Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1916-09-19

ihS w Wv uoue1iJ' luc uOyS ulu Wud
they thought best. The beach was
: only short distance away; this call
t ed many of them. Along the rocky
| border there were many diamond back
;. rattle snakes. This was sport inself
Y Many a rattler failed to answer rev.
i ellie OF mess call the following day af-
ter an expedition of soldier boys went
out.
In San Diego, IL miles away, there
, were many things to attract the at
tention of the boys. Above all, as
some might think, there were dozens
and dozens of saloons; there were
dance halls and emporiums. These
the boys often visited just as means
Of passing away few hours. A few
took drink now and then-very few
though. And this, Chaplain Gilbert
says, is very good record. If as
many men from Polk county could
have such advantages as the boys had
while in the south, there is no doubt
that there would be far worse rec
ord. And when I say Polk county |
mean all of the counties as well. For
it must be taken into consideration
that all classes and all sorts of men
are enlisted. But they have proven
themselves a clean bunch of men.
They must be clean in order to hold
their record,
4 At times there was dissatisfaction
in the whole camp. Some saw no
need of remaining on the border when
there was no one to fight. Lots of
Mexicans all around, of course, but
they were good Mexicans--good while
! we were there. Some had dependent
families, and others had businesses
to attend to. Many applied for dis
charges, and some got them. Two IN
Company l. applied and came home.
But there wasn't a man who com
planned because of something at home
that needed him more. Most of them
complained because the war depart
ment didn It rush along an order to
90 over the line and take Tijuana.
There were men in other companies
that did complain of everything. In
fact, there WASH t enough for them to
complain about. But company l. com
planned of nothing. When an order
came out that did not just suit them,
there wasn't word said. Military
men, Of course, noticed all OF tins.
They observed the kind Of men Com
pany L was composed of. Therefore,
trusty job was given favollte
company
Other companies, especially OF
Portland, noticed all of this. One
company in PARTICULAR company
that is not far up the A. b. &. scale
took it upon themselves to weight out
a lot Of revenge.
One night when that company was
on guard, certain officer OF that
company, "pulled" something he will
always be sorry for. His men were
on guard. He arrested several Com
panv L men and charged them with
being drunk, which was not the case.
The affair was carried higher up. 1t
went to a man in command-Colonel
Clenard Mclaughlin. The affair was
investigated; Company L was exoner-
ated and a non-commissioned officer
of the invading company was reduc-
ed, the captain was raked over the
Goals, as we might say, and given
final warning. Since then Company
i has reigned supreme in its Juris-
diction.
Then the orders came to return to
Clackamas. The mastering out and
signing the new oath, binding the men
TO six years more, is by far the next
most important crisis. Company l.
felt as though they had done their
share: they did not feel as though
thew should sign up for six years
more. In fact, they all agreed not to
sign,
Three days later all of the compan-
les had signed but three: Company M
of Salem, Company G of Oregon City
and Company L of Dallas. Why had
not these three companies signed up!
# was known why two of them dld
not sign. Company NJ did not ike
their officers; they had not been treat
ed in the right manner while on the
border, they said. They saw the time
TO show their hand. Likewise Com
pany G had not received the right
. treatment. they claimed. What about
Company l.?
The boys began to think for them,
selves. Had not their officers treated
: them right7 They certainly had ana
2 everyone knew it. Captain Stafrlll
was ordered to reduce some OF his
7 non-eommissioned officers because
| thew rebuked. Captain Stafrin dldn
Y do it. Those whom he might have re