Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-07-18
UNISON KEYNOTE
OF PLATTSBURG
Every Rookie Does Same Thing.
at Same Time; Little
Time For Rest
Military Instruetion Camp,

PlattSDurg, n. u. july 10. 1910.
Reveille at 40, early morning mess
at $50, drilling with 40-pound packs
and Springfield late model rifles from
I20 to 1l.50. ana mess at IL, is, for
the present, the morning program of
the heterogeneous agglomeration of
business and professional men who
constitute the Sixth and Seventh regi-
ments of the camp. In the afternoon
there is more drilling. In fact, the men
practically eat and sleep by drills. The
exaggerated opinion is even held by
some rockies that they brush the teeth
(when there is timej, blow the nose,
ct al, in unison and in response to a
command.
OF course, mess formation is the one
formation to which none is late. Mo-
bilization at the hours of $50 a. M,
~ noon and p. m. is speedy. Each
company is marched in column OF
twos' to their own mess shack" and
takes seats at the captains command,
given in a loud and emphatic tone
"Sit down."
1t is etiquette for the company to
stop eating if regular army officer
enters; each individual becomes trans
fixed. One gulps convulsively; an
other closes his teeth over a sour
pickle and arrests his chewing; an
other in his excitement spreads butter
on his neighbor's hand instead of his
OWN pTlOT " dlNShliOH. INCl y
salute is done with snap and precision.
It is really remarkable what prog
ress has been made among men who
have never before seen an army rife
or heard and oheyed the call to fall
in And so far there has been no
misinterpretation of the command,
despite the fact that Lake Champlain
is just beyond the company streets of
our regiment.
The work is strenuous, but not too
much so. The scftness of the rookie is
taken into consideration and the hard
ening process is gradual but firm.
Sturdy old men with gray and even
white hair obey the commands of
youngsters one-third their age but with
previous experience of a month or
more and do the heaviest work with
the best of them. Prominent bankers
are ordered about by their office boys
it is the essence of democracy Only
one exhaustion case has occurred, and
1t was but temporary.
Each company is in charge of a first
lieutenant of the regular army The
under officers and noncommissioned
officers are taken from the experienced
men in the ranks. Including the stu
dents camp, there are four regiments
here at Plattsburg for the present
month, each regiment composed of
three battalions of four companies
edCn, OF IOTIy-elSHJ companies IN all.
When one knows that there are be-
tween 100 and $50 men in each COM
pany, the total number of rockies may
be estimated. And there are nearly
1000 coast artillerymen encamped
here also.
The nights are extremely cold and
the delicate rookie is not warm enough
with two blankets. The days are warm.
but not uncomfortably so. There has
been very little rain.
To the uninitiated the apparently
unceasing and variegated calling out
of commands and blowing of whistles
and bugles would seem like pande-
monium let loose. The citizen rookie
absorbs knowledge like a sponge, how
ever, and learns in a month what it
takes the majority of state militia a
full three years to acquire, according
to General Wood.
A bath is a luxury and a shave a
disgrace until things settle down and
efficiency reaches a high point, when
the soldier gets a little time and has
the opportunity of cultivating that
which is next to godliness.
Sunday is a day of rest, and be it
said that the majority of the 1000
instructees are ready to observe the
occasion when it arrives.
Ell. S. JR.