The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1916-08-04
Member OF Company H Tells
His Interesting Tale
LIFE IN THE SOUTH CAMP
Has No Complaint to Make;
Things Said By Young
Nostdahl
From Mondays Daily.

| Tanned bit, but with the healthy,
robust look of the real first-class
United States soldier, and the alert
air of the true American boy, Reuben
| Nostdahl, who is back in MankatO,
on fifteen day furlough, this morn
ling gave reporter of The Free
Press vivid description of life in the
border camp among the members OF
Company H.
The soldiers are encamped at Llano
Grande Camp, not far from Mercedes,
Texas, and five miles from the Rio
Grande river, and are becoming quite
hardened to camp life.
"All the boys are WE'LL said Mr..
Nostdahl, "and none has been made
sick by the climate, which is no
worse than here, it seems to me. Yes
terday seemed a very dreadful day
to me, and it does not seem that it
was ever that hot down there. About
p. m. breeze will come from gulf
which will make the camp nice and
COOL Of course there are some hard
ships, and the water bothers the boys
quite bit, as it is generally so hot
| it isn't pleasant to drink. You see the
water pipes are laid quite near the
surface of the ground and when the
water is drawn it is really hot. Each
organization is allowed one hundred
pounds of ice a day, and we have ice
water for a couple of hours but after
THAT it is hot for the rest of the day.
Some of the boys say they would give
$25 for a good cold drink of spring
water. They buy pop and ice cream
and of course after they drink and
eat that tsuff some of them will feel
quite SICK
When asked about the general
treatment which the Mankato boys
were receiving Mr.. Nostdahl said:
Praise For Captain Scott.
Captain Scott is certainly an able
man, and Company H is the luckiest
company down there to have such an
efficient captain. His diplomacy has
won for us good attention, and the
boys are all ready to stand back of
Captain Scott He likes the boys and
the boys like him. The money sent
from Mankato to buy luxuries for
the boys has come very handy for the
purchase of necessities, and has been
wisely spent where it does the most
good. You may be sure that the boys
appreciate everything that is done for
them. The mail is the big thing.
Sometimes it is delayed, but when it
comes the newspapers go like hot
cakes. Everyone who does not get
letter is very anxious to get paper
and read every bit of news from
home"
"None of the boys have been starv-
ling" said Mr. Nostdahl, in response
Ito a question.
Company Faring Well.
"At first the commissary department
was unable to get things, but we had
ordinary food, and it is getting better
now. Through the ability of Captain
Scott our company Jared quite well,
as he and Major Duane got together,
and managed to get different things
we needed badly. Captain Scott and
all the officers are working their
heads off, and the camp is very
busy place"
what would be one of the things
the boys now need most?'
swell, if we could only have ice
water. Ice is thirty cents a hundred
in Mercedes, and if we could only
have enough to keep the drinking
water cool it would help lot. Com
pany H has built nice ice chest in
which to keep our meats and other
eatables. We are now trying to get
floors in all the tents, and get cots
for all the boys. 1t was hard to sleep
on the ground at first, but we are
getting used to it. Some of the bows
were quite frightened by the crawling
things which creep over them in the
night, such as the lively little Lizards.