El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-07-18

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in camp and ne Is making Us Jealous
by telling US that every one of his men.
and so far as he could learn. every
other militiaman on the border is
| sleeping in a walled and floored tent
and on cot II did make me bit
sore when 1 thought of my lis nights
! in Mexico every one but one of which
| was spent on the ground and many of
, them IN the open with a single blanket
! in the temperature of 1900 feet above
sea level in the months Of March and
April
In that respect I and my fellow cor
respondents were in no worse condi-
ton than the officers and mel of the
army.
Gen. Pershing and probably half a
! dozen of his staff have been able To
J dig up cots since we have been sta
( toned in this camp. but as for the
! others Of the expedition. whether SOL
J diers or civilians. the ground has been
/ all that could be secured in the way
/ of bed chamber furniture. That's
where the militia scores.
There Arc Bugs in Mexico.
! Speaking of sleeping on the ground
J reminds me that as soon as this cruel
I war is over and I get back TO Gods
( country. l am going to try my hand
al writing A monumental work under
the caption, Some Bugs I Have Slept
With IN Mexico IL may be that il
would be better 10 make the title read:
! Mexican Bugs / Have Slept With
I However that may be il Will be VOL
Ume Of tremendous size if I include
! the history Of one each Of all the
kinds of bugs, reptiles and crawling
things which have disported them
selves in my blankets, crawled over me
o. fed off my carcass during the four
/ months spent in close contact with the
soil of Old Mexico.
Order the Book Early.
IN order that may not detract from
the interest IN or spoil the sales of the
proposed book l will not attempt to
- 4 list of the NarfOnS
, vsrmints here except TO say that [
have been on terms of greatest init
macy with scorpions. tarantulas. ninas
de Ia terra lizards snakes OF various |
kinds. though. happily all harmless
except 10 make me go straight up I
when l felt one crawl near me:
enameleons OF, seemInsIy' thousand
different species. ants. from the little
red or black fellows which do no
more harm than to keep you awake /
as they crawl over YOU and tickle you |
with their feet and Whiskers. TO the |
big red and black kind that lifts you 7
a foot off the ground when they bite I
you and as they bite inject into the |
wound an acid which makes the formic !
acid Of the bee sting mild by compare I
son; ~ drophobia skunks, with little !
bodies and tails as long and buShy as 4
the ostrich plumes which American !
V omen wore for decorative purposes |
to the fashion of ostrich plumeSs !
kangaroo rats. with long hind legs 4
and long black tails tipped with white !
bTuSheS-theSe are but Few OF things I
alive which a man is apt 70 find n I
he'd with him If he does not MAKE a /
careful selection of his bed ground or /
il he does not shake his blankets well
before spreading them for the night
ChameIeOns Were Friendly.
At one Of the many camping places
in which we have been temporarily 10
Gated at one time OF another since we
crossed the line the desert seemed TO /
IL, al of hrra !
and ranging in size from two to six
inches in length, but they We're the
friendiiest and most inquisitive little
beasts We have run across since We
have been in the country
Nothing was sacred from their in
vestigations and If one of us left a war
big or blanket roll open for minute
the chances were good that one or the
other would be occupied by one or
more Of the little, long tailed quick
moving climbers
EIser Wakes a Pet of One.
While they were tame. they were
chsry of being handled. They would Z
scamper over. under and around US. but
drew the line i'm being caught W and
fondled- Frank Elser, of the New York ,
Times. managed to so ingratiate him &
self into the confidence OF one pecu-
larly marked chameleon by feeding il
that II would make his bed space in
the cores ondents' tent its headquar-
Quainted with II he felt warranted in
calling il Lizzie whether as a dimin-
utive OF the word lizard or out of com
pliment to the beastie's sex has never
been revealed
Men Need Amusement.
Now that the expedition has settled
dOzH into what grows 10 look more and
more. every day, like a permanent
camp. the question Of keeping the men
amused and cOntented becomes more
and more problem Up to this time
there has been more or less moving
about and the preparations OF the men
for the rainy season. which we have
known ever since We came TO the cOun-
try would be upon US some time in
July has served to keep the minds of
officers as well as men occupied and
they have had no opportunity TO be-
come affected with that most danger
Gus of all diseases of the mind. nostal-
gia. which translated into plain Eng
lish means homesickness.
The Need il Acute.
There must come an end to all Of ,
this soon and the question uppermos:
in the minds Of the officers of the eX- ,
pedition is What must be done 70 >
keep the men keyed up2' Daily drills
and the working out OF war problems
as they only can be worked out when :
thousands of men Of all bra inches of
the service are in camp together on - ! ;
great plain admirably adapted for the
Of large bodies of troops,
fill the time Of the officers of the line c
and of the staff but to the men in the ]
ranks that means Just so much hard Z
work and the necessity for amusement L
becomes Just that much more acute. c
To Hold Prize Fights. 2
Preparations are already under way I
for the holding OF a fistic ca rnival in q
v hich the principal parts viii Be $
ptaH ed by men OF known ability with
the gloves. chosen from the several
orgs nizations in camp. There is such a