The mirror., 1923-03-22
BORDER DAYS
CONTINUED from page l.

the enemy was attacking the town. "Let
him have the town." was more than one
response. Il could tell you the real words
that were used but the Editor would blue
pencil them, so must ask you to use your
imagination).
But of all the damphoolishness that ever
was, that was the worst. We didn't need
sleep any more than Fred Fulton needs
nerve, yet we had to hug a muddy river
bank and pull trigger on an empty rifle
at someone that may or may not have
been before us, as we couldn't see them.
l imagine that doughty doughboys from
the Corn Belt and the Blue Ridge Noun
tains were indulging in quaint terms of
endearment for the commanding officers,
also.
But the worst was yet to come. South
of San Benito is vast plain which, if l
remember rightly is the Resaea de la Pal
ma, scene of a great battle during the
Mexican War. AS far as the eye can see
there is nothing but rolling prairie grass.
can see it in my dreams yet. This lasts
for about forty or fifty miles. To cap the
climax we had been told that there was
no water to be had on the plain, and to
conserve the amount in our canteens no
body took this seriously, and as a result
water was at a premium the second day.
The following sounds rather fshy but it is
entirely true. From $40 to SIS was paid
for one quart of water, not in one instance
but in many, and $1.0O for single drink.
The ironical part of it all was that it was
unnecessary for the cook wagons had all
the svater needed for cooking purposes 1t
was necessary to maintain a guard over
the supply after dark.
Hardtack was luxury. wonder how
many of you exservicemen have eyer fried
hardtack in bacon grease. 1t is real
delicacy, but not conducive to perfect
health. Hardtack of this modern day is
not what many think it to be. 1t is pre-
pared by the Biscuit Companies and comes
in long packages. 1t is nothing more or
less than a hard biscuit, very similar to
dog biscuits. There is scarcely any taste
to it.
The cook tent was raided one night and
the supply of this commodity purloined.
Each man had ration of two packages
and meat can full of raw bacon, but
this was for emergency use only. But
when the pangs of acute hunger are ex-
perienced you do not take heed of conse-
quences. Half of B company lived in fear
of an inspection that would disclose the
absence of rations. We simply took the
easiest out and raided the supply tent.
don't know who fought there but their
shades have my sympathy. If anyone
ever chances to ask me if I visited the
Resaea de la Palma he is going to hear
some choice expletives delivered by lin
quist who can cuss Auently in English,
French, Spanish and deaf and dumb.
Avaunt, as they say in the classics.
The taking of Brownsville was a nice
pleasant sort of affair, inasmuch as you
crawled a couple of miles on that part of
your anatomy that shelters your provender,
wade an exceedingly muddy creek, then
collect all the sand you can while you do
some more educated crawling. For the
grand finale there was bayonet attack
upon the trenches of the Browns near the
old sugar mill, south of Brownsville.
There were barbed-wire entanglements to
pass, with excited shave-tails running up
and down the line imploring more spirit.
That charge ended right on the brink of
the enemy trenches and it almost developed
into a real battle, when we thought of
our opponents waiting patiently in cool
trenches while we covered half the state
of Texas to get to them.
But there is merit in all things-even
maneuvers. You carnival hustlers know