Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-01-29
CANADIAN SOLDIERS ARE
ASSIGNED TO ONE OF THE
MOST HISTORIC PLACES IN
ENGLAND.
OF PRIMITIVE APPEARANCE
Camps Suddenly Hurled Into a
Community of Former Rural
Peacefulness.

Salisbury, England, Jan. 2S.-The
old World and the New World me-
when the War Office assigned troops
from western Canada to the great ma
neuver grounds on Salisbury Plain
one OF the most historic places IL
England. 'Huts of corrugated iron
and wood alternate with tents and
give the various soldier colonies the
heleer-skelter appearance of Goldtelo
in it's boom days.
Primitive Appearance.
To add to the primitive appearance
of the camps suddenly hurled into the
midst Of a country which was the
scene OF rural peace and quiet, the
War Office is constructing g. railway
through the center of Salisbury Plain
to supply the big army encamped
" there. ,' .
Graders and steel men are camped
along the right Of way. Horse tent,
and commissary shacks line the cuts,
whose banks are slipping and sliding
under the effects of driving rains,
which hinder the work nearly every
day. ) 'S''
Canadian soldiels who have kept
diaries for the 10 weeks they have
been on Salisbury Plain report they
have recorded only four sunshiny
days. The weather Offices at many
south coast towns not far from Sails
bury report a rainfall of nearly seven
inches for last month, the record TO-:
Is years. j While the main roads
through Salisbury Plain are macao
amized, the heavy traffic incidental
to the care of. more than 100000
troopers encamped there at various
times since the opening of the war,
has worn holes in the roads and tor;
rental rains have covered them with
liquid mud many inches thick.
The fields in which the tents anc
huts are located are so soft THAT
troopers sink to their ankles. Supply
wagons are hopelessly mired, even in
the highest portions of the camps anc
it is necessary to shift the roads con-
'stantly.
Much of the canvas has rotted and
water trickles through upon the sol.
diers, who protect their blankets with
rubber ground sheets. Only a small
proportion of the Canadians are now
under canvas, however, and shacks
are being constructed for these as
fast as material can be hauled to the
various camps.
Drill grounds are moved every@fe
days, and it is almost impossible to
find any place where the artillery and
cavalry can move about. The devel.
opment of the new troops has been
hindered so seriously, that the Cana,
dams gladly welcome reports Of a
probable, movement to the south Of
France, where. sunshine ard dry
camps are promised. "
The $4,000 Canadians are scattered
about the great plain into a circle
probably six miles in diameter. While
Salisbury is the chief railway center,
the Canadian camps begin at Ames.
bury, six miles north from Salisbury,
and extend to Bustard Camp, at least
II miles from Salisbury. General Sam
Hughes troopers from Calgary and
Edmonton, are encamped neal Stone.
henge, a prehistoric ruin supposed to
date back to the bronze age.
Part of the huts used by the Cana.
dlans are canvas on wooden frames.
This type is being abandoned, how.
ever, as rapidly as possible il favor
OF corrugated iron huts placed on per
manent brick pillars, which rise soy.
eral feet above the ground.
Most of the huts are about 60 feet
long and 20 feet wide. The soldiers
sleep in rows along the floor with
their. feet toward an aisle extending