Evening star., 1914-05-18
JOBAT VERA CRUZ
NO Joke TO ARMY
The Men Take Their Work
Seriously and Pay Atten-
ton to Business.
STAND DREARY OUTPOSTS
UNDER A BROILING SUN
Ready and Anxious to Fight, But
Perform Monotonous Routine
Uncomplainingly.
BY wINGRovE BATHoN,
stafr Correspondent of The Star.

HEADQUARTERS. UNITED STATES
FORCES, VERA
CRUZ, Mexico. May (by mail steam
er).-Now that the curtain has fallen
on what Is being called in Vera Cruz
ACT /: The Navy" the dramatic pos
sibilities of the situation here as con-
Germs the army are exciting the princi-
pal interest and attention Of the on
lockers. When the story came today
from Ell Tejar that Mexican federal
officer had demanded the surrender OF
the waterworks there from Maj. Russell.
in command of the Marine Corps de-
tachment guarding that point. there was
great hope among all the army troops
stationed here. as well as the Marine
Corps forces. that 1t was the first sign
Of fighting on the part OF the Mas
troops scattered about this country. In
vestigation showed. however. as Gen.
Funston said to the correspondent Of
The Star. that the waterworks affair
was comic opera incident"
This remark has given rise in Vera
Cruz to lot Of talk about Act l" and
among the troops here, for If there ever
was work anywhere to do that is not
comic OPERA that work is here, now.
This Is now the CITY of Hot Air." in
"A
mark, is passed from mouth to mouth.
and an unintentional comment is soon
twisted to be statement of fact, of
criticism. Because of the tropical sun.
the lack of Ice the nervous tension
grows greater and greater in the city
as we'll as out among the outposts.
Army There for Business.
If there is anything in the nature of
comic opera" about these days in Vera
Cruz. to the business-like troops now
quartered here. 1000 Of them in all,
many of them veterans from the Philip
pines. it is hard to find. officers as
we'll as MEN are willing to laugh once
about such incidents as that of the de-
mand on the detachment guarding the
waterworks at Ell Tejar, but 1t is not
great joke. None of this work is, for
the army. Jack Ashore" was on
picnic. He always is when he gets away
from his ship. But the army is here
for business.
One watches the silent sentries.
treading their lonely beats at night
in the city, and again. in the day
time. as one makes the rounds of the
outposts there are other sentries to
be seen, lying in trenches with such
covering as may be found partly to
screen them from the heat, others
perched upon the sandhills, on guard.
drinking warm water from canteens
that contain fluid more precious,
the hotter and less in quantity it
grows. than anything Ponce de Leon
ever dreamed of. There is nothing
of comic opera" in this.
These veterans of the Philippines.
however, are uncomplaining. It is a
routine. thing to be done. that they
do. and they perform this duty very
much as the inelegant but faithful
army mule performs the thing he has
to do. In other words, they are
trained men.
Saw Service in Philippines.
All of the older officers among the
infantry on duty in Vera Cruz now
saw duty in the Philippines. especially
those of the 5th Brigade. The four
regiments of this brigade saw service
there-the 4th, 7th, the 9th and the
2Sth
duty in Vera Cruz and at the out
posts surrounding the city is as fol-
lows:
Two batteries of the 4th Field Ar
tillery (mountain guns); Company E,
engineers: Troops I and +. 9Th Cav
of the 4th, 7th, 18th and 2Sth. amount
ing to 1000 men. and the 1st Brigade
of marines, consisting of the 1st Regi
ment and the I'd Regiment. numbering
5000 men, making a total of 1000
men ashore.
report. and tonight the warships in
the harbor are to land on the beach"
as the wharves and docks are called by
naval men, fifteen field pieces from the
different battleships for use in case
of emergency. Col. ANord. chief of