The Oskaloosa herald., 1917-07-26
FORMER BEACON BOY TELLS OF
HIS SERVICE WITH MARINES.

rines and for two and one.half years
has been stationed in China. He
writes interesting letters home, the
following extracts being taken from
one to his sister. 1t is dated at
Peking, and runs as follows:
Dear Folks :-Received your last
letter, and | have never had to pay
any extra stamps yet for letters I've
received from home. .r..... .
Say Sis, for the love of mike, don't
you get the idea that just because
this is a heather country. that we
! don't have all the modern convent
ences, for we have Picking in way
Is n modern city, electric lights, sew
/ ers, paved streets, police system
modern hotel, pavilion or moving
picture show, complete telephone and
telegraph systems, automobiles by
the thousands, first class drug phar-
macies, book stores, clothing stores,
jewelry houses, banking corporations,
| high class clubs, auto garages. The
Ford auto factory has branch house
! here, and 1t is common sight to see
rich "chinks" owning automobiles of
the highest price and latest make.
Railroads, colleges, Y. M. c. A. are
common. The only thing this town
lacks is. street car system. Teintsin
and Shanghai, two cities nearer the
coast, are modern cities in every re-
spect, street cars and interurbans.
In our legation quarters we have
electric lights, a complete sewer sys-
cem, hot and cold water baths, our
own sterilization plant" to sterilize
the drinking water. store like a de-
partment store, can buy anything a
man needs. In the service It is cali
the "Canteen,"o Post. Exchange u
We have pool room with two pool
tables, piano and popular music, a
large library and reading room.
We get all of the Chicago and New
York and frisco newspapers every
week. We get all of the monthly
magazines, fully 5 in number, inside
of two or three weeks after they are
printed in the States We get all of
the Picking and China papers. We
read Japans leading newspapers.
We get the latest dope on the war
and everything. knew all about
the Eastland Chicago disaster before
/ got your letter. We heard of it in
less than three days after it happen
cd. How? you ask. Because we
have wireless telegraph plant in
our compound and can talk to the
coast over 200 miles, from the coast
there are wireless plants that talk to
Japan or they catch it from ships in
| mid ocean. One of the ships passes
1t from one to another. Men are on
watch here that catch all such dope
over the wireless every day.
A large library of all of the latest
books and reading matter. A bar
Der shop, tailor shop, and a large
hospital modern in every respect; a
navy doctor, and three navy hospital
apprentices, and one hospital steward.
There are no lady nurses in the navy
or the marine corps; they are all
men. The missions have missionar-
les in them or they would not be mis-
sions.
Don't you know that China is not
strong enough government to take
care of and protect foreign missionar-
les and foreign interests here, that if
the U. S. or any other countries do
not want their subjects to be massa-
cred in cold blood in time of trouble,
they will have to protect them them.
selves.
That is exactly why we are kept in
China If we stayed in the States
and trouble broke out here, the for
eigners would all be killed before we
got over here. ,.
No, we do not have legations in
other countries. We don't need them
there, because other countries are
civilized countries, and don't have
revolutions breaking out in them and
trying to overthrow their govern
ments, thereby putting u. S. subjects |
and interests in danger.
You remember the Boxer trouble |
up here in 1900, when thousands of
and subjects of all coun-
tries were killed. And the Chinese
government was not strong enough
70 prevent 1t. Isn't there a sane
why the U. S. and every 9TH
er country should keep troops sta
Toned here to protect them?
The U. S. has a regiment of men
II about 1900 to 1400 soldiers sta (
toned at Tien Tsien, China 1t is ,
allied the 18th Infantry of the u. S.
rmy.
We have no hopes of being sent out 7
( here soon, as trouble and insur-
ections are in force in southern Chi &
a and to the west of us. ssno
Several insurraotipn .IeadersIl of
ome of the provinces (being term
,r states) here have uprisen against
lie government and are endangering
lie present administration; hence we
re held here with no hopes at pres
1t of leaving.
China is a good deal like Mexico,