McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1918-02-01
Soldiers Letter From Key West,
Florida

taa
The following private letter from
D ? HALEY to his aunt. Mrs. Heller
Thompson, of Selmer, may be of in
t0rast to our readers
Key West is located forty-sever
miles from the Tropic of Cancer anC
is guarded on one side by the At
laatic and the other by the gulf, ha'
a population Of twenty-five Thousand
people; is seven miles long, two an(
ore half miles wide.
Key West is a quaint little oil
t9An, and more like some Latin coun
try than part of the U. s., and til,
atsmosphere smells to heaven a
times. The queer sun brown people
the binding coral sand, the tropica
Incidence that is almost tangible il
the streets. is like story illustra
tion from some old town of Spain O.
IraIy,
Fort Taylor, where we are sta
toned, was an old Spanish fort O.
stronghold back in the old days O.
pirates and bullion. when Sir Henri
Morgan spread destruction, and gal
l4nt hidalgos walked the plank OF
Bl4ckbeard's ship.
The walls are Immensely thick ant
winding passages and dim low arches
lead through the gloom Of almost un
lighted ways where foptstep mufflet
sound is thrown back from wall tt
wall until a hidden company follow
ynu. Spiral stairways of granite leaC
u aud up to the lookout towers
where you can see the shimmerin,
sea through a window three inche
wide. The windows are heavily barre'
and the little portfolios for the quee
pothellied little guns that would onl
make a small projectile for the hug
monsters of destruction which we ar
using today in the same fort, ar
closed bysheavy rust eaten shutters
Fhe whole structure might have bee
taken from the pages of Don Quixote
But alas for the glory Of Spainl
has given away to modern efficienc
aud smokeless powder. No more d
her peerless cavaliers tread our For
with their r0lpdo blades giving bac
the Ere OF the flashing moonlight
Their pl4cs is usurped by Jolly rol
licking crew of khaki clad boys o
Dixie, and an occasional fash of
cigarette from some squad of loung
lag soldiers breaks and mocks the re
mambrance Of the romance that !
gone from the dungeons anG CORR
doris that once echoed with the groan
Of tortured prisoners Now rings tn
banal sound of rattliDg poker chip
aui the gargle of wilcat liquor tina
gu-gles down the throat Of exbar
tenders at their New Years party
Tie black and silver waters Of tn
Spanish Main are shadowed by th
steel hulks of tramp steamers wher
once the stately galleons swung an
now on the ghostly stems of tn
stately palmtrees you may read tn
legends, Chew Sensation Cut Plug,
and brings one back out of tn
dreams Of century ago, and yo
realize that Key West is a moder
city after all and that the old fort
the most up to Date. heaviest name
fort in all our Southland, and is file
with stalwart sons from the bes
homes of our grand old country, VIII
have given up the best of jobs an
homes to get into uniform and unde
the flag that has waved over ou
grind old fUrefathers. When you Sc
the battglion going out to drill an
glance down the front of my comps
ny aud see the tallest six feet seve
Inches aud two hundred sixty pound
aud the smallest-THE SMALLEST
five feet ten inches, all husky mel
called at this place the Giants {
Dixie; and thirty-eight out Of or
hundred and bEelve men are marie
and have little soldiers and Red Cro'
nurses for the future wars.
Now this jumble of words me
sound foolish TO you, but that lie VIII,
it brings to the Imagination after b
ing in the quaint old place. and v
boys always refer to home as "bac
in the United States," and being
some historic town of early Spani'
DAYS.
D.. +. HAILY.