public
Harder Than Actual War
The services these border guardians |
are performing are harder than they |
would be called upon to perform in |
case of actual warfare for in a war !
great body OF men moves at one time,