The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-10-05

| port, X. IL WrlClng to u. =. Nelson
of the Cass county auditors Of
flee, gives an interesting insight into
his experiences at the draining
station. Mr.. Edberg is well known
in Fargo, and was for some time
with the Ford Motor Co. His letter:
Newport. R. l., Sept. rs, 1917.
Friend Gill;
1 have intended to write 20 you
before, but our time is ali pretty well
| taken up from 5 a. m. to 9 in the
evening, and do you know last night
is the first night for over three
weeks that l have been up after @
o'clock. The Yeoman school gave
theatrical show and it was fine. You
would sure be surprised to see the
talent that there is among these
boys, especially in the Yeomen. ]
was pretty lucky as / got into a
preliminary class the very same day
was moved out of the detention
camp, when they usually wait from
/ two to six weeks. A young fellow
Divet, son of the Fargo attorney,
is here, and got into the same class
as l did, although he has been here
almost a month longer than / have.
There are 230 in the preliminary
class, and at present over 500 In the
4 whole school. 1t will very likely be
after the first of the year before ]
/ get through, and after that / have
no idea Of where I will go. / was
just moved into a new barracks
building yesterday, where so of us
are quartered, and it is going to
be very comfortable through the
winter. ! slept in a tent over two
i weeks, and then in one Of the brick
barracks buildings in hammock.
That sure was some experience to
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They are dashed about seven feet
\ above the floor and you have to be
somewhat Of an acrobat to get into
them, as they are very treacherous.
Until you are used to them, you are
\ very likely to roll out too, and one of
1 the boys in our room fell out one
night. They took him over TO the
\ hospital on a stretcher, but he was
not hurt very badly.
At present there are about 10000
at this station. We are now on an
island in Narrangansett Bay, right of
Of Newport, Saturday. this week /
got my first shore liberty, and viii
very likely go ashore to Newport. The
place here is quite pretty, although
4 they are somewhat crowded, but they
sure do take care of us in the line
OF feed or chow" The mess hall
holds about $500 at one time, and
We all march in companies, eat in
cafeteria style, grab our plates,
utensils, ETC., and then pass TO the
serving tables where each man
serves his share of the ration to you
on your plate as you pass by. Then
march to long tables and eat stand
ing up. Never had such an appetite
in my life. We get quite a bit OF
exercise in the way OF drill and
Swedish exercises, but our school
only lasts from a. m. to 1880 and
from to $3.50 p. m. We are all
wearing white clothes at present,
and it keeps us pretty busy washing.
as they get dirty in hurry. I'll bet
you would laugh to see US wash our
clothes, but it doesn't go bad. We
are required to keep very clean
here, and get a shower bath about
every day. Cleanliness is about the
biggest thing we learn here. We are
all pretty brown from drilling in the
sun, and we all had our hair cut
pretty short when we came, so
imagine l look rather funny, but
then they are all the same way, so
we don't mind it.
Truly yours,
Yeoman School, 5th Company,
Naval Training Station.
1 NS"poEIS HI Il
Life In the United States marine
corps is just the thing for a young
Colfax, N. D., who is stationed at
Quantico, Va. with the soldiers OF
the sea-" who writes the following
letter to The Fargo Forum:
Il think that, of all the experience
and adventures have had in my life
thus far, those / cleaned during my
five months in the u. s. Marine
corps have had the most profound
effect In shaping my destiny.
THE recruiting posters will tell
that year in the army will teach
your boy courage. 1t will.
ALSO it will teach him how to
die, and in teaching him this it will
teach him how to live. And he will
learn how to obey, in order that in
the later battle of life he may know
how to command.
1T will teach him democracy and
if after he has learned to defend his
country and himself he is called up
on to make practical use OF his.
education for the benefit Of poster
ity, he win learn tenderness and
manliness and how to sacrifice with
out thinking about it.
4
he will learn these things, even
while killing his fellow men. And
if YOU show me a man who has
been through active service and is
now a pacifist and denies this state
ment, win take the short end of a
modest bet that his record in the
war department archives will prove
| him a maligner. on sick report
when he wasn't in the guard house.
for being a dirty. careless. inefficient
soldier. Military service in the u.
s. Marine corps Is a real job with
variegated details, many Of them
unpleasant TO some natures, but
/ none OF them degrading, and the
army is the finest school in the world
/ for teaching a boy courage, self
reliance, cleanliness and efficiency.
Yours very truly,
OSCAR j. WIEN,
/ u. s. Marine corps, ouantico, Va.
Food at Camp Dodge is wholesome
and plentiful, beds are good and
/ sleeping quarters wen ventilated,
and the physical exercises are great
stuff, Corp. Earl Schumacher says In
q letter to his mather. Mrs. B. J. Ed
wards, at Lsarimore.
Corp. Schumacher was in the first
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