The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-28
7sI
 HERE'S A LETTER
 FROM A CROUCH DOWN AT BORDER.
Officers Have Iced Lemonade While Privates' Is Warm,
 He Writes.

to be home. where he can have ice in lis lemonade. In a letter to the Willimantic correspondent of the Hartford Courant he charges that the
 members of his company L, of the
 First) were locked in a room and re-
 quired to take the six-year oath without any opportunity to decline. The letter to the Willimantic cor,
 respondent, sent from Nogales, reads in part as follows:
 Well, you are not much better
 than a dog here. The officers have
 the best of everything and the com
 pany has to wait on them and look
 after their tents. Lieut.. James B.
 Fullerton is looking out for the men
 of the company all of the time. I
 came pretty near going broke if 1t had
 not been for him. He has been let
 ting heSboys have some money until pay day comes. I've got a check, with me but you might as we'll try to catch Villa as to try to have a check cashed. So had to send home for some real money. This would be an awful place to go broke. ' None of the boys took much money with them as they were told not to do so. as the state would pay them on the first of July. Now the order comes that the state is going to hold up the pay uptil we get back. So. you can bet the boys are pretty an gry. If there is a man living who could get man in this company to re-enlist he would be wonder. Every one is completely disgusted. To half starve man, in this climate after bringing him from the east is almost criminal They put a neat one over on us when they made us take that six-year oath. They have us right, noW and no one can say boo II said at the time that did not want to take the six-year oath, although II was perfectly willing to serve during the time of the Mexican War If there was a war. But there was n.- way of getting out of 1t. Every one was locked in the room over there at the state armory and without any expIan- ation whatsoever every man was com pel1ed to put up his right hand. In two minutes we were told that we were now a part of the federal army You can bet that didn't put my hand hp but I had to take the medicine out to the, rest of thems 1,
 sTf Uncle Sam can't treat his sol- diers any better Ke ought to be wiped of the face of the earth. You can tell Potvin to stay home. II know how interested he was in Company L, and how anxious he was to come with us. Tm glad he took my advice be- fore we left 'Willimantic. told him to stick to the Courant and the probate court and Willimanticx I'm glad he has, so far taken my advice. If he wants to live qet him stay home, and tell him that I again repeat the ad- Vice I.gave him the day Company L left Wi1limantic.
 "By the way. it might be of interest to the good people who contributed to that fund the day we left which was to be for the Company L boys. When the boys heard of that they were highly eIated, but we are not getting any results from that money picked up in Wiliimantic the day we left. If it was not for Lieut.. Fullerton guessI none of it would be spent. They bought two or three cases of oranges and a bunch of bananas while we were enroute. When we got here another case of oranges and one of lemons were purchased. They lay in the tent Tor two days. The officers and a favored few had ice cold lemonade while the rest of us had to drink water that is warm when it comes from the pipes. We finally made a i kick today and each man was given a lemon. I've heard about people be- ing handed a lemon, now know what it means. We made our lemonade with the hot water and it was sicken- ing to drink. They have a big can full of ice cold lemonade in the quar- termaster's tent with all the fixings, J but weNget fired out if we try to get any, That's the way the WilHmantic peoples money and kindness is being used for the members of Company L." , 'tWe are going to make another 'holler' today. So possibly we may get an orange as result Probably things will go a little better later on. If they don't I'll .get Potvin to write a letter in the Hartford Courant. I guess he-would do it all right for the sake of the boys because he knows most of them. The only trouble would be if they Nfound out I started it, we'll would be better off in the hands of the Mexicans. They have got plenty of chewing tobace6 here if you care for it. Wait until we get back home and they will start throwing the hot Air about the boys in their command, then our chance ! will come, and believe me, we will take the opportunity.
 'sFrom all indications we will all be | back<to vote this fall. There will be | some voting, believe me, and the cross will not be in the Democratic column.
 "A small cyclone struck our camp yesterday. Cots were blown in the air for a distance of fully a hundred feet. One of our men was injured. The sand is baking hot on the camp ground.J Such "a, thing as shade is unknown here A hotel man here says that he will give any one weeks board for any day that the sun does not shine. AS sit here under the tent the precipitation is pouring right | out of me. like to take bet when | there is a chance to win, but the ho- 1 tel man has got the safe side on this | betting proposition.
 ,"Your conception of letter from a friend is nothing to what it means to us here when the mail man comes around withj letters--I want to hear from one of the fellows down there in the east So here is chance to use some of that spare time, and by the way, easy time, nights. Just get /pad of paper. few pencils and
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