| OCR Text |
Show it3 LETTER FROM CIP OF TROOP B 01 That the National guardsmen, Including In-cluding Troop B of Ogden. now sta-tioned sta-tioned on the Mexican border, arc due for an extended term of service under orders from the United States war department, is inforred in a re-j cent letter to the Standard, from Sec-. Sec-. i n1,.J A Qmllh. First Iona ijieuiena-iiL Utah cavalry. Lieutenant Smith states J:hat the troops are ,no longer designated by the states from which they were mustered but have been m'erged into a broader organization, ! under the name of the National guardsmen of the United States, and that each troop is to be recruited, to ' war strength. In regard to the latter question, the lieutenant says the Og-den Og-den boys are desirous of having troop B, which needs about 30 members to bring it up to the required strength, formed entirely of Ogden men. The letter also includes interesting reference to the pleasures and dangers dan-gers of camp life and is here reproduced repro-duced In full: . "Headquarters Troop B, Nogales, Arizona, Ari-zona, July 22, 1916. "Editor Standard: Inasmuch as 1 the officer of the day does not go out to drill, and as I happen to bo that individual, I shall take advantage of the opportunity to send you a few i lines about the soldier boys. "The Second Utah squadron arrived I in camp Sunday night, July 16, seem- lngly in the best of spirits and health, If the noise they made could I be used as a criterion. The officers i and most of the men of the First squadron were at the station to bid the new arrivals welcome. Owing to their late arrival, they slept on the train that night, starting for camp early tho next morning. By noon all tents were pitched, equipment was put away and the boys had a chance to take matters easier for the remainder remain-der of the day. On the trip down at San Bernardino, Cal., Private Leonard , Peterson was taken from the train and put in the hospital there with I both legs paralyzed, so the next day . orders came from divisional headquar- t ters, putting the second squadron and the Field Hospital Corps which accompanied accom-panied it, in quarantine. Up to the present time, the quarantine has not been removed, but Its removal was expected at any time. It Is now definitely defin-itely known that the man did not have Infantile paralysis, as t'as at first feared, and at last reports, he was Improving rapidly. "Wednesday, the 19th, the First Squadron was given the third inoculation inocula-tion for typhoid. This completed the operation, much to the delight of everybody, as those sore arms were bGcomintr rather obnoxious. These I three vaccinations come ten days J apart. We drill every day but Satur- day and Sunday. Saturday is Inspec tion day and Sunday, after policing of I camp and quarters, all men except the guard are off for the day. The t drill for the past week, has consisted ( of advance and flank guard, patroling, I troop and platoon drill, close" order, j ' extended order and instruction In sta- bles, which Includes tho care and grooming of the horse and the, proper " care of all horse equipment and other k leather. Next week field problems i start. This means longer hours, but I as all men are rapidly becoming ac- I' climated, they are not to be dreaded. I "On Monday afternoon, July 24th, there will be no drill. A program of j sports and a ball game between the j two squadrons has been arranged. The athletic events are a tug-of-war between the two squadrons, twenty men from each; a tent pitching contest, con-test, between troops eight men from a troop, these teams to consist of different dif-ferent men a "centipede" race between be-tween troops, eight men "from a troop. In this race the eight men straddle-a straddle-a ridge pole and run over a specified course. "This country seems to be alive with tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes and most every other poisonous insect to be -found wlthn the United States. Tho tarantular seem to be In the majority, ma-jority, although the others are numerous numer-ous enough to occasionally disturb the peace of mind of any law-abiding American citizen. Scarcely a night passes that some man does not find a tarantula or a scorpion in or on his bed. And they certainly are some bedi fellows; big black hairy spiders, . in some cases as large as the palm j of a man's hand. One of the pas- times of the soldiers is to get a cen tipede and a tranantula together; they always fight to the death. On one occasion that I know of, a tarantula bit a full grown centipede in two pieces at the first attack. Sometimes the centipede comes out winner, but generally the -victory goes to the ' spider. A couple of men have been quite seriously bitten, but, beyond a severe swelling of the flesh around , the bite and a deathly sickness for a short time, they have pulled through without trouble. l nnn "As It is quite likely tho. troop v kill be recruited to full war Btrensth within a short time, it is the wish or all present members of Troop B that the new members be Ogden men on This tends toward Boater genIaHt. more cohesion in tho line of duty ami above alf makes it an Ogden troop and Nothing but an Ogden troop. Our otfl-clal otfl-clal designation now is Troop First Utah Cavalry, National Guard of tho United States." "Hoping to hear of at east a train load of recruits headed in thte dlrec tion within a few days and assuring "ach and every man of a warm reception recep-tion and an interesting "X arrival. I remain respectfully yours, (Signed) FLOYD A. SMITH, Second Lieut First Utah. Cavalry. 2. G., U. S." oo . |
