Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1918-10-20
Motor Supply Train Az.

hbtOl supply lldlH 5l-s
Motor Truck Company 426,
American p o 70l. Amer. Il. r.
September IL. 1913.
Dear Mac:
Am still in the running and going
| fine. Haven't been shot in the back
| and haven't any particular desire TO
be shot otherwise or in other places.
not even with French wine But
what started to say was. you have
no doubt read the various articles in
the Saturday Evening Post relative
to the convoy work carried on by the
motor transportation department,
better known as the NJ. T. c., and
have noted that all articles have
mentioned trucks, or did in the last
| issue have seen. which was OF
June dating. However the writer OF
these article never enjoyed his con
voy experiences more than have
mine and we will dwell on my latest,
| instead OF giving n resume OF arti-
cles already in print. One thing ]
might say, that that Is. whoever
| wrote teh articles for the Post surely
ate dust In a truck train, for his ac-
counts were correct as TO details.
My lateset convoy, which I am
able to write about, in part, was one
| OF motorcycles. You are probably
aware OF the fact that only a small
percentage OF any number OF men
are expert riders, and due to this
| II 10 necessary to take anyone who
can qualify as mere rider. Motor
transportation means transportation
! OF motor-driven vehicles-anything
with two to ~ lungs. that drinks
| gas and coughs smoke-and those
vehicles must be ridden by the men
in this department. There are but
few motor vehicles that are not un-
derstood by these men and but few
times that the machine rides the
man. Any motor vehicle will ride
the man, once he becomes careless
land the one to do 1t quickly. nicely
| and in a finished manner Is the two
lunged motorcycle.
Our start was a riot OF fun.
though only three OF the many ma
chimes did the riding, and at that
for a short time only. Three spills
| occurred in as many minutes and
one man made four attempts. each
with a more determined do-or-die
| expression, but at the fifth he got
away for a clean finish, coming
through without further mishap.
shan't forget his first attempt. as
was straddling my mount await
ing my turn to follow out. He was
headed my direction and when he
sideswiped the machine to the right
mine and the two to my left. was
about ten feet to the rear and would
probably still he going were II not
for a high wall.
For my part knew nothing minus
about motorcycles and less about the
late clutch and gear-shift machines.
so Il was with misgivings that eased
! in the clutch and headed for the first
turn. one never kndws what he can
do until he tries and as failing can't
place one ~aer behind and o. ID.
is regulate color. not yellow. our
men tackle everything. firmly be-
| lieve that. were the order given,
our boys would ride 12-cylinder
monocycles.
IT'S not all work all OF the time
and one finds plenty OF time to OBJ
serve everything within sight and
| hearing. Usually convoy passes
up military observa tions and stops in
a town where there are no military
police to take the Joy out OF life.
In that case the men oil up and
tighten their machines, ready for
the following day and are then free
until 7 a. m. Ration money is fur
nished and az you choose, you eat
and sleep where you please, either
| roll up in your blankets or sleep in
| a tavern. A course dinner and room
| with breakfast the following morn
| ing costs about nine francs, that is
at the majority OF places, but there
are others where Americans have
spent money before and II the pro-
prietor should see you first, you pre-
| fer rolling up In your blankets
| might add that I can go anything
from corned- beef to goats milk, but
I can't sleep in a French bed. The
only fear / have of the former is
that some Illinois farmer will yell
whoa when ! am swallowing it and
the doggone stuff will halt and choke
me TO death. OF the latter I fear OF
not coming DIP for air The French
have a box spAng. similar TO ours,
| though about three times its thick
ness. on top OF which is soft mat
tress and usually there is a feather
mattress on top OF that with a
/ feather mattress to sleep under, the
whole nearly four feet above the
floor. You don't sink quite to the
| bottom, but l am sure u coulu
breathe quite as freely under water
and in order to get a good nights
rest. I take the soft mattress and
roll up on the floor.
In this country water was only
/ meant TO bathe in and a dusty trip
such as we had, makes one appreci-
ate a shower, though two weeks
without one makes no material dill
ference, for o. Z. as said before, is
regulation and no person is likely to
inspect your underwear, One could
make a foFtune demonstrating a
bath tub. They are not known OF
generally and those available are
seldom used. I've seen one on trip
of over five hundred miles and then
| there was no ho: water available.
The most water seen, excepting
streams, Is in TIE municipal wash
houses. where the housewife goes 10
wash the family collection. Such a
place is a concrete pool, the size de-
pending on the number of inhabi-
tants and a most unhealthy place II
seems to be.
To ask to have your canteen filled
with water, Is not only a surprise 10
the one the request is made. but at
times you would think 1t an lnsuI.