Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-08-16
PLATTSBURG STUDENTS
LEAVE TRUNDLE BEDS
FOR PRACTICE AT4A.M M.
Philadelphia Recruits Among
Those Who Quit Camp Early
to Shoot on Long Dis
tance Range
SUNDAY A DAY OF REST
l.. G. Kent and George Wharton Pep
per, Of This City, Turn in Cards
in Sub -Calibre Trials
By 9 star correspondenl

MILITARY INSTRUCTION CAMP,
Plattsburg, n. v, Aug. i6.--Rife prac-
tice, on the regular range, brought the
Philadelphia recruits In attendance at
the Military Instruction Camp out Of
their cots at 4;3O n. m. today; that Is,
such Of them as belonged to Companies
a, b, and d. The other four compa-
nies take their turns tomorrow.
George Wharton Pepper was one OF the
iirst to fall in In Il Company street.
standing at an easy attention In the light
OF carly dawn, with his rifle. freshly
cleaned. by his side. Mr. Pepper spent
two hours yesterday afternoon cleaning
that same gun, and Il fairly glistened
The guns are poched with cosmolne, a
heavy preservative grease, to keep them
from rusting The first cleaning is an
arduous job.
While Mr.. Pepper was sitting cross
legged on the ground pulling a piece Of
cheesecloth back and forth through the
gun barrel to remove the last vestige OF
the rust and dirt one of the ever-recur-
ring thunder showers came UP. Laying
aside the gun, he jumped 10 his feet to
assist his tent mates in unfurling the
canvas sides of the tent, remarking, as
he hoped back and forth over the net
work of supporting guy ropes. that IL was
the best practice he could imagine for a
hurdler on university track team.
LoNG-DIsTANCB RIFLE PRACTICE.
The rifle shooting on the long g-distance
range came as the elimination of several
days practice at the subcalibre targets,
where but 2-calibre shells are used.
Yesterday on the short range the men
got their first chance at rapid firing,
being required to shoot five shots in IS
seconds. kneeling and prone.
Some of the. larger Phllndelphans,
notably Beef Wheeler and Harold
Rosengarten. both very stout men. found
the prone position more difficult than
the kneeling. Ordinarily the case is re-
versed. They both turned In low scores.
Mr.. Pepper was above the average with
80. and l.. c. Kent, also of PhIladel-
phia. was among the experts with 45.
All of the subcallbre shooting was at
80 feet. In long range this morning the
men got a chance to see what they could
do at 300 to 500 yards.
THE DAY OF REST"
Yesterday, with the exception of the
short rifle practice, was a day of com
plete rest. The recruits stayed in their
tents for the most part, smoking, reading
and studying military books. Some, how
ever, more energetic, hiked TO the Ausable
Chasm and other points of interest in the
vicinity of the camp
The machine gun squad, of which Mr.
Wheeler is a member, took a long run to
point some 40 miles away, where they
had target practice.
However, fdr the most part, the men re-
mnlned quite considerably subdued by the
effects of the anti-typhoid innoculation ad-
ministered Saturday.
Manor NTitphaI nf NeW YOrk has bapr
flooded with postals and letters slgnec
Taxpayer" PRO bono publico." "Veri'
tas" and the like, urging him to return to
New York and his desk. The Mayor, how
ever, is one of the most ardent support
ers of the camp and what 1t stands for,
AMI intends TO remain for the present, at
least