Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-09-23

with a live sporting page, a list OF
cryptic editorial and an accomplished
reporter by the name of Harold Hare
lip, Intrepid Staff Correspondent 1t
carries weekly cartoon In the pre-
scmribed daily newspaper fashion
which Is the product of young cor
poral in the militia. In the issue Of
August 5, there was particularly
clever one entitled Anywhere In Eu-
rope" 1t showed European soldier
with broken arm, shattered leg
and bandaged head reading the big
headlines of an American newspaper
which said: Terrible condition on
the Border; Troopers Get Their Feet
Wet" The newspaper. called by the
New York Times Soldiers Paper"
is known as the First Illinois Caval-
ryman.'
Thus the national guard does not
lack entertainment on the border, but
neither does it lack hard training and
work. When the government spends
a lot Of money on what, after ALL ap.
pears to be nothing more serious than
a preparedness measure, it is at least
going to see that the men are pre-
pared. Every man on the border Is
Sam gets through with him. Hence,
can dailies in which many of the boys
return to camp Frustrated and ready
for bed; hence the excessive drills
which make the men appreciate the
futility of golf as an exercise; and
hence the long hours of target prac-
tice and field maneuvers. At first, the
men were inclined to rebel against
such hard work in such hot climate.
1T was at this time that many fond
parents at home began to start aSita-
tons concerning conditions on the
border, spurred on by the detailed &C
counts of the remarkable feats per-
formed in their sons letters. Now,
the men have ceased to brag about
their own cleverness and take thirty
mile hike as matter of course.
According to our new authority.
1.-The Illinois Cavalryman." when the
men get sick it is due to some care
lessness of their own. They either
eat ice cream or drink pop in eli
mate where such thing is disastrous.
or they attempt to lie shirtless and
hatless in the sun in order to acquire
a deep coat of tan. and incidentally a
week or so in the base hospital. The
only time the hospitals were full was
when the first detachment of Red
Cross nurses arrived from Washing
ton.
Not only are the guardsmen learn.
ing the business Of war; but the Off
GERS themselves are gaining facility
in managing large bodies of men and
a n toll IT nj nf
military equipment which first made
Europe The portable kitchen. for
ample, is nova conspicuous feature
of the commissary department. Sew
eral portable kitchens have been re-
ceived from Canadian factories where
they are being manufactured for Can
adam regiments. and they have proved
remarkably efficient on the border.
They are complete kitchen outfits on
trucks which permit the men to have
a hot breakfast anywhere on the line
of march. When in the trenches the
truck is simply wheeled along the
trench and each man is fed a hot
breakfast, which of course could not
be done if the food had to be carried
from the Kitchen to the trenches.
1t was also soon discovered that the
aeroplane was impracticable for Dor
der duty owing to the peculiar light
ness Of the air. and the carrier pigeon
had to be used for message-carrying
Thus several very special problems
are being worked out among the regi
ments stationed in Texas which might
have proved exceedingly awkward In
time of actual war
Whether or not the occupation OF
the border by the national guard was
a necessary step or not the training
which they are receiving could never
be duplicated anywhere else. If war
should come. the United States will
have at it's disposal large force Of
expertly trained men, already accli
mated ..,.