New Britain herald., 1916-07-10
NEW BRITAIN MEN
 SETTLED IN CAMP Wild Scramble for News from
 Home When Papers Arrive APPOINTMENTS ARE MADE
Only Excitement on Fourth of July Was Soldiers Trying to Do Their Own Washing-Company On Guard Last Night.

Own Washing-Company On
 Guard Last Night.
 Especial Correspondence by J. R.
 Conners.)
 NOgales, Arizona, July 4.-Today is the glorious Fourth and we are almost settled in our new quarters. Most of the boys are celebrating by writing letters home. To those of the boys who have been fortunate enough to get leave and have visited it, the town of Nogales looks pretty good. The Mexican side is a whole lot larger than the American side and only single street divides us from the "Greasers." "Roddy' Chamberlain Lowell Pickup and myself strolled about the town a bit yesterday, in fact, we strolled so far that the Mex ican sentry stopped us. The govern ment has certainly stationed the Connecticut boys as near the border as possible. The California and Utah troops have been sent to this station with the rest of us and with the whole gang here there ought to be enough for anything the MeHicans would care to send against us.
 Heralds Are Popular Here.
 Orders have been issued to the eff feet that drilling will begin in earnest tomorrow (July 5, today being a welcome day off in recognition of the national holiday. Everything is so sandy here that it will be a long time before the men get accustomed to the foot and a half of sand in which we have to pitch our tents. It is just like camping on a sandy beach, ex- cept that the sand is much finer and blows about like powder, choking person. Most of the men are com pletely covered with a white coating of this alkali dust all the time and despite frequent bathing it is almost impossible to keep perfectly clean. The rainy season is due to begin in few days and then, we are told by the regulars, we shall get showers every day. In view of this all men are spending spare moments in digging ditches outside of their tents to carry any surplus water away. The last ot the Connecticut troops dispatched from Mantle at the same time we were, arrived at Nogales this morning and joined our little colony of exiles.
  rived here was a bundle of Heralds and they were more than appreciated. It had been so long since we heard any news from home that it seemed al- most like meeting old friends to get hold of a home town paper.
 Expect to Stay at Nogales.
 Of course this home news set the boys to wondering about far off New l1r,- JNony -1T rY~- able talk today about how the folks back home are observing the day and wondering how each one of us would be spending it if we were freed from this alkali dust and given Walnut Hill park to roam in. Personally I think such a liberty is yet a long way off for it does not appear to me that we are to be sent away from here very soon. Although the crisis seems to have passed Uncle Sam is going to play 1t safe and we will possibly be here all summer or longer. If kept here long enough our rookie contln- gent will be quite a seasoned bunch Of campaigners by the time they get back to the Hardware City. Already most of us are getting complexions that would make an Indian turn green With envy.
 Private Walter Cook has Just re- ceived a number of hOtOgraphs talk en of Companies F and I as we were leaving New Britain and they are also receiving a lot of attention from the boys. Why everyone in the pictures takes on such a doleful expression Is more than I can understand for we are all coming back home again the better for the experience. Each and every one of us is sale and hearty with appetites that are just a little more than hearty. The cooks say they are abnormal. Everyone is on his best behaviour, too, and all along the line we are told that our battalion has an excellent repatution for good man nerS.
 Muster Role of Co. I.
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