Albuquerque morning journal., 1916-03-23
SOLDIERS ENDURE
AWFUL HARDSH|PS
CROSSING DESERT
Sergeant Harrison Tells Of
March From Columbus TO
CasaS Grandes; Suffering
Becomes Intense,

fsy @osr,se louss.l srseiA, ,sesso ~issr

fsY noHn,ne JOURNAL sFseih. Ls@sgo ~Isri
El Paso, Texas. March 2s.-The first
story Of the hardships suffered by
the American soldiers in their now
famous march across the Chihuahua
desert was told here tonight by Ser
geant Ws H. Harrison. OF the Thir-
teenth cavalry Sergeant Harrison
told his story propped mp IN bed in
the hospital where he was taken on
HIS arrival here suffering from dysen-
terry
we went in first, he said. There
wasn't any cheering. That stuff is
bunk Everybody was serious and not
much was said. We all started off
At q brisk trot and at once the dust
began 10 rise There wasn't a breath
Of air and the dust hung over the
road like a curtain The alkali got
into our eyes and down our throats,
1t sifted into our shoes and through
our clothes The sun bored down in
TO our skulls We put wet handker-
chiefs IN our hats but it did not help
much. Most Of the fellows rode along
with their eyes shut 10 keep out the
dust and glare. Many of the men were
half blind by noon
How HEADACHES Came.
MY eyes began to itch soon around
K the edges, then they felt as big as
camp kettles and everything got dark.
You could feel the blood beating back
of Your eyetalls Then the headache
would begin
You should have seen the faces of
The men after an hour or two The
dust settled on the sweat and then
the sweat would run down leaving a
little furrow Som4 Of them looked
like painted Indians
when we got to Las PalomaS we
went right through the streets. There
was not soul in the whole town. 1t
was weird We heard "a flock Of
ducks auacking and saw couple Of
goats but not human being At
the next town, Boca Grandes, there
were three poems sitting in the sun.
The rest of the place was like a grave.
only YOU expect a grave TO be silent
but when a town is silent that way il
is funny,
Just outside OF Boca Grandes we
found The body Of a cowboy who had
been killed by Villa ON his way 10
columbus. The body lay about twenty
feet from the road They had tor
tured him and his hands were burned
to a crisp. We didn't have time to
bury the poor fellow Everybody
swore under his breath when he passed
the place Later some Of the sixteenth
tried to bury him. The ground WAS
too hard So they just piled rocks on
the body.
During the marches The boys stop
ped ten minutes every hour for rest.
When the word was given they Just
dropped everything in their tracks in
the road. No stop was made for din
ner IT was just one steady hike from
morning until We reached the camping
place The infantry was strung out
SO that the detachments were a days
march apart That is the way they
arc going now
No Mater for 81 Miles.
We got no water from Columbus
to Boca Grandes, thirty-oDe miles
The water in my cantecn got so hot
thar I could hardly drink it, Most
OF it / poured on my head TO stop the
head@ che
DO YOU know how much stuff
'dough-t6y Cniantpman) has to
carry Well its about fifty pounds
Just as soon as they sat down off
would come their shoes The gritty
road cut their shoes to bits and the
alkali made their feet swell and blis-
ter ! saw some of them having a
fine time getting their shoes back on
their feet
we passed through Colonia Diaz
one Of the Mormon settlements The
houses were of red brick and were
wen built but there WAS nat a human
being there. Cherry trees We're bloom
ing and the alfalfa was knee deep.
The roofs Of the houses were burned
land the windows were all broken. We
got some water out of an irrigation
ditch That is what fixed me. 1t gave
me dysentery.
We were fed pretty well. Hard
tack and eannedwille that's corned
beef Sometimes a little bacon. once
! copped a -haby-that is what we
cali soft bread
There are lot of fellows who are
sick bar they are afraid they Will be
sent out So they hold on as long as
possible"