The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-10-04
Company | Will be Here in October,
According to Letters Written by
the Troopers on the
Rio Grande.
HAVE ONLY ONE REGRET
Boys Would Like to be Here for the
Fall Celebration, But Ex-
pect to Have One Of
Their Own.

Company L is coming home in Oc-
tober, according to letters written by
members of the local troop. The
boys are counting on their return and
their only regret is that they will
miss the big fall celebration. Thomas
]. Leach writes another letter to The
Gate City in which he tells of trials
and tribulations on the border. Here
is the letter:
Brownsville, Sept. 81, 1916.
Editor Gate City:
See in The Gate City where we are
going to stay here all winter. Also
that we are going to get oyercoats
stoves, etc. Instead of stoves and
overcoats, what we need the most is
mosquito bars.
AT last Sunday morning services,
General Allen announced that we
The news was received with cheers
from those in attendance and you can
rest assured that L company will be
in Keokuk by October 20 or sooner,
unless something unforeseen occurs in
the meantime. The boys are all
tickled to death and are as happy as
a bunch Of kittens. Everyone Is well
and not sick man in camp.
One of the boys showed the writer
letter from his mother, stating that
she was i'll from worrying about her
boy staying here all winter. For her
and the rest of the mothers who have
sons on the border, wish to say en-
phatically that we will be in Keokuk
in October.
1t is amusing to watch the little
Mexican kids out here at lunch time.
They get all the scraps and leavings
from the mess kits. Everything goes
into the one can they carry. The
bunch says Never again for Mexi-
can hot tomales.'
Beats Hickey for Size.
There is a man on the police force
| in Brownsville who has Tim Hickey
bested for size. This man is heavier
and taller. If he would ever happen
half way home.
Corporal lIennemann and Clyde
| Semones are still playing ball with
| the First Iowa.
/ We had instructions how to dig a
trench on the firing line the other
day.
Trenches and Flowers.
| The soldiers lie on their left side
and dig a hole with their right hand
about foot deep and as long as
/ they happen 20 be. Understand, we
! are supposed TO be under fire all the
I time. AS soon as the hole is dug we
roll into it with the loose earth
| placed in front of us. Someone re
marked, This is like digging our own
grave" and some other mutt" says
81 am going to put a flower on my
! grave" and in few minutes we all
mad flowers scattered around us. The
( only kick 4 heard registered came
| from Gale Hewitt who had to dig a
bigger hole thar any of the rest OF
us, owing to his size.
/ Chick" Mckenzie was detailed tc
! hook up and drive four mules. He
got the cloths on all right, but tina,
| is about as far as he did get. Mac
/ says, Il can pilot any old kind OF
make of a steamboat, but I'll be
! darned if l can pilot those mules.
1 There are two mules in the COAL thai
1 .1e soldiers have dubbed Hell and
Dynamite" The names are very ap
propriate.
Outpost Duty.
L company was on outpost duty the
| other night alcng the river. 1t was
certainly swell night, with the full
moon shining brightly and the Rfe
Grande looking like winding silver
! thread in the distance. Each man hao
four hours on watch and eight hours
off No sleep that night as the mos
quitos were fierce. Seemed as il
they were working in squads. Wher
you would knock one or two away
from you, five or six more would take
it up for them and attack you. 1t Ger
tainly took lot of sparring to get
along at all with them. This Rio
j Grande brand of "skeeters" is differ
ent from their Iowa cousins. They
are about four times larger and car