The diamond drill., 1917-09-08

them and ventilators the top along the ridge
for the entire length of the building.
The hospital units have all been completed but
the individual hospital buildings are not quite
| completed yet. Great attention is being given
! to these hospital buildings and judging from the
number that are being erected il is quite evident
that the sick and disabled from the men who
train in Camp Grant will be returned to that place
! for recuperation.
The buildings built Of hemlock lumber.
! dry-kilned and surfaced. The most OF this hem
! lock was obtained from the Michigan and Wis
consin forests and il is being shipped in great
volume. The grade is far from the best 1t in
cludes as nearly as | could Judge, from the best
grade Of culls up. | saw some lumber that a
few years ago wouldn't be accepted as No that
evidently passed for No / hemlock, but consider
ing the volume demanded and the haste necessary
in getting il, the quality on the whole looked
fairly good and worked up well
Every article that could be purchased IN mill
ed condition secured so that the saving
end matching reduced 10 the minimum In
order to facilitate the work. power saws were
located along the streets at intervals where tho
bridging and other short stuff that could be pre-
pared beforehand was cut up and the short
boards and refuse worked up
quite surprised at the small amount or
waste in evidence. One would expect where so
much haste was necessary that the waste would
be great but it was not. AS the buildings are all
plan and of the same size and type. lumber can
be worked up to much better advantage than It
could otherwise
Labor Was Big Problem.
The labor problem was one to be figured with
when the contract to erect the buildings at Camp
Grant was first let. II was claimed that 10 900
men were asked for at first but reliable estim-
ates place the number actually obtained AT from
seven 70 eight thousand. The day was on the
grounds we We're informed that there were z 200
men ON the rolls.
Each man is given number tag which he must
wear in plain view He checks in in the morning
and again at noon. The wage scale so was
told varied from $500 to $GS5 per day. Chicago
carpenters receiving the latter figure
one condition that favored the securing of la
Dor at Camp Grant was the sact that building
york in Chicago is Just now at a very low ebb ana
the immense number Of carpenters that are en-
ployed in that city in ordinary times was pract-
caiy released for work at the camp.
met men from ali over the country. In one
diana, from northern Illinois one from Mime
sofa and one from Chicago. 1t looked to me that
many were passing off carpenters who never
built any mansions in fact as | watched some Of
them wondered how they kept their identity hid
so well
was told that the first thing that the Chicago
did when II arrived on the ground al Camp Grant
was to regulate the wage scale and the labor
thu IN ~ ha attx
scale demanded and union rules OF overtime
and Sunday worked established
The city OF Rockford filled Jam full Of men
Every house where a man could be accommodate
ed has been taken up, and the women OF the city
so ! told by several OF the women them
selves felt that II a duty 10 take boarders
while tie camp under construction Commit
tees Of the women canvassed the city and all va
cant rooms were listed up by the women Of the
city clubs and the Red Cross.
Military Restrictions Apparent.
The ordinary citizen WHO has been in the habit
of visiting places Of interest throughout the
country and has never felt the restraint Of milf
tary rule chafes the bars that are set up about
military camp. This is especially true in the
case of newspaper man for almost anywhere IA
the United States newspaper mans card has
been open sesame to every nook and corner oi
an institutions It's not so now and rightly So The
bars have been put up. but it's hard getting used
TO t.
Really IL isn't SO much the fact that one can
not roam at large over these military establish
ments IL is that the guards who stop YOU don't
know anything or anybody that grinds Ask one II
YOU may stop your car here or there and get I'd,
not know" as reply The only thing that they
ar uhp Il "A Ia
"youll have TO get out OF here"
And then, TO get 10 headquarters is about as DIFF
dcult as getting personal interview with the