Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1916-08-11
ASOLDIER'SLIFE
ON THE BORDER
Private Montague Says It is
More Like Picnic Than War
Food Is Good and Surround
ings Pleasant.
Brownsville. Tex. Aug.


Dear Editor-Your much appre-
ciated letter of July 9th. received,
and am glad to have the opportunity
to write you about the soldiers life
here on the Mexican border.
Perhaps you have read many and
various articles concerning what we
have had to undergo. Captain Figgat,
of the Roanoke company, wrote let
ter for his home paper which is one
of the truest articles | have seen. To
me, this is just like big camping
party, and the military discipline is
only useful physical exercise.
For the first two or three days af-
ter our arrival in Brownsville, there
was considerable grumbling among the
soldiers because they had to fix up the
camp instead of using their bayonets
on the Villa bandits. That feeling has
disappeared now and the men are
faithfully and chcrfully carrying on,
their duties. We have reve;'le ut $50
Il. M, followed by breakfast The lore
noon is utilized in drilling and taking
hikes. In the afternoon we have one
hour Of skirmiSh practice. Our supper
time is $3.50 %. M, Immediately fol
loved by retreat and sometimes pa
rade. 1t is always interesting to see
the regiments or parade.
There is very little activity between
the hours of noon and 4:20 p. m. This
is "the heat of the day." though 10 is
quite comfortable in the shade and in
the tents. 1t is treat to see the boys
amusing themselves after supper
when the days routine is over. They
play leap-frog and baseball, write let
ters, have boxing and wrestling mat
ches, and build pyramids. There are
several favorite quartets i'll the regi
ment, but since the coming of our Y
M. c. A. these rivals of the nightin-
gale go there TO sing.
Our religious services are held in
the Y. NJ. G. A. building and it is
also used as place for reading, writ
ing, and playing checkers.
Our camp is in an excellent ioca-
ton. We have shower baths, and in
our tents are cots, blanket, mosquito
nets and personal articles. 1t may
sound Il bit strange, but we have more
use for the blanket than for the mos
quito net. The food is all one could
wish for and is well prepared; Our
Captain went down to the Gulf last
Sunday and brough back five large
fish and two small ones. The five made
mess for the whole company. One
of them weighed AZ lbs. The two small
ones, being trout, were presented to
the colonel.
There are approximately $4,000 SOL
diers in the vicinity of Brownsville.
A new regiment comes in nearly every
week. One of the local bankers re-
marked this afternoon that the Vir-
ginia troops had given less trouble
to the town than any Of the others,
and that they seemed to be the most
contented. The native population is
mostly "greasers" and a few MeXi-
cans. They are very peaceful. The
Illinois Cavalry are the only troops
that have had any bandit skirmishes
since we have been here. One man
was wounded
No one knows when the militia will
return, but | do know that the govern
ment is still preparing us. This con-
sists of pontoon bridges, additional
supply depots, auto trucks, and the
location of pew camp sites. Several
shipments of horses have also been
sent in.
Now 1 am sure the good editor IS
anxious to know if / have seen any
alfalfa down here as good as his. Sad
to say, l have not. This looks like it
"NS a. iiiiS Souiliy uiIll Olu IoaCln
came along and put thorns on all the
bushes and cacti He likewise caused
horns to grow on the toads, and popu-
lated the land with scorpions and ta-
rantulas. One old timer told us the
people down here were so mean the
Lord wouldn't let it rain until us good
Virginians came along. This rain has
been great thing for the stock
raisers in central Texas | am sure
that if we had company here from
good old Tazewell, there would have
been flood But whatever the con-
ditions are here, hope you and your
people will continue to grow alfalfa,
and more alfalfa, to make more cat
tie and better cattle.
With kindest regards, / remain,
Sincerely yours,
JAMES l.. MONTAGUE,