The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1915-11-13

was placed in the royal British ar
tillery. When the Blacl. Watch as
the f~orty-second H~ignlanders are
known, needed experienced men to
handle quick firing guns, ne vas
transferred and it was with the
Black Watch he was killed. Sept. 90.
when the allies were making their
big drive.
Poe was born in Baltimore 40
years ago.. He won international
fame as a captain in the Honduras
army when with a handful of men
in a fort at Amalpa harbor. he OPP
ened fire on a Nicaraguan gunboat.
sending it scurrying away under the
impression that the Hondurans mad
a big force at the fort.
Poe spent several years at Tono-
pah and Goldfield during the boom
days, and later served on the Ne
vada state police force.
Poe left for Great Britain when
war was declared with the intent
of enlisting in the cavalry service.
but found little opportunity in that
line. so he joined the celebrated
Black Watch regiment of Scotland
and served with his company in
northern France until killed in &C
ton. He was a typical soldier of for
tune, having seen service in the Boer
wal and also in Central America.
He was an American by birth. but
engaged in these hazardous enter
prises merely for the love of excite
ment and adventure. He had also
punched cows on the plains of New
Mexico, and while there made many
friends, one of whom recently re-
ceived the following personal letter
from him, which appeared in the Sill
yer City Independent. which shows
Poe's humor in describing the hard
ships of soldering in the trenches:
Northern France. Aug. 8.
Dear Wayne. l received a letter
from you ages ago, and for not II
swering sooner like him of old, l
confess my fault and my sin is ever
before me.
| am no longer in the heavy ar
tillery. but have been transferred to
the Black Watch, the famous Scotch
infantry regiment of which you have
doubtless heard.
had a hell of a time the first
time | tried to get into my kilt, but
am slowly mastering its ~intricacies.
| wear less under it than the most
ultra dressed member of the demi
monde; in fact, nothing at all. and
while it is cool and ones legs feel
free. still the dust comes we'll up
above the knees.
The colOrs are blue. green and
black. but we wear a khaki apron
over it. The approved way of wrap
ping the kilt around N is to take a
deep breath and pull it tight around
you before sticking in the large pins.
understand there are seven yards
of cloth in it, which gives the YER
min a magnificent playground in
its multitudinous folds. What con-
tempt | used to have for a man who
allowed lice to get on him! But the
old saving. "to understand all, is to
forgive ALL" ONE true in this case.
Water for washing purposes is
I scarce in the trenches and has
to sleep in barns and dugouts which
are full of vermin.
remember hearing of a ranch In
the west where every new cowboy
was asked before being told where to
sleep: Buggy or not buggy" Ii
clean he was not put in a vermin-
blankets but if not, he was placed
in a spot where the insects held full
sway.
Are you interested in this disser-
tation of mine about the soldiers
friends? | call them SO. because
they keep one from thinking Of
greater or lesser troubles. You
know the story about Jack Simpsons
singing. He sang so badly that one
fellow said he liked to hear him sing,
as one could not think of his or
binary troubles when hit in the head
with a piece of 2x4.
l did not care for the heavy artil-
lery, but do like the Black Watch
though | find the broad Scotch diff
ficult to understand. The Black
Watch made a fine charge on May
8, carrying a trench after several
other regiments had failed to so
| was not in the battalion then, so
what Ahab. king of Israel said unto
Ben Hadab, king of Assyria, applies
to my case.
My part in this war has been to
listen to the German heavy shells
coming toward one like an express
train, and hoping they would not
get me. Last October and November,
at Ypres, is where they came the
most frequent. Shrapnel breaking
near one is damned unpleasant, with