Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-19

WaH - AT Q ClVCh hiVthhHs
Ell PAso Tex, July 1--we are going
into Mexico" That phrase of Ave words
with the accent on the second, is coursing
through Camp Pershing and Camp Stewart
the homes OF the Pennsylvania troops, and
The various other camps where militia are
concentrated 1t came from high sources
not from one, which might be mistaken,
but from more than two
In brief the extensive preparations which
are being made to equip the large forces OF
National Guardsmen now undergoing
process Of seasoning under this semitrop-
ical sun presage nothing more OF less than
an entrance into Mexico TO clean up
That is the opinion Of high officers.
Pennsylvania's division, more nearly pre-
pared than any other large body OF troops
encamped here. should receive lions share
of the honor of untwlstng the tangled mess
of Mexico. That Is another opinion of high
officers. Already three detachments. Major
Halls battalion OF the I'd Regiment and
Captain Bradfords Company b, engineers,
both of Philadelphia and Major Coulters
battalion of the 10th Regiment, of western
Pennsylvania, have been dispatched for
duty.
When the troubled boundary line will be
crossed no one can say. But 1t Is now
known, according to the sources from which
horses and mules, of wagons and tents, OF
ammunition and uniforms that are being is
sued to the regiments aggregate an enor-
nous outlay. Regiment by regiment it looks
trivial Taken in bulk Il assumes warlike
proportions.
six million dollars worth of automobile
trucks, $4,000 horses $4,000 mules, wagons.
tents and other equipment for an army In
the field are being poured into the concen-
tration camps along the border, the best of
nth EVidanrag this
preparation are cropping out daily. Here
regiment receives enough horses and wagons
20 round out its full complement, there an
engineering company receives 22 mules
Here new tents are issued, there new uni
forms. Presently. when the job of Quitting
the army is finished, nothing will remain
but the action of which every soldier heart
in Camp Stewart and Camp Pershng longs.
Twelve thousand horses will be Issued in
three weeks to the Pennsylvania cavalry,
which today is in the same boat as 1t was
when IL detrained at Camp Stewart, IL
speaking of boats and lack of water in the
same breath is not sacrilegious. The same
good humor characterizes the waiting Of the
hardy troopers for the approach OF the
water pipes They are not tin soldiers.
and they laugh as they nibble a swallow
of warTnish water out of n canteen or drop
a buclyetful of the precious fluid over them
selves in an impromptu shower bath or look
w1.r|Enterest at the blue-mirage lakes shinn-
Inerrns. out on the rim of the mesa Sup
pose we were in Mexico" they think.
WATER SUPPLY DELAYED.
The protracted delay in providing pipe
supply was explained today at General
Clements headquarters
''The trouble was in the joints" it was
said. There were plenty OF pipes, but they
did not fit"
Nearly 1900 three and four-inch mains
and 1000 feet OF smaller pipes have been
laid in Camp Stewart, but only half mile
of the system is carrying water Before
sundown II is expected that General O'Neills
entire Third Brigade will be supplied. Foot
by foot the missing joints then will span the
remaining half mile to division headquarters
and then the last half mile to the cavalry
will be covered. Not another detachment
will be moved to the new site until the
water system is completed
No harm has come to the Isolated troops
through lack Of water. Their physical con-
dition is remarkable, considering the cir
cumstances. according to Major Crookston
sanitary officer. This is ascribed to the
fact that the cavalrymen have marched
three miles to Fort Bliss for baths and
that every drop OF the meagre supply Of
water hauled in wagons has been utilized.
A really serious problem has developed
in the FL Paso postoftice and in the regi-
mental postoffices, where men labor con-
scientiously for long hours over puzzling
stacks OF mail. Hundreds OF letters to
Philadelphia soldiers are being sent to the
dead letter office because of insufficient
addresses.
POSTOFFICE UNPREPARED.
THE unpreparedness of the Postoffice
Department in this matter is amazing"
declared one exasperated volunteer post
master for a Philadelphia regiment Here
no steps have been IaKen to provide for an
increased population OF $4,000 to $4,000 per-
sons although thersA has been ample OPP
portunity for increasing the mail facilities
Ii is not the fault of the FL Paso postof-
nee The men there work night and day
In an almost hopeless task"
To make matters worse. many letters are
addressed insufficlentIy or too sufficiently
Where there is not sufficient address the
letter wanders disconsolately from regiment
20 regiment; where there is "too much"
address the letter generally goes to the
wrong regiment first
The lst Regiment is to be paid this aft
ernoon for the nine days between MUSTER
ing in and the last day OF June. This will
complete the LIST Brigade's payment, the Sd
Regiment having been paid late yesterday
afternoon.
A message OF commendation from Gen.
araI Clement was transmitted today through
Captain r. w. Fuller commander Of the