The Dickinson press., 1916-09-30
Latest Deus
from Border

Another week has passed and W.
have not even thought of breaking
camp for a journey homeward, al.
though rumors have been floating
about wild as ever Each day someone
tries to spring one that will cause
the soldier body to sit up and listen
and it has to be a good n to ever
cause a loafing soldier to listen nov
aday. Had some Of these predictions
come to pass we would have visited
about every large town in Texas, ano
would have been up and down the
entire border at least twice, to say
nothing of the exhibition drills to
have been pulled off in the large
cities of the country. In reality the
city of Mercedes is the only Texas
city visited; the border patrolling has
all been done right in the vicinity
of u camp; and the exhibition drills
took place last Monday on QUIZ drill
grounds.
The work of last Monday was COM
petitive drill to choose the best COM
pany in. the regiment. In the morn
ing each company took part so as to
choose the best company in each of
the three battalions. Each company
was inspected; drilled in the manual
of arms, manual of bayonet, close and
extended order. This took n hour.
The Majors, assisted by their adju-
tants, picked the. winning company.
In the first battalion the winning com
pany was Company B of Fargo. The
second battalion was represented by
Company K. The third battalion was
closely contested, with Co. D winning:
out. In the draw for the afternoon
work Captain Barker drew the slip
giving us the first hour in the after
moons contest for first place in the
regiment. The points for perfection
were as follows: Appearance, 2;
manual of arms, 2; manual of the
bayonet, l; close order drill, 3; ex-
tended order, 2, totaling 10 points.
The result of the work of the three
companies caused the judges of the
afternoon, Colonel Frame, Col. Graf
ton, Capt: Henry and Lieut.. Duckstad,
to rank the companies thus, Company
B first with 8.85 points; Company D
second with 8.175 points and Company
K third with 7.9 points. The boys
did we'll in the work of both the
morning and the afternoon. They
certainly did work hard and had all
things been balanced K would have
landed the first place. The best work,
all things considered, was done by Co.
B, and they justly deserved the credit
for their fine performance. They will
show how the North Dakota prize
company stacks up with the best in
this section, when all the chosen COM
panies gather at Llano Grande this
evening.
During the week we have had sew
efal Regimental maneuvers, all COM
panies but the guard company taking
part. In these maneuvers a squad
has been taken to out line, the po-
sition Of a supposed enemy, with the
regiment making the attack. The
march on Tuesday to the place Of
combat was about three and a half
miles. It was a rather warm day,
and the march home after the battle
was quite fatiguing. That night we
again took II turn at guard duty
and enjoyed our stay in camp the
next day with the entire regiment as
it rained much of the morning fol-
lowing. Thursday was another day
Of rest on account of rain. We have
come to the conclusion that those who
said that it did not rain in Texas
I.told US something besides the truth.
| On Friday we had a delightfully."- cool
march to battle again with the imagi-
nary enemy. This affair was very
much enjoyed by all. The march was
not long, and very little advancing
was done upon the enemy. According
to the rules we were forced to with
draw from the position which we had
and take up new positions near the
city of Mercedes. AS it was dinner
time we were willing to return to
camp without a few thousand prison
ers.
Yesterday Saturday was a day Of
days. The entire regiment stood an
inspection which was a real one.
Each battalion loaded their combat
and baggage wagons, and marched to
the drill with entire field equipment.
Each battalion was inspected by a
separate regular army officer. The
guns were inspected first. The men
in each company took their proper
interval, opened their packs and dis
played contents Of packs, haversacks,
also intrenching tools, bayonet and
first aid packets. All the equipment
for field service was carefully ex-
amined. This inspection was fol-
flowed by company, battalion and regi-
mental drills. In the afternoon the
paper work of the company was care
fully looked over and checked. All
the officers of the regiment heaved a
sigh of relief when they turned into
bed that night. We think we made a
fine get away and hope to top the
best in this district.
Today Sunday was a day of
dolling up and the way fellows
put on their new buds would cause
almost any fair ~senorita to sit up and
take notice. More church services
were attended than any time since we
hit the burg. The boys have their
new hats with the bright blue cords,
corset fitting coats with white starch
collars peeking over the collar tops,
breeches with the half and full Eng
fish, leggins which cling snugly to the
well shaped calves, and shoes that