Evening journal., 1916-03-24
RUSH Of APPLICANTS
FOR SUMNER CAMPS
Gen. Wood Predicts Attend
ance of From $1,000 TO
10000 at Plattsburg
AGE LIMIT OF IA YEARS
AND NOT EXCLUSIVE

Major Gen. Leonard Wood, COM
manding the Eastern Department OF
the army, announced yesterday in
New York, that 1892 men under the
age Of a years have been enrolled
for the Plattsburg training camps
next summer. Several applicants are
from Delaware. The first OF the
camps is still more than ten weeks
OF, and the rate at which the appli-
cations are coming in indicate that
between $4,000 and 10000 men will
attend the camps, Of which there will
be FIVE, four 4 for business men and
one for college students.
General Wood called attention to
what he termed a splendid ilustra-
OF the patriotism Of prominent cit-
zens in various parts of the country.
The citizens, women as we'll as men,
to whom he referred have written to
General Wood offering to pay the ex-
penses OF one or more deserving
young men who may desire to attend
the camps. but who for lack OF
means are unable TO take advantage
OF the opportunity. One OF the offers
that came yesterday was from a
well-known woman. who told Cen
ersl Wood she would pay the expen-
ses Of eight deserving young men.
One man, a veteran of the Civil
War, wrote that age alone prevented
him from enlisting, and added "But
| will do the next best thing and pay
the expenses OF some fine young fell
low who would otherwise not be able
TO get the benefit OF this splendid
training" Another man. who lives
in New York. wrote that he would
gladly deposit the money needed 10
pay the way of two men and left the
selection Of those men to General
Wood.
General Wood Praises Generosity.
This is a fine thing for these men
and women to do" said General Wood,
"and I want to state that In no case
will it ever be made known who the
man is who benefits by the generosity
OF these patriotic citizens. These pub
lic-spirited citizens volunteered TO rem
der this service to the country witrout
any solicitation on the part of any one.
In a few instances Il was stipulated
that the men to be helped should be
citizens of the same town or city as the
person who will bear the expenses OF
their training. The amount necessary
TO pay for one months training aver
ages about s45 a man."
Another matter that General Wood
pointed out was that the camps arc
not limited to college or university
men. Such an impression has gone
abroad. he added. and he is anxious 10
have il corrected. The equivalent OF
a good high school education is all
that is needed. and there are thous-
ands OF self-educated men. who never
went 20 high schools. who will he
welcomed, provided they measure up
10 the moral. mental and physical
standards required.
There will be no social distinctions
in these camps" added General Wood,
"and you cannot make this too posi-
tive. We want all the good men we
can get, and we want all OF them for
al least one month. We don't want
them TO come late and we don't want
them TO leave early, and that is the
main reason why we are now working
TO make II possible for men whose va
cations are limited 10 two weeks to
take the whole four weeks course. The
training is to be intensive, and -four
weeks is the minimum which a man
should give to this work