Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1915-current, 1918-04-09
FORMER ELKO BOY
TELLS Of ARMY
ManSfOrd Sears. Is Year Old
Soldier From Here. Writes
Long Letter Home
KELLY FIELD, No. l. $50. 1918.


Dear MOther-I received your let
ter and telegram the other day and |
was sure glad to hear from you. but
sorry TO hear you have been sick. 7
was sore all over for about three
weeks from being inoculated three
/ times and vaCcinateG once but | am
feeling all right now and | got re.
ceipt for ii. | will send you a copy of
/ II so you can see what it looks like.
! Every time our company got shot in
/ the arm there would be two or three
OF them completely knocked out. One
fellow kept losing his receipt for be.
ing innoculated and then he would
/ have TO get them over again. FINALLY
ne had lost three receipts. which
meant he had to be shot in the arm
/ three more times and he had been
I shot nine times all ready and these
/ last three making a total of twelve
shots, which killed him. So | think
| will stick to my little receipt.
! volunteered with some others to
20 as guard in the quarantine camp
| | will be quite busy for the next four
or five days. so don't be worried for
| will be all right. have got to have
! four days training for this and |
will be in the quarantine camp and
won't be able to write out on account
/ OF spreading disease. They have
guards around this camp day and
| night so as TO keep anybody from
breaking out of quarantine. Ny hours
are forty.eight hours of work or two
! days and nights. You work two
hours and then get off for four hours
] and you keep this up for two days
and two nights. and then you get
| twenty-four hours to do as you
please.
We nave SVEN lieutenant: could
not have wanted better and about
the food; we sure have all we want to
eat. but you darcnt throw away even
a spoonful. You have to eat what
ever amount you take out on your
plate. generally fill my plate about
four times. | always get away with
il too, believe me. We have bacon.
potatoes. beefsteak, eggs. oat meal,
bread and butter, coffee and fee tea
to drink, different kinds OF pudding,
onions, mulligan stews, etc. We are
going TO have an angel food cake for
Easter. When they say you don't
have enough to eat in the army they
ARE badly mistaken. There are about
two hundred men who eat AT our
kitchen. and when we have eggs and
bccistcak II takes between four and
five hundred eggs and quarter OF
beef for one meal and I guess there
is something like nine or ten hun
drcd such kitchens in camp. We get
three boiled eggs apiece with other
things for dinner Tomorrow il will
take six or seven hundred eggs alone
for this one meal. beside meat. bread
and other articles for this one meal,
so | guess Uncle Sam Is at some OK.
pcnse, for there are about twenty-five
thousand men in camp. | am send
ing you little poem for you TO read
think it hits this place just about
right i'm some instances. But | have
been pretty lucky for haven't had
no kitchen duty and ! haven't had tc
use the pick and shovel. The only
thing I have done is guard.
Our Little Hitch in He'll
I'm sitting here and thinking Of things
left behind,
And writing down the things that are
: running through my mind;
We've dug five miles Of trenches and
cleaned five miles of ground
And if there Is n mcancr place this
side of hell. It's still unbound.
But there Is still one consolation, ga
!, thcr closely while | tell,
When we're bound for heaven, FOL
, we've done our hitch in hell,
, We've built hundred kitchens fo
, the cooks TO stew our beans,
, We've stood a thousand guard mount
and cleaned the camp latrincs
We've washed million dishes an
peeled q million spuds.
LWc'ye rolled million blanket rolls
s and washed as many duds:
o The number OF parades we've stoo
y would be most hard TO tell.
But we'll not parade in heaven boy