Evening star., 1916-10-13
Quickly Put UP Tents.

Quickly Put UP Tents.
The tentage and other heavy equipment
o. the 1st and I'd Battalions of the in
flntry regiment were unloaded from the
trains early this morning. and by noon
most of the tents were up. The Sd Bat
TALON did not arrive in camp until about
| o'clock in the afternoon. but long before
evening mess time its tents were in place.
pathways and drainage bitches were dug
by troops that had previously occupied
the site and along officers row. all man
ner of stone flower beds were built by
the former occupants. Cross guns, ma
tional emblemS. shields and battalion in
sigma have been worked with stones
which have been painted with the ma
tional colors in order to carry out color
schemes. There are pathways Of cinders
have received liberal coatings of white
wash.
A roadway which extends from one end
of the reservation to the other divides the
section of the regiments camp that is oc-
cuped by the officers from that where the
mess halls and the mems tents are located.
This 'regimentaf' street is more than a
mile in length. and fianking the west side
of it are ninety mess halls, all of the same
design and size. They are all 'on line,
and. viewed from either end, the long
row of gray roofs resembles a massive
serpent.
sidered a good one. for it is only a
short distance south of division head
quarters and is on rolling ground that
affords good drainage. The District
infantrymen can stand in their COM
pany streets and see the green fields
TO the eastward. while some of their
less fortunate comrades in arms in
other sections of Camp Wilson can sec
nothing but khakicolored tent tops on
all sides of them.
Drainage is very important thing in
this section, for all of the soil is of the
gumbo" variety that makes the
stickiest mud known whenever there is
any rainfall. The soil is almost black
and after it has become wet it re-
sembles melted tar 1t is just as sticky
as tar when wet. but when it dries out
it crumbles and becomes dusty. The
majority of the District guardsmen
never had encountered gumbo mud un-
til late afternoon. when there was q
shower. which wet the ground just
enough 20 bring the mud to just the
right consistency to make it most trou-
Elesome. 1t clung to the shoes of the
soldiers in such quantities as to make
walking almost impossible. They
tracked it into their tents, smeared up
their uniforms with 1t and had all
kinds of trouble. Everybody was
-cussin mad, and they got no
sympathy from those who had en-
countered sumbo before
Drills Twice a Day.
Drills morning and afternoon will
be the program in camp after tomor-
row. and the District guardsmen are
not entirely pleased with the outlook
y; Camp Ordway the drill period was
confined to the forenoon. but the reg
ulations of Camp Wilson call for a
minimum of three hours drill in the
morning and minimum of one hour OF
drilling in the afternoon. The fore
moons are devoted to squad and com
pany drills and the afternoons to bat
TALON drill
The various regiments in camp take
turns holding regimenta1 drills on the
parade ground in Fort Sam Houston.
Just how much drilling the District
soldiers will have to do before they
are permitted to engage in the more
advanced stages Of their training viii
not be known until Capt. e. A. Lewis
of the 37th Infantry (regulars). who
has been detailed as inspector-instruc-
tor with the regiment, has had an OPP
pOrtunity to see just what il can do
Tomorrow Capt. Lewis plans to inspect
the equipment Of the infantrynen SC
that no time will be lost in making
requistion for any articles that are
lacking
The troops in this camp are sent or
road marches either TO New Braunfel$
or Leon Springs. and before long the
District soldiers viii De making hikes
10 these places. il is stated. AT Leon
Springs. which is about twenty-five
miles from here, there is a II ,091- acre
reservation belonging TO the govern
ment- one portion of IL is devoted te
target ranges The government has
leased a large tract at New BraunfeI.
for camping and maneuver purposes
This is about twenty-efght miles fron
Camp Wilson.