The Washington times., 1906-01-28
.BElDI .BElDIuGH EDGES
CHISELEO Off
su.
Recruits Transformed Into
: Soldiers at Smelling.
MANY COMING AND GOING
When They Are Trained the Men
Are Sent to Other
Stations.
MANY COMING AND GOING

ST. PAUL, Jan. ZL-lncIt Is az Il or
Smelling a depot for recruits. Although
not generally realized. this is one of the
most important additions that has re-
Gently been made to the post. 1t was
established in October with very
small detachment of recruits. number
ing about twenty men. Between OC-
tober I and January l, about 225 men
have been received at this depot. train
ed in the duties of a soldier and sent
away. The strength OF the recruit com
pany today is sixty-five men.
The recruit company is under The
command Of Lieut.. William :. Faux
ner. Of the Twenty-eighth Infantry. and
three sergeants of the same regiment
are serving as its non-commissioned Of
ficers. They are Sergeants Schoen. Of d
company, Roberts, OF company, and
Aldrich, OF b company.
In Cavalry Barracks.
The company is quartered in one Of
the new unOccupied cavalry barracks in
the lower post. and lives quite the same
as do the other companies Of the garri-
son. At the present time there is no
regular barrack for the recruits, and
the depot should be supplied with one
shortly, as cavalry is soon coming to
occupy the barTack in which they are
now quartered.
every city in the country and are sent
TO the different recruiting depots. Of
which Fort Smelling is one. They are d
motley lot when they arrive. and the
old regular army seTgeants who teach
them the duties of n soldier impress
them from the beginning with the fact
that in the army men do quickly what
they are told. and do not have to be
spoken TO twice about anything.
The first thing that is done with the
new recruits is to send them over 20
the quartermaster for an outfit of
clothing. They go before the quarter
master sergeant queer looking lot in
old derby hats and highway pants" ."
They come back in neat blue uniforms,
cap and white gloves. But they are far
from being soldiers.
Recruits for Three Years.
The real work of making men soldiers
goes on for the rrst three wears of their
service, and the Gle soldier considers
them recruits until they have served at
least one enlistment OF three years At
the recruit depot they are taught the
position Of a soldier, the facings, how to
salute, and how 10 walk They are not
given rifles. however, until ;hey are
drafted into some company and become
member of a ~egular organization.
The recruits are taught many Of the
useful arts OF lie as well rs the drills
They are put in the. kitchens 2 IA taught
10 eopki they are pat at police WORK AMI
made to clean The barrack rooms an5 do
up the beds. The doctor sees that they
take the proper number of baths qad not
eat the unwholesome food that the
greenhOrns cook, and teaches them that
the first duty of a soldier is to k,ap
well.
For All Branches.
Men for all branches of the service
are received at the recruiting depot al
Fort Smelling; for the cavalry. artillery,
and infantry. the signal corps, the hos
pital corps, and the engineers. All are
taught the first duties of a soldier and
how 10 live like soldiers. They are then
assorted and sent out 70 all points OF
the country where recruits are needed.
Every day sees new recruits arriving
and old recruits departing. SO that Lieu
tenant Faulkner never gets to know the
men Of his command. By the time ne
gets to know their names and can tell
one from the other they are sent out
to ioin some cavalry regiment in Texas
The work is endleSs. and. in a large
measure. Thanhess. Yet il Is important
II is the plan of the War Department
TO increase the recruiting depot at Fort
Smelling in size until four or five recruit
companies Will be found here all the
time This viii mean that hundreds OF
every few weeks, and that the fort will
become a great recruiting depot such as
Jefferson Barracks, at st. Louis, and Co
lumbia Barracks, at Columbus, Ohio.