The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-27


night. But the high school boy who
had borrowed them thought otherwise.
He bought a chain. This he bundled
about the rifles and ran through the
trigger guards and then secured 1t by
means Of a paddock.
The blank cartridges were not
given to girl admirers by way Of SOU
venirs. but every clip filled was re-
turned at the end Of the exhibition.
There was not a thing missing except
W emergency packets; one of these
had been purposely opened to display
its contents and the other had been
used when n of the boys cut his
hand. These were properly consider d
expended.
Il might multiply these instances.
but I think you have already caught
the drift Of this single example. We
feel that We are not only helping these
young men to fit themselves to defend
the nation should he occasion arise
but the camps are actually making
them more capable OF battling with
the problems of life generally and at
the same time inspiring them with
impulses certain to make them more
valuable citizens.
I'm the beginning we had sceptics
in plenty among the older officers OF
the army. Experience with the aver
age recruit seemed to them to warrant
the belief that but little could be ac-
complished in the brief span Of five
weeks in training mere boys so that
they would be Of more worth h a the
very newest private in the ranks.
These critics quite lost sight Of the
fact that We sought youths accus-
toned to study and that those ac-
ceptable must at least have qualified
for the Isl year in high school.
THE awkward squad is not a
thrilling sight at any military station.
The drill sergeant is generally irasc!-
BILE because he knows how far short
the recruit is from a capable soldier
in the matter Of handling his u and
going through the routine panPuvres.
Morning after morning you see
him working over this raw material,
and progress Is commonly none too
rapid. Just the same at the students
military instruction camps you will
see the youngsters inside Of three
weeks mastering very creditab,y the
school Of the soldier, squad and COM
pany close order, together with the
mechanism OF extended order drill.
Many a regular officer serving with
line troops has hooted at the possibility
Of achieving this. but the students at
Plattsburg and the other camps Of in
struc,ion have proved that this can
he done.
Now this Quickness Of grasp APP
plies in every other direction In which
instruction is given. and surely the
significance Of this should not be lost
sight Of. 1t Is virtually intensive edu-
cation, and We are p%urposely appealing
to the youth OF the country that can
best respond fruitfully.
"Our problem is not now so much
how many things We shall teach each
summer in five weeks as it is to place
a check upon the school work and
balance it with enough physical effort
to keep the students from going stale.
The boys are we'll nigh Unsuitable In
their desire to acquire knowledge OF a
soldiers work In all Of its varied
phases.
I'm 1918, when We held the first
Of these summer camps at Gettys'
burg, Pa, and Monterey. Cal, the
whole Of nearly every day except
Sundays was divided into instruc'
tional periods. The %forenoons wert
given over " COHSCItCo - ~
The afternoons were filled with op'
tional topics, the idea being that stu.
dents interested in one subject neet
not attend a lecture covering SOM
other subject, especially as these were
more in the nature OF openings u
paths of information that would de-
mand in after months extensive In
vestigation.
"These talks, however, followed one
another, and we very soon found tina
the students almost without exception
attended all Of them. This closenes
OF application was too much anc
there was a tendency toward stale
ness. This merely exemplihes the In
tenseness Of the interest manifested
by these young men and also showed
/. us that II was needful to curtail tn
curriculum for the good OF the stu
dents themselves.
again, we have had to face anotheI
situation, and here we have further
evidence of how the whole plan haI
gripped the students that have at
|, tended the camps. At first We did no
. expect the youngsters to return 10
|, a second term, and last year we wer'
astonished at the number applying
for a second summers training. w
? had made no arrangement then I
vary the established schedule. ant
even though the men Substantial
repeated the work Of the precedin
> season still their zeal never falteret
3 Nov however. We find more o
3 them DESTROYS Of taking a third term
: and we realize we have got to elab
crate the course SO as to give the ad