Arizona republican., 1916-08-09
John Sabra Back From Front
 GIVES GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION Phoenix Boy Tells of Pershing's Army

been with General Pershing's puni- tive expedition for the past three or four month in the dual capacity of truck driver and interpreter, has severed his connection with Uncle Sam's fighting forces. and come home to stay At least that is his inten- tion providing, things don't get too serious down there, where the boys 1 in khaki are doing their best to up- hold the dignity and honor of their country's flag.
 1 Sabra has been through a world of experience. In fact he has almost accumulated enough adventures to | last him a life time. He has seen actual fighting, has driven a motor truck across the Mexican desert, where the hot winds scar and burn, and the shifting sands are blinding. He has seen Mexican prisoners | brought in. half starved and ill cloth 1 ed, taken care of by the magnanimous captors only to turn and bite the hand which fed them. He has seen | the little columns of American troops plodding across the desert, the al most tropical sun beating down on them, and water many miles away, their clothing in rags, and the very soles of their shoes dropping from their feet. doing all of this in the ! luce Ol lil tISiuN ever Wdlt1lul anu on the lookout for stragglers. The fate of a stragsler is not pleasant for 1 Sabra to think of let alone talk about. Johnny as his friends call him en- tered the army of the civil branch u | little over four months ago. He was given a three months contract as truck driver. It did not take the of ficers over him long to find -out that he had wonderful command of the Mexican language. They lost no time in taking him off the truck, and ap- pointing him as interpreter in the | quartermas;er's branch. He has been at the front ever since. Not a crisis has been reached at the headquarters | of the little force so far from home. ] but what Sabra has been in on the texcitement He gives a wonderful description of the trouble and sen sation after the battle of Carrizal, l when Captain Boyd and his negro | troopers were ambushed by the Mex ] icans
 One of the sore points with the reg ulars, says Sstbra. is the fact that ! everyone is striving to do something for the national guardsmen on the border and letting the regulars shift for themselves. As a matter of fact. he says the mlitiamen, are living like princes as compared with the
 manner in which the regulars who are at the front are forced to exist. Tobacco is scarcer than water. while
 as for reading material all the books and magazines with the force. have
 long since been worn out Very lit-
 tle intelligence from the outside
 reaches the men. who are famished
 for information as 70 the world s
 happenings
 Helen Gould Shepard has been the
 bright star on the horizon of the reg
 ulars cloud of woe. She evidently
 became aware of their pitiful plight
 and has done everything in her power
 to alleviate conditions. Al present
 she is worshippcd as a Goddess oy
 the troopers both white and black
 She sent to each soldier box ir
 which were corn cob pipe s bag: ! of Bull Durham smoking tobacco
 cigarette papers. and two cans o
 ether tobacco. These came as a Goo
 send, and many were the prayers of.
 fered up bv the hardened dough boy,
 and troopers for the preservation o the noted philanthropist The onl, other recognition the regulars hay, received, were boxes of candy sent bl
 The Ladies of America"
 If the people of the country onl,
 realized what a little money spent oi . candy. tobacco or books would dc , Sabra Is Of the opinion that thing , below the line of Gods country woul, be materially alleviated.
 i Another condition which strucl
 Sabra as characteristic'~of the coun . try and its people is the fact tha
 there are about 5000 peons workinl ? for the L. s. government at expedi f ton headquarters. They work on tn
 roads. dtches trenches and wells , and receive one dollar a day in go
 for their work. In spite of the fac that Uncle Sam is paying them wage far beyond their dreams of avaric, n they are sullen and at every oppor tunity vent their spleen on this coun
 try. They curse this country for al they are worth. and at the leas provocation will knife a guard in tn r back. or do some other equally des = perate deed. thinking that they ar ? aiding their own country.
 In talking to Sabra, some of tn , Mcxicans said. You men are cowardl