Evening star., 1911-08-18
SITE MUST BE SPOTLtSS
Policing" the First Duty to Which
Men Are Put.
SIGNAL CORPS RAPID WORK
Four Miles of Wire Laid Under
ground. and Telephone System
Already Is in Operation.

gust ls-A plain civilian who came out
to camp early this morning got the shock
Of his young life when he threw A burned
match the ground.
| No sooner had the match left his hand
| than an artillery officer hawled 10 a pri-
vate standing By:
Pick that thing up and carry it away"
ordered the officer
| The civilian stood there disgraced and
abashed. and wondered what in the name
of common sense he had run into.
That was simply n sample of what's
going on in Camp Ordway today. The
entire brigade, which arrived almost on
| time In four long sections. is going
| through fine-tooth-comb performance
called policing" That means they are
running through the camp site with al
most fine-tooth comb, picking up every
scrap of litter that the Maryland troops
left behind them.
These Maryland boys surely smoked a
lot, for the site is covered with tobacco
bags and cigarette papers.
Spotless as Snow.
Gen. Harries said that this camp had
to be spotless as driven snow. and the
men started in to make II that way.
To the unframed eye the big field look
ed very clean when the 1st Separate Bat
| TALON. the first to arrive this morning,
marched into camp. but to the military
eye ii was a mess. Just to keep the
| place clean as parlor floor one
can throw cigarette on the ground a
potato peeling in a company street will
almost mean getting shot at sunrise, and
| a newspaper torn up and thrown around
the place VIII mean, perhaps. that the
offender will be tied to a cannons mouth
and shot back to Washington.
When the boys got through with the
newspapers today they stuffed the sheets
| in their blouses and waited until they had
a chance to find the scrap heap.
| Weeds Are in Evidence.
Nobody as yet has expressed any grand
surprise over the camp site. It is part
of a farm three miles beyond Freder-
| lex and is covered with a rank
growth OF weeds. These will be moved
| down, of course. The battery and Signal
| Corps company moved their little lots
last night. and when the lst Regiment.
| I'd Regiment and 1st Separate Battalion
/ get into shape this afternoon there will
| be a good. old-fashioned drill with the
| scythe and sickle. so as to shave of the
| surface of the earth into a correct mill
| tary state. 1t is not q picturesque spot
| by any means. although it has a pleasant
| view to the west across a rolling valley.
| Just where the manueverng is going to
| take place is hard to tell. There isn't
any "enemys country" In sight unless
| the enemy hides behind the millions OF
cornstalks around this part of the world.
The battery is looking for a place to
I turn into a drill field and hasn't found
any as yet The parade ground is good
/ nh md ht linn 40
with a little sun. 1t rained here last
night.
Signal Corps on Jump.
The real things today are the men OF
the Signal Corps Company. who laid four
miles of telephone wire. all underground.
and got the camp telephone system in
working order SO that any officer in
camp can call up Eddie Neumeyer at the
commissary tent and ask for bottle OF
mineral water at any hour OF the day or
night. They have to get that telephone
working first thing. The Signal Corps
work today has been marvel of speed.
/ The wire has been laid the run, in
trenches dug with speedy plows and the
dirt thrown back Sgain on the wire and
! tramp.ed down IN short time as
TO almost be unbelievable.
All Frederick turned out 10 see the
/ troops arrive. Gen. George III. Harries
| and his staff paraded through town in
| The generals tent was not up when he
arrived. nor was any other tent. except
| those OF the men who arrived YESTERDAY
! There had to be slight shifting OF
plans to conform with the contour OF the
ground.
Ofacers Kept Busy.
Maj c. Fred Cook. one OF the busiest
little adjutants general that ever stepped
| into olive-drab, got into camp early to-
lspe ND yx.ifh
map I'm his hand and got a few things
done that wouldn't have been done other
wise. Mai Neumeyer has his commits
sary depa rtment looking like country
grocery store, only cleaner. and the quar-
termaster department is ready for busi-
! ness.
And tomorrow the business will start
This Is going to be business camp. You
can tell by the business gleam in the
ewes of those military experts at brigade
headquarters.
Getting Camp Ready.
Two hard-working men who came up
in advance of the rest OF the National
Guard are Mai Albert Robbins and Maj.
Weaver Mai Robbins is the chief quar-
terma ster~ and Maj Weaver is an officer
OF the sanitary troops. Both are impor-
tant factors In the advance work. MAJ.
Robbins quartermaster work VIII result
in having every concelNaoie hItiSie VI
military usage arrive in Its right place
at the right time. While he has been
working here In Frederick for three days,
his assistant, Capt. Nevils. mas been at
tending to the Washington end or the
movement of troops by train.
Mai Weaver has been making the camp
site clean and healthful, and his especial
piece de resistance for the troops Ia the
modern military filtertng plant. 1t may
be remembered that the water OF Fred
erick met with some criticism at the
War Department, but whether II Is bad
or good the troops of the National Guard
of the District of Columbia will not be
allowed TO drink a drop Of ii until II has
gone through the filter. In that way IT
Is nres,Iu1ed that sickness from water will
be cut to a minimum
The march of the battery and the de-
tachment of Signal Corps men from
washington to camp here will go down
i'm the history OF the National Guard as
one of the things to be proud OF. II was
about as near to actual campaigning as
ANY of the guard will see for many q day.
certainly ii was the ''realest thing in
soldering that any OF the guard will see
during this encampment With reveille
before dawn and hilly roads ahead. the
march to Frederick was hike with none