The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1916-03-31
Henry F. Jordan Gives Talk
to Company | Members
in ArmOry
WAS ON MEXICAN
BORDER FIVE YEARS
Member of 9Th Cavalry from 1880 to
1885-Gives Hints as to Health and
Safety in Event of Ever Being
Called to the Border.

In the meeting of Company |, Y. n. i
g., last evening Henry +. Jordan, the
well-known optician, gave an interest
ing and instructive talk to the mem
bers of the company, based on his five
years of service on the Mexican border
as member Of the 8tn Cavalry from
1880 to 1850. He gave them practical
hints as to how best to care for them
selves in the event of their ever being
called to the border, and illustrated
much of this practical talk with inter,
esting incidents based on personal ex-
periences or those of the troops of
which he was member.
He told of his first long, hard trip
from San Antonio to Fort Mcintosh,
distance of 2S5 miles, taken in June,
1880. Each trooper rode one horse and
led from two to four others. Another
trip in October of the same year was
from Fort Ringgold to Brownsville and
was by boat, a distance of 400 miles
by water as against 100 had the trip
been taken by wagon road. This was
made on stern wheeler, and one of
the things he told was how the steam
er would ground on bar of quick
sand, be backed off, turned around and
I II
paddle wheel clawing away the quick
sand and digging passage for tho
boat.
The Mexican, or Greaser, he de-
scribed as treacherous, vindictive and
childish Their favorite weapon is the
knife. He advised his auditors to trav-
ell in pairs on pay nights and to loon
sharply in going around corners. If
alone and two greasers were met who
separated to allow the soldier to 90
between them, he warned him to de-
cline the invitation and go around one
or the others of the greasers with gun
where it could be instantly used:
a soldier is not better than his feet.
| Cleanliness is the first law of health.
/ Putting cotton between toes helps and
/ he especially warned against lunches
or darns in socks. turnover heels of
shoes are especially bad and irritating
to the little toes.
1t is well known that In that coun-
( try good drinking water is not always
readily obtainable and cold or cool
water almost impossible to get. Il
YOU cannot obtain cool water, he said
cover your canteen with wooden
blanket. fill the canteen, soak the
blanket and hang it in the shade where
the air will strike it and be sure and
leave the stopper out of the canteen
In camp always keep an extra canteer
cooling or in permanent camp get 8
Mexican oyer or water jar, which i
porous and the water leaking through
to the outside has a cooling effect. II
the Jars are covered even better re
suits are obtained
The best drink, he said, on a hot
dry trail is plain tea, with no sugar
This tastes good, no matter what it
Temperature may be, while water ex
posed to the sun on hike viii become
almost hot in the middle of the ia,
and is almost useless for quenchip!
thirst He said that he had drunk i
in that condition when it was almos
impossible to tell whether he wa
5 drinking anything. it being about tn
Z temperature of the body.
i A small stone rolled around in tn
Z mouth will relieve greatly thirst i,
r increasing the flow Of saivia Don
: chew tobacco unless plenty Of water
handy, for chewing wastes saliva tina
: is badly needed on a hot trail.
@ He warned against the rattlesnake
L that abound there and told his nearer
G not to put on boot until it had bee
J inspected and not to get into bun
6 until certain that snake had no
e reached it first He told them not t
get ratified about the stories of cent
pedes, tarantulas aud scorpions. II
! had known of numerous cases of ecI
? tipade bites which while painful, wer
= never serious or fatal. The bite of
: tarantula might be fatal if the stin
was on nerve or small artery.
= Mr.. Jordan mentioned many tern
: used in the regular army and close
= with more advice, saying to Get
! booze and fast company for the boo2
there is rotten and the society rotor
er. = He urged his hearers not to
Il kickers. He had found that the grea
Il est kickers were those who never ha
: much while the best soldiers were o
g ten those men who had been reare
l. with every comfort.