From Camp Meade, Md.

Dear Editor:--

Let me give the readers of the News a hint of we boys of the Machine Gun Co., has to do.

Nothing much, just get up at five thirty in the morning, stand reveille, and one platoon (? of the company) goes to the stable, water and feed the mules and horses, while the remainder of the company goes through a series of physical exercises. This makes us relish our "slum." Then the whole push is found in the bath-house washing for breakfast.

After the craving appetites have been satisfied, and scrambled eggs no longer taste good, our plate, cup, knife, fork and spoon are stacked on tables, then soon each man will be found preparing his bunk, and the floor beneath it for morning inspection. Everything that resembles a match, stem, paper, cigarette, or tobacco must be polished up in and around quarters.

After this, the men go to the stables again, take every horse and mule out, and here is the fun. "Grooming them." Lets not forget that everything here is done sytematically. There are two ways to groom the stock. One is the right way and the other is the wrong way, and after about one correction we prefer the right way.

Here it is: Each man leads his animal into the correll, ties it to a fence, and takes his stand two paces directly to the rear of the animal. This being a nerve racking position to some, knowing how easy it is for the southern extremities of some mules to come in contact with a man's "chow basket," they are not seen standing there very long. A signal from the commander's whistle places every man to the left of the animal in his charge. At the command, commence grooming, every man falls in on the animals left front foot, here he toils until the next command is given, which is, "face and left neck" then "left hip and leg."

"Change sides, march' will be the next command, commencing at the head, this side is groomed just like the left. This is supposed to be done in twenty minutes, but the boys that groom ill-natured animals declare they surely spent an hour on the rear feet.

Next comes bridling and saddling of the animals. This, too, is done in a certain way, which I'll not take time to discuss just now, but when this is done, we know that exercising the beasts is next on the program. After they have come to the end of a six or eight mile hike, some of them declare it is pretty stiff exercise for man as well as beast, especially those whose mules can not be ridden. They just have to cling to the end of the halter shank with one hand and mop sweat with the other.

After the hike is finished we just drill in company formation or by platoons or sectors or squads until noon.

Three hours drill, and stand retreat competes the afternoon work, unless we are called out to "police up" quarters, or answer "fire call" or may be go on "guard" or "clean and grease the saddles." Some may wonder when our time comes to do all our writing and thinking of the ones back home. Well, that is easy answered. Wednesday afternoon, Saturday afternoon and Sunday all day may be devoted to this kind of trouble or satisfaction, which ever you want to call it.

Boys, back in civilian life, let me advise you to remember these things, for your time is coming soon. Think you will like it? This isn't all the good things we have. I haven't said anything about our machine gun yet. They are just the most wonderful things you ever saw.

Browning by name, and spits out seven hundred "Hun pills" in one minute.

Being the gunner of my squad I hope to look through the sights of my Browning and see a new clause to the Kaiser's peace proposal loom every time a Hun bites the dust in front of me.

Good wishes to all from my comrade, Judd.

/s/ A.C. Wolford,
M.G. Co. 17th Inft.,
Camp Meade, Md.