Howard Lyford

"rumhounds" here got lit to a certain extent, and put the jinks on our vacation. The captain got hardboiled, and said we were having to much liberties and put another post on. We are doing three hours on and eighteen off. Some difference between that and fifty-one off, which were getting every other day before.

I should say you are not the only one that addresses letters to soldiers with a Mr. About half of the letters that come are addressed that way

but I want to make a regular soldierette out of you.

Mrs. Clark sent me a sort of a bag that I think she made herself. It contains everything a soldier could possibly want. It even has a trench mirror in it. They are made out of steel. Believe me I am some proud of the whole outfit.

I met a couple of girls from Ogden at our dance Friday night and if we are here after pay day I am going to make a visit there. One of them invited me out to her house for Christmas. That is a long ways off, and I hope we are in Linda Vista by then, not saying I wouldn't like to spend Christmas in Ogden, but I don't care about staying here that long. I am getting tired of this Acient Order of Watchmen stuff, which I have named Co. D.

I should hope I would like to have you make me a sweater, but try and get the O D thread if you possibly can. I guess it's pretty scarce at present as there is a big demand for everything that is olive drab.

I will have to write to Vivian and Mrs. Adams or they both will think I am an awful piker. Lately I haven't had enough ambition for anything

Three of us made a trip to Salt Lake a few days ago. The state fair was going on there, and it was rotten. The more I see of that burg the more I admire Pacheco.

I wrote a letter to Ruth yesterday and sent it to Martinez. If she is still there, and you read her letter you will think this is a carbon copy.

Well Neevah dear, I have told you everything I know so will say goodbye for the present. Norma has never answered my letter. Tell Per to kind of "lay off" of her and give her time to write, and to write himself once in awhile.

Love to all, "Duke"

How is mama and papa getting along?

Co. D. 2nd Cal Infantry Ancient Order of Watchmen Garfield, Utah October 9th

Dearest Lela! -

I have just finished a big washing, and cleaning my gun, now I will try and write a letter to you again. I received yours this morning.

Yesterday I had the "pleasure" of attending my first Mormon funeral, and here's hoping it's the last. The Mormon church doesn't have a regular minister or preacher, dispenser of the gospel,

or whatever you want to call it. Whoever is in the congregation, and feels lucky, gets up and takes a chance. At the funeral yesterday there were only fifteen speakers, including the secretary of state, and I never want my Father and Mother to go through the agony that that fellow's folks had to endure for two hours and ten minutes. He had a Father and two mothers. There were two boys in the family and one was the son of one of the women, and the other was the son of the other woman. You see they were Mormons, and that is the closest I can come to explaining what I mean. They had us sitting so we were facing the audience all the time. If it had been any thing but a funeral I would have had a million dates, more or less, as there were a bunch of pretty girls present, and they were thinking more about us than they were the funeral. Fourteen of us went over including the top sergeant who was in charge of the military part of it, and the bugler, six pall bearers and six in the firing squad. There should have been eight on the latter but we didn't have enough men. The tour we went to was fifteen miles the other side of Salt Lake City, and we had a very nice ride through some pretty country I didn't think Utah