Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-31
SOLDIERS LETTER TELLS OF TOWN
WHERE EVERYBODY TOTES A GUM
Private Waggoner Writes of Marfa Tex and of Preside
Along the Rio Grande-Journey Over the Plains
and Mountains of South

Maria is the city Of firearms. according
70 George J. WaeRoner Of Company 10, OF
the Second Regiment, who calls II the last
civilized place which he and the boys OF
Company e and Company F passed through
on their way to their present station, Pre-
sldio, Tex.
There Ia one striking thing about Maria
that strangers can not help noticing, says
Private waggoner in letter to the EVEN
fNd LBDoBR.
Everybody carries a gun. Here one sees
a cowboy carrying his in the approved cow
boy fashion. Here is a portly gray haired
gentleman coming from his bank, who, as
he stoops TO get into his carriage. shows q
big pearl-handled revolver sticking from
his pocket. Here an automobile drives up
to store with carblne slung on the run
ming board All kinds OF guns, from the DIG
long-barrelsd rifles, cerbines, automatics
and huge horse pistols to dainty pearl-han-
died revolysrs carried by the women folk
And every one looks as IL he or she would
know how TO handle them II occasion should
require"
Private waggoner tells Of the departure
and trip TO the new station at Presidio as
follows:
I'VE had left the rest of the regiment at
El Paso, spent the night on the train and
awakened the next morning TO find our
selves at Maria, Tex. To one not ac-
quainted with the Texas border the name
MARIA means nOlnlnE, but W uS hS'''''''
located as we are now, Maria stands as our
last remaining link to civilization.
I'VE camped for a day on the outskirts
of the town, three-minute march from the
station, and proceeded to spend what
turned out to be our last day in regular
place. BY a regular place we mean one
where we can buy Ice cream, fresh lrult anu
n square meal and where one can see white
people not in khaki uniform, WHO are so
ciable and hospitable, and where we can do
any number of things supposed to be synon-
ymous with our twentieth century civillza-
ton.
such a town was Maria, Tex, The next
day the battalion was split In half. one
half stayed in Maria and the other half, IN
Guiding the writer, was ordered to Presidio'
The distance from Maria to Prestdio Is ex-
actly ~ miles, and considering that there
are no railroad connections that Is some
miles The only means of transportation
Ia by motortrucl. and we were loaded on
said trucks, which would not have been SO
bad had they not already been loaded.
I'm our truck this load happened to be
about 1000 pounds of lumber. We got OH
to flying start and for the first two hours
everything was lovely The road was
smooth that is, considering, and the lum-
Der behaved, but then we hit the mountains
and the going became rough. The road
here was, to say the least, uneven and
each time the car hit n rut we left the car
n few seconds. But every time we came
back the lumber was there to greet u.s.
Sometimes think 1t even followed us part
Of the way. And when / tell you we were
seated, you can readily imagine with what
infinite enjoyment we returned each time
to said lumber.
But In the mountains the scenery was
wonderful Now we were climbing some
steep ascent that tried the engine OF the
big truck TO the limit; now we were coast
ing down the other side, skinning along
the edge of a chasm deep enough to ruin
our chariot and splatter us over the ad-
jacent scenery II our driver went one foot
out Of the way. In the valleys and level
places, and even on some the more gradual
slopes. hundreds of heads of cattle were
peacefully grazing, while the whole way
was dotted here and there with skeletons
Of steers which had run afoul of rattle
snakes or in some other way had passed
over the bovine Jordan.
after six hours of riding and dumping
we arrived about o'clock at Shafter, lit
tie town in the mountains, % miles from our
destination, where we had lunch consisting
Of bread, cheese, sardines. oranges cakes
and water. The commissary served the
bread we bought the cheese. sardines cakes
and oranges, and the town furnished the
water.
THE most abject sights 1 have ever seen
were the burros along the way They were
owned by Mexicans, who never fed them or
cared for them, but simply turned them
loose to work out their own salvation, and
most of them seem to have failed, for they
stood by the road absolutely motionless,
head hanging and their whole appearance
giving one the impression that they would
welcome any end to their troubles. They
did not even move from the way of the
trucks and we narrowly missed hitting
several until, just as we were leaving Shaf-
ter, one was directly in the road and the
driver, either thinking he would move or