The Washington herald., 1918-07-11
100 SOLDIERS
DESERT TO GO
TO MEXICO
United States Army Men
Found Ragged, Some
Repentent.

Paso, Tex, July 1o.-Ragged and
starving, sweating out a bare ex-
istence on the Mormon farms Of
Southern Chihuahua. Mexico. is a
colony Of 100 deserters from the Amer
lean army. exiled from civilization
and home.
The story Of the privations en-
dured by the expatriates is told by
Garland Whit, q deserter, who has
returned, sick at heart, to take
his medicine
Clad in ragged corduroys, with lit
tie left of his old uniform save his
shoes. Whit, who is only IS. is now
in military prison.
Walked Into Mexico.
whitt's regiment was stationed at
El Paso, and one night in Septem-
Der he, with two comrades, slipped
away from camp, waded the Rio
Grande, and started on their hike
into the heart of Chihuahua.
Sleeping by night in any Mexican
hovel they could find. living on beans
and tortillas, riding burros when they
could. walking when they could not.
and occasionally getting ride in a
wagon or on a freight train, thsy
6riftsd4nto the land of "manana-"
One day they emerged from the
mesquite through which they had
hiked for DAYS, and came out upon
a harvest field. Hammering on a
fence post was man, dirty and
ragged. but Gn American He also
was clad in the remnant Of an army
uniform, and proved to be another
dcserter.
Reach Mormon Colony.
They had struck the outskirts
of one of the famous Mormon COL
Saints knew that the occasional
warderer who drifted down from
the north probably had a past ne
did not care to rehearse, and they
offered him a chance to make a liv-
ing, but that was all.
For three months Whit and his
comrades were members of the
colony within a colony. the group
of men without a country, herded
together because of their common
crime.
Their homes were barns and
sheds. Their amusements were
sheds. Their wages were their
board. and just enough money to
keep them in tobacco.
Few words were ever spoken of
the great country to the North.
whitt's knowledge of Spanish
raised him somewhat above the
level Of his fellow deserters, aSd
he secured a job in a Mexican store
at FL Vale. once occupied by the
American punitive expedition. For
this he got his board. a place to
sleep. and $40 a month.
TeId as Horse Thief.
Three months Whit spent in FL
Vale. and then one day he went to
work for a Mexican cattle corpora
tion as vaquero at Is "dobe" dollars
a month.
One day Whit rode into the Nor
mon colony to see the two men with
whom he had deserted. Only one
was left. the other having been
starved out, and gone back to take
his medicine. While he was in the
community, a white man rode up
and placed the two under arrest on
a charge of horse stealing.
Il know you're not horse-thieves,' -
he said. but you're deserters from
the American army which is a sight
worse. I'll dismiss the horse steal
ing charge il you will go back to
the states. If not, I'll see that you
get a good term in the Mexican pen,
which isn't nearly as nice as Lea
yenworth.'
Two days later the deserters were
bound for Juarez on foot. At Juarez
Whit walked across the Interna-
tional Bridge and surrendered.
Il suppose I'll get heavy turn in
the MILL" he said. I've got it COM
ing, L guess. but if 1 get out before
the war is over. I'm praying for a
chance to go to France. Nine
months in Mexico will make a pa
triot out OF any man."