The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1916-07-20
ANOTHER SOLDIER BOY.
Howard N. HOke, Company B, Engineer
Battalion, Writes from Fl PaSO,
Texas, Under Date, July 7th.

The following taken from a
letter from Howard N. Hoke, a
son of Mr.. and Mrs. Will E. Hoke,
former residents of Ayr town
ship, to his cousin Josephine Run
yan, will be read with interest by
Howard's Fulton County friends
and by others interested in the
boys down on the frontier. How
ard says:
well, we are here on the bor-
der ready to cross the Rio Grande
into Mexico at a moments no.
tice. 1t looks now like Mexico
was going to back down, and we
will be called upon to clean up
the country for Carranza if we
go in at all. want to go in to
fight; for, in my estimation we
will have the fighting to do SOON
er or later, and-'why not now?
1T is an awful country down
here-all sand as far as the eye
can see-no vegetation except the
cactus, and a few other thorn
bearing plants. And, talk about
it's being hotl Howly Moses!
About a hundred in the shade.
The only thing that saves at all,
is the cool breeze that finds its
way up from the Gulf, and the
fact that we are at an altitude of
100 feet above sea level-almost
as high as your Cove mountain.
Then, too, we have no humidity.
When we are exposed to the sun,
it seems just like we were stand
ing by a hot fire. It's necessary
for US to keep a wet cloth in our
hats. 1t is only when we are in
the shade that we get the cooling
effect of the air. At night it is
so cool that we are glad to sleep
under a blanket.
Il am with Company B, Engi-
neers Battalion, N. G. us, and
we are very proud of ourselves,
as the War Department has CIV
en- US first place among the En-
gineering Companies of the mil
itia. Pennsylvania has two COM
panies of Engineers-A, of Scran-
ton; B, of Philadelphia. Our
company has SO enlisted men,
and ours was the only company
in Pennsylvania counting all
classes of the service-that didn't
have a man turned down when
we passed the examination for
service.
I'VE spent five days and nights
in transit from Mt. Gretna to Ell
Paso, and we were a tired bunch
when we reached our destination.
There are now thousands of
troops encamped here. Separat-
ing our camp from the Rio Grande
is a sand hill which protects US
from the fire of snipers on the
Mexican border. On the whole,
we are very comfortable. Of
course, there are a few things
we have to depend upon our pa
trlotic friends at home for. Army
rations may be all right from a
scientific standpoint, but when a
soldier sits down to his mess, he |
misses a lot of appetizing things !
he was accustomed to find on |
mothers table. We are not al |
lowed outside Of camp to get any |
extra eats, or tobacco, cigar
cites, soap, stationery, tooth
powder, etc, some, or all, of
which articles, most soldier boys
need.
Nov, if there is any one in
dear old McConnellsburg that
wants to do something for any of |
the boys and will send it to me, |
| will see that it gets to it's prop
er destination. Even a penny |
box Of matches is a fortune down
here. Newspapers sell for five
cents a piece, and when it is con-
sidered that we have but fifty
cents a day as a wage income, it
behooyes us to think twice before
we decide to be lavish in our
In conclusion, permit me to
say that there is one thing that
always looks good to a boy in
camp; that is, a letter from any
of the home friends. My ad- I
dress is,