Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 173, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 July 1916 — COMPLAINTS BY SOLDIER BOYS ON BORDER [ARTICLE]

COMPLAINTS BY SOLDIER BOYS ON BORDER

Among Others Are That “Shylocks” Tpke Advantage of Their Money- / less Condition. Valparaiso Vidette. If some of the privates, who write home from Mercedes tell the truth, conditions are deplorable there. Comparison of letters today reveals the fact that the stories coincide. Many of the men are “broke,” and pay day is fifteen days distant. Money can be borrowed by paying 25 cents on the dollar for interest, one of the men complains. Some of the men have symptoms of typhoid, in spite of the vaccinations, it is said, and this may be caused by the water. The only available water for drinking purposes at the time the letters were written, which was July 15th, was hauled to the soldiers in oil tanks. It tasted of the oil and was hot. “I wish I wusrmarried,” one of the privates remarks, “for they are talking of sending the married men home.” However, some seem to be bearing up well and looking on the bright side, as evidenced by a letter received here yesterday. “I see by the paper that we have beans galore,” the writer said, “but don’t you believe it. It rained terribly but I had a bed on the table of the cook tent so I was alright.” But every soldier did nlot have a table; others slept in the mud and water. But such is the life of a soldier, as all the old veterans will testify.