Show letter from fort I 1 douglas tho the following letter was no not t written ritten sv for publication but from its nature we think it worthy of space ft douglas may 17 1898 john stable jr dear sir I 1 just came off kitchen duty an and I 1 thong thought h t perhaps it might interest you to know how I 1 fared as kitchen police on my arrival at 8 a in I 1 was put to peeling potatoes an and d slicing them a task entirely new to me and which I 1 would not have undertaken before at any price I 1 IM got at through gh and was set to taking off a quarter of an inch of dirt and grease from divers kitchen utensils and almost fainted at the job so far my appetite has been splendid how it will be after this ex peri ence I 1 know not but bu t hlis I 1 d dont 0 n t feel nearly so hungry in at t this t time im e as there is plenty of water both hot and cold and soap enough but the average c recruit is somewhat shy about applying elbow grease and this accounts for dirty dishes I 1 considered it my duty to clean up a bit and succeeded to the satisfaction of the kit kitchen elien chief but the scrub bin bing of the different rooms and kitchen was indeed a novelty to me several buckets of soap suds are thrown on the floor and then we ha have veto to get et brooms andico and 0 go after it I 1 never saw anything C like it in all my life in the line of scrubbing I 1 am prepared now for anything and everything even bullets it seemed to me as though I 1 were dreaming and had to rub my eyes several times before I 1 realized the stern reality but a soldier must be a minute man prepared to render any duty required of hins him wherever lie he is yesterday wo we did not have to overwork ourselves by drilling on account of storm the officers are very considerate in this matter and wont allow us to g get at wet take it right 0 through wi with th the exception of kitchen duty a soli sol diers life in a fort is much easier than the lot of a farmer he can live like a gentleman it seems to me there is almost every convenience veni ence you may think of in this post and we are at liberty to make use of them only in the way of clothing most of the volunteers think themselves sli slighted 0 lit we have to wear N G U uniforms they brought two loads of them up yesterday and distributed them I 1 only drew an overcoat which was new keeping my N G U blouse and trousers the boys were considerably discon i tented last night they all expected new clothes but we are promised them on our arrival a san francisco I 1 believe a day or two will see us off tho the work is rushed as fast as possible yesterday I 1 had to take oil off my corporal facings M which I 1 did not L like a bit but I 1 am going to try and get them back before we return from the ilia war it is hard for me to believe we are going goin to war I 1 am not in the least disturbed disturbed or worried not so much so as at my iny garden work will write you again from the coast john johnf zahler |