Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 173, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 July 1916 — SOLDIERS GUARD PUMPING DEPOT FROM GREASERS [ARTICLE]

SOLDIERS GUARD PUMPING DEPOT FROM GREASERS

Guardsmen, Fearing Possible Attack By Villa’s Band, Take Unusual Precaution for Its .Protection. \ Mercedes, Tex., July 19.—-pie camp at Llano Grandpt where the Indiana soldiers art: encamped, has been turned over to Brigadier-Gener-al Edwin H. Plummer, recently uromoted from the colonelcy of the 28th U. S. infantry. General Lewis still will remain as commander of the Indiana troops. The guard has been doubled at the Mercedes pumping .station, and Captain Haines, of the Third cavalry, will patrol the vicinity with 70 men. It is ndt improbable that some of the national guard encamped in this locality in time will move near the pump and be used as a patrol along the cabals that form the irrigation system. The reason for this is the report that Villa and his band are marching northward and in time may be' in this locality. _____ Besides, there are Mexicans on the American side of the river who would not hesitate to put the pumping station out of commission, and there are fugitive's from this part of the country who are familiar with the means of the water supply and who know what a catastrophe it would be to American troops if the pumping station at Mercedes was destroyed or made useless.

It should be understood that the water- used' for all purposes in this part of the country comes from the Rio Grande river. The company that ms the land where Mercedes and the Llano Grande eamps are situated, spent nearly $1,000,000 building canals that irrigate about 100,000 acres, and at a cost of $350,000 put n a pumping station to force the water from the Rio Grande into the canals. All the water supplied to the camp of the Indiana soldiers and to Mercedes, is taken from these can'als and the destruction or mjury to the pumping station would mean the cutting off of the water supply with all the horrors such a thing would entail. The commanding officers of the Indiana trobps have issued orders that their men .shall not exercise or do any work in die heat of the sun, but shall take a Siesta in the afternoon until 4 o’clock, when it begins to be a little cooler. - -- ----- ■===

No doubt you folk up north have heard a great deal about the siesta that the Mexicans indulge in. Well, that is taking a sleep after midday when the heat is the moist intense. Some might think the SieStai an indication of lazinesis or indolence, but not so. It is necessary in this country. The heat is so intense that it takes all the vitality out of a person and the sleep is needed to recuperate. A chap may be a hustler up in Indiana, but down here he things deliberately and spend about three times as much time doing a thing as he does up north. If he doesn’t, he will pay for it. One of the Indiana boys went to Mercedes and decided to stay ove’rn'ght at the hotel. He discovered no locks on the doors of his room and called attention of the landlord to the omission. “Oh, that’s all right,’ The landlord remarked, “you can turn a bag of diamonds on the floor and no one would bother thdm.” _ “Humph,” the Indianian said. “If I had a bag of diamonds to throw on the floor, I would not be down in this country.”