CHASE OF VILLA.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 May 1916, Page 6

CHASE OF VILLA.

WHAT AMERICAN TROOPS SUFFERED. MARCH ACROSS THE DESERT El .Paso, >T;i-sh ::l' The first story of the hardships suffered by the. American soldiers in their laiirch across the Chihuahua desert was told here to-night by Sergeant W. H. Harrison, of the Thirteenth Cavalry. Sergeant Harrison told his story propped up in bed in the hospital, where he was taken on his arrival here, suffering from dysentery. "We went in first," he sain. "There wasn't any cheering. That stuff is bunk. Everybody was serious, and not much was said. We all started off at a brisk trot and at once the dust began to rise. There wasn't a breath of air. and the dust hung over the road like a curtain. The alkali got into our eyes and down, our throat?, it sifted into our shoes and through our clothes. The sun poured down into our skulls. "W-s put wet handkerchiefs in our hats, h;;t it did not help mu/.-h. Most of the fellows rode along with their eyes shut to keep out the dust and glare. Many of the men were half' blind by noon.

"My eyes soon began to itch around the edges, then they felt as h\g as camp kettles, and everything got dark. You could feel the blood beating back of your eyeballs. Then the headache began. "Von should have seen the faces of the men after an hour or two. The dust settled on the sweat and then the sweat would run down, leaving a little furrow. Some of them looked like painted Indians. '■' When wo got to Las Palomas we went right through the streets. There wasn't a soul in the whole town. It was weird. We heard some ducks quacking and saw some goats, hut not a human being. ''At the next town, Boca Grandes, there were three peons sitting in the sun. The rest of the place was like a grave. Only you expect a grave to 'bo silent: but when a town is silent that way it is funnj-. Just south of Boca Grandea vre found the body of a cowhoy, who had been killed 'bv Villa on his way to Columbus. ' The" bodv lay about twenty feet from the road.'They had tortured him, and his hands Were burned to a crisp. We did not have time to bury the poor fellow. Everybody swore under his breath when we passed. Later some of the Sixteenth tried to bury him. The ground wtu too hard, so they just piled rocks on the body. ''During the marches the boys stopped ten minutes every hour for a rest. When the word was given they just dropped in their tracks in the' road. No stop was made for dinner. Tt was just one steady hike from morning until we reached the camping, place. "The infantry was strung out so that the detachments were a (lav's march apart. That is the way they arc going now. ■ "Wc got no water from Columbus to Boca Grandes, thirty-one miles. The water in my canteen got so hot that T could hardly drink it. Most of it I poured on my head to stop the headache."