The Ordway new era., 1917-12-28

shed, and they come iFon
~ distinct departments Of ::
-. seryice One is a letter from !:
marine, another from the aero !:
,,na and one from q soldier in
nnolulu. These boys are do !:
= duty for Uncle Sam ON land. !:
vater and In the air. The !:
rst. from Clyde Lee. follows. !:
Fort Crockett, Galveston, Texas.
16. 1917.-Editor New Era:
~ seen letters published In the
Era from Ordway boys In nearly
pry branch of the service. but none
I'M the marine corps, SO take the
,rty OF writing this one In the
pcs that 1t will give people more
an idea of what the marine corps
The marine corps is distinct
inch Of the service, not identified
In either the army or navy.
After applying for enlistment at
eblo was sent to Denver where
had to pass another examination.
July was shipped. with other
SO. to the marine training camp
Mare Island. Cal. I enjoyed the
p to California pretty we'll as there
Ire lots OF things to be seen. We
|ssed thru the Great Salt Lake,
e track running thru the water
n fifty miles. That certainly WIS
great sight. Then when .s got
rther over into the mountains VIC
Int thru forty miles of snow sheds.
one place these snow sheds had
inght fire and the heat was pretty
ID as We passed thru.
On July we arrived at Vallejo,
b.. which Is right across the chan
el from Mare Island. That morn
hg the big black powder magazine
b Mare Island had in some myster-
BUS manner been blown up. whether
Pom spontaneous causes or outside
|gencies 1t has never been discovered.
Deveral people were killed and a
lumber injured. 1t was nearly half
day before we were allowed to
ross over to the island, as they
fould let no one across except some
leeret service men until the cause OF
be explosion was looked into.
GIVEN HARD DRILLING
We were started to drilling soon
'iter we arrived there and kept hard
i It for six weeks. Then We were
'ent to the shooting gallery to re-
eve instruction preparatory to going
N the rifle. range. We were on the
life range about a month, shooting
wo days out of three and firing from
U to 100 shots each day. On Sep
ember II we shot for record. I
lade 225 out of a possible 800,
'hich entities me TO So per month
xtra pay. The next day we were
I'D to get our sea bags packed and
ready to leave at q moments no.
ce. About noon we were loaded on
igs and sent out to where the U. g..
buhalo was anchored In Frisco
aroor. We were put on board and
Ferything made ready. After about
lree days we finally pulled anchor
na started on our journey to parts
nknown. We steamed down south
long the west coast. the weather
citing warmer every day. We had
lir weather till September "a, when
le sea got rough and practically
'ery man on board was seasick.
nat Is an experience you have to 60
lru IN order to appreciate It. You
'se all interest in everything and
ont care whether the ship floats
. sinks.
SMALL ISLANDS APPEAR
About the first of October we
ghted some small islands and saw
'me OF them every day from then on.
october 2 we arrived at the Pacific
de OF the Panama canal, where we
'opped anchor. The next morning
'rly we started thru the canal. That
rtainiy Is an experience will never
rget: One can hardly fnd words to
scribe q piece Of work such as the
mai. It took MS eight hours to 60
ru to Colon ON the Atlantic side
mere we coaled the ship and were
lowed SIX hours' shore leave. Next
v,rninS We were on our way again
'lng north this time tho. After si1
lys We turned into the mouth Of
lesapeake bay. While at anchor In
ampton Roads We saw several oi
e largest battleships and also saw
knt aeroplanes in the AFR ut one
ne over Newport News. We were
zen on of the Buffalo and loaded
Msnters to continue our journey
tne Potomac river. We were fin-
" unl0aded at Quantico, Va. q
re marine camp. We stayed at
lantico about . month, just Ions
oash to be assigned to new COM
MES ana get ofacers for them.
IT WAS MOVE AGAIN
ON November 10 the order came to
I'VE again. About 1900 Of N were
y on the train ct Quantico and
.rted for Philadelphia. We passed
ru Warrington. D.. c.. and Bslti-
~. No.. ON the way, At dark that