The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1917-09-12
into MUZZLES
OF FRENCH 75'S
Newly Commissioned Officers Invade
Great Barracks at Camp Dodge
and Look Into French 75s
RIGID WAY FOR THE RECRUIT
Raw Recruit Must Drill Forty Hours
Week, With "Wednesday and
Saturday Afternoons OF


Division Headquarters, SSth Divis-
ion, First Overseas Army. Camp
Dodge, Iowa, Sept. 11-(Special to
The Review)-When the newly COM
missioned officers invaded the great
rows OF barracks at Camp Dodge to
take command OF the conscript sol
diers to which they had been assigned,
many of them looked into the muzzles
of French 75'c," the guns that stop
ped the Huns at Marine, and Long
Toms" the long nosed "Bertha's'
that are blowing the way of the Brit
ish Tommies to Lens.
The 75's, the three inch field artil.
lery pieces, were drawn up in front
of a number of barracks. lntersperscd
among them were the heavy artil-
lery" pieces, all "armored' according
to Hoyle.
When the officers investigated. the
gums" proved to be iron sewer pipes
of various sizes, mounted on wagon
wheels and buggy wheels, protected
with wall board "armor." and equip
ped with gear to raise and lower them
to get proper range.
They had been built by the newly
arrived conscrips from material they
found in the hooks and corners of the
great cantonment, built under the di-
rection of men of former military en-
perience, that the drafted boys in
khaki might learn the rudiments OF
artillery drill while they waited for
real guns. -
And that is the spirit of the con.
script army which next spring will
sail the Atlantic to join the ''poilus'
of the tri-color OF France in the march
to Berlin.
They are in it now. They want to
get at it. They want to become good
soldiers as quickly as work will do
it. And with the American resource
fulness which will make them better
fighting men than the Germans, they
4 built uractice guns without the sug-
s4gHsAion sffom officers, that they might
lose no more hours than necessary
getting It," ">y.-%. =.
II any conscript in Camp Dodge to.
day ever thought of being Stacker
he soon lost it in the enthusiasm II
his comrades in arms.
Those who have watched the new
sOIdiers agree with General Edward
H. Plummer, camp commandant,
when he said:
"Thee months hard work will pat
the new national army into fighting
trim, and they will not only be able
to go across but they will be able
TO cope with the best armies Germany
ever Produced
Let us follow private'from Craw-
frod county through the rough and
rigid way from the raw recruit.
through his early camp training,
through the school OF building hand
grenades and bombs and gas masks,
through the trenches and bomb proofs
to the iron muscled fighting man he
will be when he boards the transport
for the blood-red fields of France.
The private stepped from an inter-
urban car to the receiving depot with
his suit case in his hand. He was
confronted by one of a hundred OIL
GERS in the long receiving line and di-
rected to the. registration barracks.
He went through the gauntlet Of
officers where he was formally and
quickly enrolled in the United States
army Then he was ready for his
duty as a'soldier. And as a soldier
he had to wait on himself. He was
told where to get a cot, blanket roll
and mess gear. He was given bed
sack" and directed to a great straw
stack. He filled it with straw until
it bulged. 1t is his bed. He returned
to quarters to await orders.
For two weeks the private will do
light drill. The pressure will grad
ually be increased But he must first
receive three shots in the arm" that
will render him immune from typhoid
fever for a period of seven years. He
will be given another shot that will
protect him from para-typhoid. He
will be vaccinated against the small
pOX.
If he is a good mathematician he
will go to the artillery. II he is an
engineer, he will go to the engineer
ing corps. II hi ever studied teleg-
raphy or wirelf S, the signal corps
will get him. de will so to the
branch of the service he is best fit
ted for.
H will drill forty hours week with
"Wednesday and Saturday afternoons
off: III he should prove bit dull. he
will shave to work in an awkward
-
Just a little more quick Of mind, he
will get a non-commissioned officers
place.
His first real military drill will be
in the school of the soldier. where he
will be taught the things the soldier
as an individual should know, such
as the salute and the proper conduct
toward officers. Later he will be CIV
Ell a rifle and taught its usage If in
the infantry. Then he will be placed
in squad of eight mon and taught
to march, Platoon drill, company
drill and battalion drill soon will fol-
low in order He will learn above
all things to hit the bulls eye with the
rifle on the target range. where hun
dreds OF his comrades will shoot at
hundreds OF targets until the rifle
cracks will sound like battle.
When these fundamentals are mas.
tered will come the modern arts Of