Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-08-26
Nearly Everybody Takes {
Whack at 1t and Dashes
Off a Few Lines.
HIGH ALTITUDE BLAMED
FOR CONDITION OF MIND
Some Specimens Produced Showing
Trend Of Thought of District
Troops in Arizona.
BY J. CROSBY MCCARTHY,

Stau correspondence of The Star.
DISTRICT NATIONAL GUARD CAMP,
WARREN. Ariz. August 21.-This camp
is fairly oozing with poetry. The state
Of affairs has become most alarming.
Commanding officers are fearful lest
their men begin to cultivate long hair.
pale blue eyes and large flowing neck
ties such as poets in story books wear.
Hardly a day passes, but Hhat addi-
tional poets" spring into life. Men
who never paid moments notice to
poetry before starting to Arizona have
been seen to sneak up to their conn
rades with Just few lines that I
dashed off this morning" No one can
tell where the lightning will hit next.
Most of the poetry" that the camp
has produced is of the sing-song type
and loses it's beauty unless accompanied
with barber shop cords. Little Of it is
| in shape to be recited without trim
mings. A few variations from quar-
| tet helps out some of the lines that
don't exactly rhyme. Poetic license
| makes this possible.
Blame the High Altitude.
Some of the mlitiamen who have not
| yet been bitten by the poetry bug
say that the high altitude is the cause
of all the verse writing. Out in this
section everything that goes wrong is
blamed on the altitude if there is moth
ing else handy in ones mind. When
Cook Johnson of the Field Hospital
cooks the rice too much he says the a.
| titude was the cause of his failure. II
Bill Bright. cook at the Signal Corps
| camp, served rice that has not been
cooked enough he blames this state OF
affairs on the altitude
| But altitude certainly is not respon-
sible for all the poetry. that has beer
turned OUT by the guardsmen since
they left Washington. Take the case
less person than Sergt. Kelley. master
of the mess" at the camp of Battry b
Just about the time the Sergeant was
icrossing the Mississippi he was "strick-
piece of paper to 'jot down hi:
thoughts but locating none. borrowed
a file box from Corp. Mohler., batter.
| clerk, and wrote on the back or IL
When he reached Warren he copied hi:
verses on a piece of paper. He ha:
been asked to sing his poem before thu
knights of Columbus in Bisbee mex
Sunday night. Kelley sings his line:
to tune that he also originated. HI
lsays that no self-respectlng compose
| would steal a tune.
Friends of Sergt Kelley will have t.
wait until he returns to Washington i
they wish to near the tune, pul Hei
are the lines of his ''poem'
"I Don't Want to Go to Mexico"
! On the train I'm my way,
| am leaving home,
Uncle Sam. the grand old man,
| Says to Mexico.
| Greaser states they agitate
The questions Of our land.
So bye-bye, friends. one word l send,
It's me for Mexico.
| CHORUS.
I don't want to, l don't want to,
| Go to Mexico.
| I amt lost nothing in the Greaser states,
| So Uncle. send me home.
The q. s. A. looks good to me,
| In Gods land let me die,
| For villa and his band of buns
Some hemp will find tie.
Friends at home who care to roam.
| Retter stay in d. c.
| For border states are nothing Sreat,
There is nothing here to see,
| All the boys thrilled with JOY
With thoughts of home, sweet home,
| IT war is hell. am here to tell,
There is hell here to see.