The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1916-11-10
Boys In Camp sAre Having
Time Of Their Lives
SAID BY PHIL COMsT0CK
Sergeant of Company H Tells
The Free Press All About
Conditions
From Saturdays Daily.

From Saturdays Daily.
Boys of Company Fl in camp at
Laano Grande, Texas, are f1%ourishing
physically, and are well cared for and
happy, though they are tired of camp
life, according to the report of Phillip
f. Comstock. first sergeant of the
company, who is in Mankato on a
twenty-day furlough. Sergeant Com
stock will go back to Texas, unless
the company is given orders to move
north, before the furlough expires.
There is a lot of talk among the
boys about coming back here" said
the sergeant today. "The boys are
anxious to get back. They have had
about four months of the routine
army training now and they are rath-
er tired Of the camp life. Many say
they wish they could go home or go
down into Mexico. I believe they
have learned about as much about the
camp life as they would know if they
stayed six months longer.
Delayed BY Accident.
"On my way home on the M. K. T.
line last Tuesday afternoon at about
one O'Clock, our train was delayed by
an accident about fifteen miles south
of Smithsville, Texas. A freight
train was coming down grade and
broke in two. The engineer slowed
up and let the detached cars catch up,
but the conductor and others did not
turn the brakes fast enough, and the
back end bumped into the last car of
the front end of the train in such
a way that the two colliding, cars tel
escoped, and the conductor fell among
the wreckage. His left leg was
crushed above, the knee. A fierce
fire broke out fed Largely by the large
quantity of sulphur that the train was
carrying and the conductor was res
cued from the flames by the stock
men. First aid was given to the in
jured man by the steward of our
dining car, but it was not until eight
hours afterwards that he was finally
given actual medical attention at
Temple, Tex.
The Texas Law.
This accident delayed US four
hours. In Texas there is a law that
prevents a train that is more than
thirty minutes late from running on
its regular schedule. 1t must wait
and take the schedule of the next
train. The result was that I lost
twelve. hours in all.
The state of Texas is very pros
porous this year by reason of the
heavy cotton crop and the big price.
The price, IS and 10 cents a pound, is
better than has been obtained for
years. At almost every station you
see the cotton piled up on the plat
forms and around the warehouses.
Weather is Ideal.
"The Texas weather has been ideal.
During the day it has been getting as
hot as seventy to eighty, and during
the night it cools off. 1t has never
been so hot at night that we were not
able to sleep. About four o'clock each
afternoon we begin to feel the breezes
from the gulf. The boys now need
two blankets at night.
The troops are now taking combat
and field exercises. They have made
some trenches and have been trained
In other military work of like charac-
ter. -,
1--WE take ankle every Friday.
twelve to twenty miles. For the last
SIX weeks we have not lost a man
on any of u hikes. The boys are
certainly in the pink of condition.
There is not a man in the company
who is not ready to admit that he
is in better health than he was before
going to Texas.
Praise For Captain Scott.
The men of Company H were very
sorry to lose Captain Scott. HE was
oneof the most able and efficient Of
f1cers in the regiment. His farsight-
edness saved the boys a great deal
OF trouble in the early days of the
service.
Lieutenant Herbert Hauck has
been in command Of the company
since Captain Scott left. Captain
Donald F. Mackenzie of Faribault
has been appointed over our COM
pany. The men feel that Lieutenant
Hauck was entitled to a promotion
to the captaincy. The boys would
have elected him if that had been
n way of choosing a captain in the
service. Lieutenant Hauck is an eff
cient officer and has had eleven
years of service.
The troops are all well clothed
and well supplied with excellent vic
tuals."
Three, Autos Stolen.
The police were today notified of
the thefts of three more automobiles.
a Hudson from Waterloo, Iowa, a
Buick from Minneapolis and a Chalm-
ers from Detroit.
E-Hr#.