Iditarod pioneer., 1915-12-04
FAMOUS FOOTBALL PLAYER
 SERVING WITH BLACK WATCH

The author of the letter printed below IS one of family of six brothers, all famous football players at Princeton Johnny Poe was perhaps the star of the family, and i'll his day Was the best half in the country. During th2 Spanish-Amcrican war he served as an enlisted man in the Fifth Maryland, and subsequently, put in three years ln the Twenty United States infantry through the early days of the Philippines nSurrcc- tion At the time of the Panama excitement he enlisted in the marine corps and after | few months WAS discharged as d sergeant. He served in the last Honduras revolution as a captain of artillery, and also put in short service with the Kentucky militia dur ing one of the unpleasant moments nj Breathitt county. He at one time declined commission in the regular army During one summer h" served on the Alaska boundary commission under Thomas Riggs, now member of the Alaska engineering commission, who el>o comes of family famous in Princeton football history The letter is written to Scott Bu.htt oi Louis vile, and is reproduced from Louisville newspaper:
 Northern France Aug. 6.-Dear Scott: l received a letter from you ages ago, and for not answering sooner, like him of old, ! ''confess my fault and my sin is ever be fore me-
 ri ElIt have been transferred to the Black Watch, the famous Scotch infantry regiment, Of which you have doubtless heard.
 l had hell of time the first time tried to get into my kilt but am slowly mastering its lntrcaclc5. 1 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 well up above the knees.
 The colors are blue green and black, but we wear khaki apron over it. The ap- proved way of wrapping the kilt around one is to take a deep breath and pull it tight around you before sticking ID the large pms.
 l understand there are about seven yards of cloth in it, which gives the vernin q magnificent playground ln its mulutuGI- nous folds What contemDt 1 used to have fer a man who allowed lice to get on him. But the old say.ng Ito understand al Is tu forgive all comes to me in ta.s case
 W ater fer washing purposes k scarce n the trenches, and one has to sleep in barns and Gugouts which are it'll of vermin. remember hearing of d ranch in the West where every new cowboy was asked | before being tcld where to sleep, Buggy or not buggy!' If clean he was not put in t yermin-iHfc>ted Ilacp, or given nhao.eo blankets, but if not, he vas placed in 4 spot where the insects h,II full sway.
 Are you interested ln this dissertation cf mine about the "sCllier>' friends 1 Cal! them so because they keep one from think ing of greater or lesser troubles. You know the story about Jack Simpsons singing. H. sang so badly that one fellow said he liked to hear him sing, aS one could not think of his ordinary troubles when hit in the head with a piece Of 2X4
 l did not care for the heavy artillery, but Go Ike the Black Watch, though l find the broad Scotch difficult to understand. The Black W latch made a fine charge on May 9, carrying a trench after several other regiments had failed to Co so. The plpers played The Highland Laiha.' l was not in the battalion then, so Wha, Ahao king of I~r1el. said unto Ben Hadad, king of AssyrIa, applies in my case.
 My part in this war has been to listen to the German heavy shells coming toward one ike an express train, and hoping they woull not get me. Last October and No 1 vci.ber, at lpres Is where they came the most frequent. Shrapnel breaking near one iS - unpleasant, with the bullets and pieces Of shell dropping through the limbs and leaves of trees, One g9oI thing shrap- nI did me however, was to kill a horse ! hated 90 that l couli almost have killed 1 him myself several times. wa, net riding i him at the time, but had him tied tc tree while l was in Bel l.an garden search ing for vegetables with Whleh to make stew. I did net even have to help bury him. as We put him in large hole made by a German shell.
 Pardon this blurring, but l am writing in the open, and occasionally bit oI ram | drops on the paper.
 1 Enough of war and rumors of war ex- ce9t 10 say that l am well enough satisfied, and would not care to go back to the strong arm work again, which makes one as broad as two pick handles across the shoulders, but as Rarrow as an eye of needle between the eyes,
 Blair has closed down, but Goldheld is still running, so possibly may still have to strike for job in the mine at $4 per
 Garibaldi now has a chance to fight for his beloved Italy, after fighting in Venezuela and Mexico l worked with a man in Blair who knew him in Chihuahua, Mexico. This man told me that Garibadi had said he was fighting for the Maderistas in oro' to keep his hand in should Italy ever need aLm. I was also told that in Venezuela he was captured once and chained to rock.
 Some of these French towns where the fighting has been from house to house, and where artillery has also played on them are certainly cut to pieces. But doubtless you know as much about the war as l do.
 At reveille the pipers often play "Johnnv Cope" Wasn't that the tune the Highland CTS charged to at killiecranke in 17l5, when they overwhelmed the English? The