The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-19

washington, May 1S-EF1VaIS lGt-
 lers and reports from the army ir
 Mexico are beginning to arrive iE
 Washington in sufficient numbers te
 HGord a connected narrative of lin
 aide facts" relative to the experiences
 Sf the American punitive expedition
 r-sS7=a docunaeZts have not been con-
 Bored- They are bristiing with detail
 rS humaL~ interest The self-sacrthce
 9&d devothaa to duty exhibited by the
 EsrnsT under Ehc most adverse circun-
 ~-r=nces are s4t forth as a, mere mat
 ter~of days work. Downright hu-
 nor pervades every letter, and yet,
 underneath it all is a. serious strain
 of observation and deduction which,
 on the whole bodes no good for thOSe
 who oppose the American army, once
 the leash is leosened- A connected
 narrative formed from these docu-
 naents presents the following:
 When the flying columns of cavalry under Colonels Dodd, Howze and Brown left the border they carried with them rations for only two or three days They were out of phy- sieal touch with the main supporting body from Columbus, N. M., but were subsequently picked up by the scouts, supply trains. and aero squadron from Fl Valle south At Fl Vale. Colonel Dodd found a considerable
 
 who had participated in the colum- bus raid, and these men. as fast as possible, were sent back to Columbus
 Colonel Dodd Kept Pushing On.
 When the first scouts caught up with the rear guard of the flying col- unpn at Ell ValIe they discovered that Colonel HowEe and his troops were at Santa Anna 50 miles south, and upon arrival at that point they found a number of the conEnand sick. several horses had died of sand colic," due to sand getting mixed with their food. and that Colonel Dodd had not only left there the only doctor attached to, his force, but had pushed on south without medicine doctor, sufficient food, or remOunts- The scouts pro ceeded on to Providencia. still to be told that Dpdd was ar least 40 miles west Of that place and sfali going When his axpedItion was finally over han1ed, 1t was found to be without army rafionE, without salt sugar. or caMeA. and living on Mexican tortillas. a sort Of nap-jaciz made ont of corn and water, the meal having been gros1a1d out of corn between dat rocks by the men themseIyes-
 was at this point that Colonel Dodd received information and orders which lnd to the famous 55-nile ride, rnosfly at night, to Guerreros winding up in a running light in which ViIla's troops were badly Wergted and lost a iaI ge aEhb CT ahs wounded. This ride and the subsequent fight will stand ouf as oxle Of the brightest exploits of the whole expedition, not only for the results attained, but as an example of foftitdde, endurance. and devotion to duty seldom, if ever. equa1Ied in the history of the army
 EfForts to Send Supplies.
 While Dodd. Howze and Brown were working their way south unsupported either by supply trains or troops stren- uous efforts were being made to sup ply these dehcienciez Food sent out on. paEk-nuIes, both with the flying and subsequently,. failed to meet the demand for the reason that the pack-mules ate as much as they There was no other means of rapid transportation available, with tho result that the War Department bought 200 motor trucks built and ready for delivery to France and diverted them to the bor- der
 Immediately there was a mobiliza- ton of automobile drivers to handle these trucks. Most of them were civ- iian operators of 'shiyvers," and their experiences with the heavy motor trucks over the rough Mexican noun tain trails, the soft valleys, and the frequent precipitous ruts at right an gles with the roadway were harrow ing
 "Each truck had four speeds and a reverse says one of the writers T saw one driver on a steep hill work up to his third speed ,and then, in- stead of hitting the fourth. he took the reverse You can imagine better than Y can describe what that truck aid,''
 It took these trucks five days-to make the trip from Columbus to San Antonio, about goo miles. All this time the troops ahead were sticking to their tssk.
 '-The morale was excellent" says another informant '@The men were l eager and anxious for fight. Men to the hospital keep their troubles to for fear they would miss We were sorry to lose Lieut. Allison and a sergeant by pneu- I naonia, but. on the whole, the men 1 stood the hardships and the dangers m hrst-class shape. Neither Dodd 1 nor Brown got a ration after they crossed the border They requisition- l sd and paid for the stuff wherever they could find it. Brown even col ected money from the whole crowd l with which to buy food. and finally | we ran out of that Then we had to -ake the food and give receipts for it. | 0f course, the government will pay hose bills. Finally, when we got to i -usi. Brown got $1, 100 on his personal | :heck. vouched for by Consul Letcher l tt Chihuahua by telephone. This is what he did with it; He had to pay 10 cents a pound for sugar. $1.62k dozen for small cakes of perfumed oap that sell in any drugstore two for ! nickel. and 31 a pack. gold, for cigarettes. He found a baker, the 'nly fair man in the place, who sold orn and baked corn bread for the whole outfit. selling the cakes which would have cost one cent each at home or two cents each. We took all he ould turn out. We also needed lorgesloe nails badly. One Mexican ad them all. w en the colonel .sked him how much he wanted for