The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1918-05-09
Letters From and About Soldiers

Il 10 the lodge
\ received your card last night and
was indeed glad to be remembered by
I yOuI self and members Of Naucoma
Lodge am glad indeed u hear that
the Lodge Is prospering and gaining IN
\ membership 50 fast. 1t makes me
wish | could be with you again at some
of YOUR meetings but in eight months
We have learned 10 almost forget all
we know about civil life and are living
\ in little world all our own.
h To those who do not know Just
\ where Fort Candy is, will say that it
is on a small peninsula on the Wash
ington side Of the river, at the eX-
treme mouth. The peninsula is sur
rounded on the east by a bay on the
south by the Columbia river and on
the west by the ocean Those who pay
us short visit declare it is a beauti-
I ful spot, but We who have been here
for the last eight months declare there
\ is nothing more for Us TO see and are
/ all anxious for a move
\ Spring and good weather finds US all
hard at work, getting ourselves harder
and harder. and at the same time
starting the green recruit on the road
to a good soldier When say green,
\ / mean some of the greenest young
men that you can imagine, Just from
country farms in Wisconsin, North Da-
! kota, Tennessee and Alabama Some
of them were never inside a school
room and can neither read nor write.
You can imagine that it is quite diff
cult to explain certain drill movements
to them, but we have learned to be
patient and continue to hammer it into
them from morning until night, day
after day until the greenest of them
pick il up.
Besides drilling all day we are called
out twice each week for night drill.
We fall out at the sound of call to
arms and are required to stay out until
after II O'Clock. One night we drill
on the search lights and night signal
ing and the other we take a night
march. The call to arms is first sound
ed by the bugler of the guard and then
taken up by all buglers on the post
| 1t has more pep than any other cali in
the army, and when sounded on the
bat tie field | should thnkit would set
a man 5 blood to running so that he
would at once want to 90 over the top.
With all our work wefhave certain
pleasures. Last Sunday the four COM
panys of the post, Y men each, went
out to assist the Red Cross of llwaco
gather moss. This moss is to be sub
stituted for absorbent cotton. 1t is
found on the low, marshy lands, and
completely covers the ground and eX-
tends to a depth Of SIX to 20 feet. II
is said to be capable of absorbing ~
times its weight Of water, and it is
claimed, will be used extensively for
bandages. We took our lunch, which
was served by our kitchen force, and
after lunch had base ball game.
The citizens of the little town Of H.
waco have been very nice to the sol
dlers and we are always ready to give
them a hand on any occasion.
On this Sunday Sgt. Foust and
were invited to take an auto ride down
the beach. For 30 miles the beach is
lust as level as floor and all the way
from | 600 to 1000 yards wide, and a
better drive | never saw. OF course,
the air at this time of the year, near
the water, is quite cool. On our ride
we saw whale that had been washed
on the beach by the tide. 1t measured
25 feet in length and was indeed quite
a sight.
We stopped on our way and dug
some clans. This. to one who has
never tried it, is some Job. We have
caught numerous crabs, but that was
| the first clans | ever dug or ever saw
| dug, and it was an interesting expert
ence for me. We returned to the home
of our friends and it wasn't long be
| fore the Mrs. invited US to be seated
at her table, and before us was a
steaming clam choWder Our appetites
| had been sharpened by the hike, the
moss gathering, the light lunch, and
| auto ride, etc, so | doubt whether you
can appreciate my meaning when | say
| that we enjoyed that meal. While
| we get plenty to eat it is not like that
| served on a family table, so if you
| want to see somebody ENJOY something
| lust invite a soldier out for dinner.
| am fortunate enough to be invited out
for dinner about once each week, anC
| believe me, | never refuse an invita-
| ton.
Since the company was called out
/ there have been about 200 men trans
\ ferred out. New ones are, of course
Il transferred in to take their places.
\ Each time they take the oldest men
/ 1t seems that am the goat, as an
one of three left in the company that
\ were mustered in with the company OF
H August l6, 1916. Our officers change
/ about every month, SO that the keeping
of the records Of the men as they come
and 90 is left to me, and with the rec
tape of the army, it is some job tC
Il keep them all straight.
Personally, | get mighty lonesome a
/ times, especially when bunch Of ole
II men and my best friends, are trans
| ferred out of the company. Besides
attending drills outside do most O
Il the Office work so that ] am Away
busy, otherwise | don't know how
H would stand it here.
/ Our prospects for getting across lUot
i better now than ever before. We heal
y that all the old men will soon be tran.
ferred to battery which will at one,
4 leave for over seas Every man, in
i GLIDING the national army men, is anX
II ious to show the hun, the sun of gun
H what the Yankee boys can do.
II received a receipt from the Gran'
Il Lodge for my dues for the period o
H the war. That, together whit the wa.
Il the people are subscribing for th
H Third Liberty loan bonds, certanl
II make the soldiers feel that the peop
Il at home are behind them. We fee
II that whatever becomes of US we will
II be taken care of, and taken care o
II right. The government is doing won
H derfully we'll in supplying us wit
II clothing, and although we only get
II cents per day per man for our mess
Il we are eating plenty good enough, an
II we feel that if the people at home vii
II continue to stand behind the soldier
II there will be no question as to tn
II outcome Of this war We all hope t
Il see Berlin before it is over. We woul
II sure hate to be kept here for the dura
II ton of the war
II The January number of The Spiker
II published somewhere in France by tn
II 18th engineers, railway, L. S. A.,
6 l.