The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1911-02-16
RecolIections Of a
Military Camp.

the men, Tor they mad TO marcn long
distances, creeping through brush,
climbing fences, lying fiat in some
dried up water course, sometimes
never getting sight Of the supposed
enemy. Whenever they did come
together there would be friendly
free-for-all with someone losing their
hats or buttons.
One day, coming back from one of
these sham affairs, found my name
posted on the company bulletine
board as detailed to Division Head
quarters as a stenographer. Here
were five other typewriter Founders
under the direction of Brig. Gen.
SAUCER though nominally under the
supervision of Adjt. Gen. Hugh L..
Scott, now commandant of the Mill
tary Academy at West Point.
1t was our duty to take dictation
of any general orders effecting the
division and transcribe them on the
typewriter. There were five or six
of these each day and there was al
ways a tip of so cents or dollar
from the General if the work was
done correctly. Hewould say, spend
that when you 60 to town" These
instructions were always needed.
The bulk of our work was in MAX
ing out passes for the men who OBJ
tanned leave of absence to go to Chat
tanooga or Lexington. The favorite
reason advanced was to get their
teeth fxed.'' 1t was astonishing to
note the number of men who had de-
fective molars, especially as the ex-
aiming physicians at Camp Ramsey
in ST. Paul and elsewhere had orders
to reject all men with defective
teeth. However, the excuse went
with the authorities. Ten men from
each company were allowed to spend
Sunday in the town, so the streets
of Chattanooga and Lexington put
up lively appearance on these days.
Restaurant keepers made small
fortune. And there were others.
Adjt. Gen. Scott was very liberal
with passes, saying he would let us
90 whenever we wanted to, which
was often indeed.
Sometimes / had to carry orders
or messages to the division hospital.
Here, am sorry to say, one could
not help being struck with the many
evidences of inefficiency. There
was a lamentable lack Of system for
there never was a time when the
supply of nurses and doctors were
sufficient to attend to the needs of
each patient. Of course, the hospit-
ais were overcrowded with patients.
but the latter were lucky indeed il
doctor called to see them once day.
Here and there a Red Cross nurse
was visible, all of them overworked,
but each one accomplishing much
good. Although much food and
manv delicacies were forwarded
from all parts of the country for the
sick men, but very little OF it ever
found it's way to the hospitals. Not
nearly enough to go around. A large
part of it was sidetracked some
where, though where it went no one
knew.
One of the hardest stunts con-
nected with camp life was to be de-
tailed for guard duty. The shifts
were SO operated that man was on
duty two hours and then four hours
off. To be awakened from sound
sleep at midnight, to hike back and
forth until 2 a. m. was anything but
pleasant and the hardest part OF it
all was to keep from backing up to
tree aud going to sleep. The men
who were assigned to guard duty at
the mule corral had the hardest job
for on many nights there were hard
ithunderstorms and the mules all
started to bray and kick, making the
night hideous. 1t was as much as a
mans life was worth to venture in
side the corral and more tlian one
got seriously hurt by so doing.