Mexico weekly ledger., 1918-03-14

AmoaE ether things Of interest,".
note that yea are literally Eiving
space and prominence TO letters fron
soldiers Who have gone out Of MeHieo
and Audrai- 5SslEy into the various
training camps and into the navy As
vel as from others who are even ever
here. The good this win do Is two
fold; il win not only furnish 10 ths
Mexico and Audrain County boys who
are in training and in active SERVED
an incentive to frequent letter writ
ing. but Il will also assist in rcassur-
ing their relatives and On informing
their friends who cannot get word
from them directly as TO their welfare
and progress.
While / registered in Kansas City
and enlisted in Kansas City. ] am still
a Mexican by virtue Of having lived
and grown up there and ! have friends
who might be interested in reading an
account Of my travels, experiences
ETC., since joining the army. To be
sure there are many things Of inter-
est which must be left unsaid and
doubly so as regards my trip 70
France and my experiences over here.
The unit Of which ! am a wee small
part left Topeka, Kansas, September
End in two sections, each section oe-
cupying about fifteen Pullman coach
es in addition to the kitchen and bag
gage cars. We travelled thru Mis-
souri,, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Penn,
New Jersey and New York, getting
off in St. Louis, Columbus, Picairn,
Philadelphia and one or two other
cities for exercise, consisting Of a
good brisk hike over parts Of the city
adjacent to the stations. About all
we saw of New York City going east
was the Pennsylvania station which
We were in only long enough to change
engines then we shot through n Of
those great Hudson River tunnels over
into Long Island and thence to Camp
Mills, a distance of approximately
twenty-five miles.
We arrived in the camp on Septem-
Der 9th, after dark with nothing with
us but our packs. We walked into
an open field, where there was abso-
lutely nothing but plenty Of room
here to spend the night and to con-
struct our temporary home. Before
long "details" THAT old familiar
world were formed and in a couple of
hours camp fires were burning, sup
per was being prepared, tents were
going up and by bedtime we had eat
en- a good warm supper and every
mar went to sleep under a squad tent,
not a pup tent-and On a cot and am
ply proved with blankets. During
the course of the following two weeks
our camp was laid out uniformly into
company streets, camp kitchens were
built, drinking places provided and
We settled down for a period Of train
ing preparatory to going to France
Camp Mills is a huge camp-a great
city of tents. In the 42nd Division or
Rainbow Division there r troops
from a score or more different states
so situated that a line drawn through
the country beginning at the north and
touching each state represented would
be shaped very much like a rainbow
which explains, I think, the origin of
the name Rainbow Division" 1t con-
sists of units fully equipped and train
ed as well as units whose personnel
cause them to be graded par excel
lence or 100 per cent perfect by the
War Department, otherwise they
would never have been selected to be
among the first to sail for France.
| have noted in the Ledger that peo-
pie of Mexico for the most part have
contributed literally toward the sup
port of the Y. NJ. C. A. and the Won
derful Red Cross. Every single dollar
given to either is well spent, believe
me, and all the time that women of
our country give in making medical
supplies and wearing apparel for the
Red Cross, for the sick fellows in the
hospitals and the wounded is time
spent profitably. Camp Mills is in
close proximity to several dandy
towns ranging from two thousand on
up to good sized cities. Among them
are Mineola, Garden City, Hemstead
and Westbury. On the reservation
there we're several Y. NJ. c. A. tents
as well as two large tents of the
Knights Of Columbus and in all Of
these towns roundabout there we're
Y. NJ. C. A. headquarters, and all the
churches in them were thrown open
equipped with reading and writing
rooms and extending a hearty welcome
to every solhier who visited each
town. One Of the Y. NJ. tents on the
reservation was only a short distance
from our camp. A fellow could go
down there and obtain writing mate
rial, purchase stamps and post cards,
purchase or cash post office money
I orders, borrow books, read the latest
papers and magazines. Play the
Victrola or piano, listen to lectures,
sermons and concerts given by ar
lists, attend song service and etc.
One night we were treated to a con-
cert by a saxaphone sextette out Of
New York, a member Of which was our
well known Mexico artist, Ed Will
Ii aNau INk-, NJ