The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1917-12-28
EXTRACTS FROM A
S0LS4ER'S LETTER.

L
The following are extracts from let
ters received by Mr.. and Mrs. Amel
ISchultz from their son Frank, who is
i'll the 23rd Engineers and stationed at
lCamp Meade, near Annapolis. These
extracts are taken at random from
Iseveral letters f
Speaking of Annapolis, he SAYS:
Annapolis is one of the Oldest cities
in the United States. | do not know
the exact date of its charter, but |
think 1t is sometime in 1888, and the
houses and streets have not been
changed since that time. The streets
are about the same Width as our allevs
and you have to walk goose fashion 1t
is at the head of Chesapeake bay, and
Of course there is some oyster fishing.
The town itself is ST no special i'm
portance, the CHIEF Interest being i'm
the naval academy 1t is situated on
the water front, gigng the cadets ac-
cess to the bay andtthe training shin
Inc buildings are divided into four
groups, one for each; class. The build
lhgs are constructedSin the Corinthian
style or architecture, and are, | sup
pcse, beautiful to the eye of the archi-
tect. Ihe armory is4the main point of
interest, as there afe rifles and guns
from most every lArt of the world
one gun was takenl from the Chinese
during the Boxer rebellion. 1t is made
OF wood with steelSbands around the
barrel and shootsF,%ooden balls The
also have any number of guns taken
during the Spanish-American war.
| One in particular Was used to shoot
chain shot and wasi used as a defense
gun in guarding the shore line. There
is grape shot shranhel and all the new
machinery of war, The new aeroplane
gun that shoots both ways took my
eye. One end shots ball while the
other end just shoots a blank car
fridge. This is done-to lessen the jar
on the craft Also the Lewis and Colt
machine guns, butSI have shot them
so they We're old stuff.
"All around the .gEounds are cannon
| taken from the Spanish war ships.
| and some from the Maine. The mast
of the Maine stands in the center of
| the parade grounds and is used for
] observation and also as a wireless
tower.
Across the bay,t on the rifle range
| side, is the. government experiment
| station, where all the cartridges and
guns for the navy are tested They
were testing new sub when we were
hut fn -
It is said that Thos. A. Edison was
| there, but no one is allowed to know
! for certain.
Il guess you will wonder how got
to see all this. Squad 13 went over to
town on detail to get bread and as
| the bakers cart did not arrive until
1880 We had from s to that time to
lock around. Very few visitors are al
lowed to go through the grounds
since war was declared, but We were
invited to do so, and an ensign showed
us the works. They sure treated us
fine, and when we were through we
had> dinner on board the receiving
| ship.
"One thing we did see was Edison's
yacht, which has been converted into
sub patrol. She sure is one neat lit
tie brig. So maybe old Thomas A. was
around somewhere.
Frank tells the following story of
his receipt of shipment of apples sent
by his parents
Got my express today. We had to
pack it two miles, but it was well
worth that exertion. Would go four
times as far and double time all the
way for one half as much as | got in
| the box.
That express package had been my
one thought since | found out it was
at the office and | had been figuring
and scheming someway to get it and
| today the chance presented itself We
had been drilling until 10:40 and the
| lieutenant said we were dismissed un-
It'll | o'clock. | was talking to old Red
Wilson and mentioned my express, so
The says let's go out and get it? did
mot like to break quarantine, but
did want my express, so l fell for his
suggestion. How we passed the guard
going and coming will always remain
a mystery, but will say this much, both
of our knees were covered with mud
when we got back. Well, we had to get
in by l2:45, so had to hurry. Got down
to the Adams express office and gave
the boss my card. He got the packages
and told me that he wanted S9:5
Right then | knew there was someth-
| ing wrong So asked him what those
prepaid pastors were doing on the
boxes, and he insisted that they were
only part prepaid Then | asked him
if he ever knew of a case where the
express company would accept an ar
ticle which was not worth as much as
the express charges without preparing
the charges. He acknowledged that he
never had. | said that this must be an
unusual case, because the apples were
only worth at the very highest price
only 1925 where they were shipped
from and the express on them was
something over $500, according to his
figures. Also | said | never knew of
stuff being shipped over foreign road
without being prepaid ! guess he saw
that | knew what | was talking about
and he said he would look it up. He
did and to his great surprise found
that both boxes had been prepaid. He
asked ME where | got all my informa
ton. and told him that l had been in
the shipping game and knew little
about it, | would not accuse him of
trying to collect twice on purpose, but
there was something very peculiar
about the situation
I'VE had wasted about Is minutes at
the office, so right shouldered the ap-
pies and we started for camp, Red
taking the little box. We took turns