Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1917-10-19
The Postmaster Hears from Camp Dodge
Wednesday, Oct. 10th, 1917.

Wednesday. Oct. 10th, 1917.
Dear "Daney."
''Long threatening comes at last"
and I'm so chuck full of typhus bac-
terra. l don't give d--n, so I'm in
inscribing few lines to you.
We got our "Second Shot" in the
left clavicle region this a. m. at the
hands of an M. D. as gentle and tender
as Nero and Herold and it tends to
make you wish you were back on your
old job so you could lay off. We get
punctured thrice against typhoid and
only have one more opportunity to take
our pains. But there are some big
men take the count when they get the
needle driven in their backs.
We had Heart and Lung" finals to-
day and most of Us survived by no close
margins, but several will 60 because of
it. You will probably be glad to know
Sergeant Major Lowry of Cresco is re-
covering slowly and we all hope he'll
be ready to 60 to France with US.
AS regards this going to France, I
don't know when we will leave here and
no one cares especially as drilling out
of doors is work that we would gladly
consign to men like Admiral Peary and
Doc Cook just at the present time. But
our Captain tells US we 60 first as there
is great need of Engineers over there
and the 313th Regiment of pioneers,
so called, whose duty lies where the
Germans are thickest.
Our principal work will be making
habitab|e front line trenches and so
fortifying them as to render same i'm
pregnable. The throwing of pontoon
bridges is another occupation listed by
insurance companies as q hazardous
profession. We also do our bit with
hand grenades and bayonets. Our
regiment will also have one company
whose sole duty will be "camouflage"
and am to be placed in said coterie.
That's what my Zine old English hand"
got me into.
Company A. was paid off in 16 to l
lucre last week and had the honor of
being the first company in the Canton
ment to receive the much needed
rubles. am sitting writing in the
"Mess Hall' and the "roll of bones"
up stairs is not unlike the rattle of hail
during one of our Cresco storms so you
can imagine where the money goes.
Our "Canteen," (The 313th Eng. Ex-.
change,) averages $4,000 per diem.
Yesterday was poor day and $30O.OO
of pop alone was sold.
The 'Y. M. C. AS" are doing fine
work here and are really the most COM
Portable quarters in Camp. French
classes are in full swing there, as are
lectures and recitals. Every.
thing is conducted free of charge and
and is the last word of efficiency and
courtesy. The K. C's are . bit slower
in putting up their halls, but one Is a.
ready finished and two more will follow
soon.
The Register and Leader" have q
score board erectei on a nearby hill
and We get all the world series dope as
soon as it hits Des Moines. Four vet
Grams from Marshslltown were here
last week and gave US some Honest
to Gawd" fife and drum music. They
have some fine foot ball teams here
which fact l know will please you
greatly.
: But getting back to earth again we
get excellent grub and second help
ings'' always if we want. Mostly
everyone has their complete uniforms
and the general spirit of the fellows is
excellen. and the officers who are all
fine fellows are both we'll Statistic d and
surprised. You'd never know some of
US as khaki makes the whole world
kin. Most of our men Rave seen ser
vice and have had lots of training and
many are university graduates which
does not tell against them here. The
assistant city attorney of st. Paul,
Mccarthy, is in Co. A. Eng On one
side of me sleeps an engineer on the
Sault St. Marie r. R. from Bismark or
whereabouts, on the other mining en-
gineer from Glasgow, Scotland. So
YOU can see there is quite cosmopoli-
tan group here
In conclusion l might say that our
motto is "Germania delenda Est"
Germany must be destroyed, and
God help the Dutch when "Wilson's
mob" goes over (also the French.)
Your ancient sidekick,
Iv.r,,\ pr;vato panl T. Coratv