The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-19
SOLDIERS ON VILLA CHASE WRITE
 INTERESTING DETAILS OF DASH IN
 COUNTRY OVER MEXICAN BORDER
Dodds Cavalry Races Away Supply Sup
 PorS-Prices for Food Ex tortiOnate Children Found Be Truthful-How the Carranzistas Pass In
 Review.

and the colonel solemnly handed him the nickel Now give me Aanother
 nickefs worth The colonel kept that greaser counting out horseshoe nails in nickel lots until he got the whole
 supply"
 Cleaned Chihuahua of Supplies
 The first command to buy supplies in Chihuahua city practically cleaned
 out the place" according to one re- port. Here is a city of 6O GOO people,
 and we have bought all it has to eat" 1t continues. We bought all the ba- Ifon, flour, Salt. sugar, coffee, gasoline,
 grease. and oil, and three carloads of
 hay, and could not find anything else to buy" To supplement the supply trains, the l Carranza government agreed to per- init the use of the Mexican National
 railway from Juarez south, for "com-
 mercia1 purposes." No shipments were
 permitted to be made direct to the army, but a citizen in El Paso may
 ship to a merchant in Chihuahua or
 elsewhere army, supplies to be sold
 No American soldiers were permitted 1 to accompany these consi gnments as a guard Not more than dozen cars
 of supplies ever reached the army in this way.
 Whatever else may be said of Villa
 he was 3 foxy diplomat in handling these people. He will never be charged with having taken anything from
 tenn without paying for it,'' says one
 letter. While Villa seized what he
 wanted. he always paid for it in his own euFrency, and guess he had as
 much right to issue it as the other
 fellow most of the time. The people
 here are crazy for our money I here today for souvenirs at two cents a peso.'
 Market for Used Cans.
 These are the prices received by American soldiers in Mexico for empty
 tin cans. according to a letter just re- ceiyed from an officer .'somewhere in Mexico
 gold mine" tin cans were until they began to miss their garbage piIe'' and later found the shining cans be- ing used for cooking utensils or as water reccptacles in nearby camps and huts Thereafter they made a business of trading tin cans for food supplies The prices received were;
 F4Fe-galIon gasoline AcanH-$1, or one chicken and four eggs.
 npty ly tomato eans-one egg.
 The officers mess today had six | dozen eggs on hand. which they took | in for gasoline cans" says the letter | They also had chicken. The boys | are doing almost as we'll, although 1 gasoline cans are not quite so nu- merous. When we get hold of a gas oline can now. we have to sleep on | it or lose chicken. When we have a I meal of canned tomatoes, the cans will buy enough eggs to feed the whole squadron for the next meal. wish F had few backyards have seen at home down here. I'd be a million aire-''
 This is only one sample of the rela- lions established between the Amer ican army and the Mexican natives with which it has come in contact AT -fr~1v -s-. that in the outlying districts the re- ception given the American soldiers has been, on the Wlo1e, friendly Tn E the towns. however, the performances or the Medcans has not been so good. although fsnipings' has not. occurred as frequently as was expected. A E few salutary lessons put an end to that pastinae
 A motorcycle courier who had +o make use of a highway through a E small town was fired at three times in one. day On his last trip a troop of cavalry followed him into town. and demanded the "sniper.' The whole town denied that any shots had been Tired Having ascertained who the prominent men of the town were. fine them as hostages until the guilty party was produced. The command had not got out Of town before he was surrendered, and there was no more sn1p1ng- The same precau- lions had to be taken with wire-c,,t- ters The first two Mexicans caught cutting the telegraph wires str15ne by the signal service were argued with so effectually that no more trouble Of that kind was encountered
 Observing members of the army make no end of comment on the sduahd conditions in which the aver age Mexican is now living, the ab- sence of food in substantial quanti- ties. and the generally filthy sur roundings of most of the towns
 Reliance Upon Children
 In the Mexican children, the sol diers have learned to place some reU- anceA One scout, who listened for half an hour to two Mexicans who were pretending to direct him to army headquarters, was attracted hv the frequent laughter of the crowd or children who surrounded him. When the men had gone, he showed them his machine, got them inter- ested, and then asked them what they were laughing at when he was talk ! ing with the Carranza soldiers The children replied that they had told 7 such big Hes'' they could not help it, and gave the scout such simple 4 directions that he caught up with his command without further trouble
 "Reviewss of Carranza troops have taken place frequently whenever an American troop or high commandingl officer has met up with a Carranza1l garrison. While they have been sol i enn occasions for the Mexicans. the Am erican soldiers have been interest," ] ed and amused. As a result of these ; experiences. they have learned to di- vide all Mexican military figures by , i've. If Gen. Cano says he has 1900 nen, he means 300 men. If Villa { claims he killed 100 men, he means 20 l I men. and so on. TVae Mexican soldier, ( while a dangerous character in dis | position, has been found, on the whole f aot very efficient. Many of them are ( boys of 14 and even less. or the . army of 300 men commanded by T 5ol. Cano. for whom great pretence t vas made of cooperation with Gen.