El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-05-20
Some of the HardshipS of
Carrying Supplies to the
Pershing Command.
by FREDERIC HAIL CHEsNEY.


" WENTN-F FIVE men who had signed
contracts Tor three months ser
vice boarded the train at three
p IN. bound for Columbus. About half
OF the number were from san Antonio
and the rest all El Paso boys We ar
rived at our destination at five o'clock
and reported TO the quarteTmastcr cap
tain for the official tryout on the
trucks. Each man was put on a truck
with a truckmaster and il he could
start Off easily, shift gears without
very much noise and stop the car nice
" he was qualified. Some men quail
fled VINO had never driven a truck a
block before. Most Of them qualified
and were assigned 10 trains z, s, or 3,
which were then being made up.
"MHn killing" Trucks.
Train No. is made up Of four wheel
drive, four wheel steer cars with a
speed capacity of fourteen miles per
hour These cars are termed the "mau
killers Being four-wheel steer they
are harder 60 handle. Trains No.
ana No. are made up Of two wheel
drive and steer trucks and have Civ
en- wonderful service and have proved
capable Of pulling through all sand
and mp an grades that the man killers
can pull Ten TO twelve DAYS are re-
CURED for round trip to Namiquipa
with the latter but the two wheel
drive makes it in eight or nine days.
as these trucks can attain a speed
OF 30 miles per hour. and have no en-
CINE trouble, but considerable trouble
is encountered with ian belts, which
are continually breaking.
The rest or the day and all the next
was taken mp supplying each car with
buckets. axes, shovcls tie-ropes wa
Of o. d mr. rat or q
journey.
All cars were supplied with gasoline.
oil. etc, and then loaded at the COM
missary warehouse. No. train was
loaded with clothes; shoes. shirts,
DreechcS. etc. No. . was loaded with
provisions; canned tomatoes. salmon.
corned beer hash and hard tack. All
drivers were supplied with a Colts
automatic 40 and a Springfield rifle,
No. train pulled out at two p. m. and
band stand and be ready to leave at
any moment
OFF For the south.
At eight o'clock. while the band was
playing and with nearly all of Column
bus looking on. we left there. q pairs
Of strong headlights stretching out
across the prairie.
Every train is composed OF three sec
tiOns OF nine cars each with a truck
master 10 each section. one armed
guard Us assigned 10. eacn machine.
Two or three mechanics accompany
every train. The captain in command
rides at the head of the train in
light roadster, with the train master.
At $3.50 we arrived at GibsOn's ranch,
about is miles west Of town, and made
camp. A guard was kept on all night,
TO insure our safety.
breakfast ON Beans.
The next morning we left at 6.15
after a breakfast Of tomatoes, beans.
bread and coffee. The captain ate with
us out OF a regulation mess KIT and
washed t. as We did The road was
very good TO Boca Grande where we
stopped for a few minutes. Train No !
3 was there with a load OF ammuni--
tion. waiting call from the front or
orders from Columbus
We left Boca Grande at $50 and ar
rived at Espia at ten. Espla is only /
16 miles from Boca Grande. We en-
ioyed dinner here Of corned beef and |
bread. This bread is called punk"
and each loaf is about II inches across /
and weighs about four pounds. We
left at twelve and passed COlonia Diaz /
at 2.15 This place is about a mile |
long and the road goes through a I
double row of trees. The alfalfa in the !
fields was nearly ready for its first !
cutting. We met Two trains Of the /
four wheeldrive returning empty, with /
eight being lowed
Ascension and COrralitOs
We passed Ascension at three and /
stopped at CorralitOs camp for the /
night. Dctachmcnts from several COM .