Arizona republican., 1917-08-10
AMERICAN TROOPS BEING INSTRUCTED
 BY THE BRITISH
Republican A. p. Leased Wire1


 LONDON. Aug. 9.-Through the courtesy of the war and foreign offices a staff correspondent of the Associated Press has been permitted to visit the American troops at their billets In England. They were found encamped in valley in which white tents extend ed as far as the eye could see, with British officers and a squad of non commissioned officers intensively training them.
 These British instructors were busy making soldiers from men who untn a few weeks ago never saw an auto matic pistol or a gas mask, and they were quite pleased at the success of their efforts. for the Americans, they say, learn quickly, understand thor oughly and do not forget what has been told them. Moreover, they consider re- markabe the way in which the Amer jeans of the engineer corps bend them selves to the discipline when they re- aliZe it is all-important in the conduct of the war
 Today the Americans are working with gas masks. The instructors break up companies into squads and the members stand in circle and get lessons in quick adjustment, a feat which often means life or death. Tt is a question of quick or dead" the in- structor told the Americans, and after that no time was lost in the operation. The Americans are being instructed in the use of several varieties of masks, some of them resembling a hangmans s cap and others adjusting like the ap- paratus of a wireless telegraph re- ceiver over the heads. Once speedy in the adjustment of the mask. the Amer jeans are taken to the gas trenches where they walk through deadly fumes and to the open plain where just a little of various gases are liberated from tanks. This is done so that the soldiers will learn to know the smell, and recognizing it, take no more than one whiff. The gas instruction takes up much of the time of the Americans The remainder is given to calesthenics and infantry drills for the officers and men. And it is a long day-from , :45 o'clock in the morning until 10 o'clock at night.
 Most of the men at this encampment are from the railways of America They are made up from the operating and construction divisions of the railways and they are working hard in order to be ready to construct and operate roads in France and to fight for the priv ifege, if necessary. Some of the com panles are made up of men from roads
 
 burg and New York. But the men themselves come from all over the country. Many of them already have been through instructions at camp
 A taste of what is coming in the way of weather and mud already has been had. Some of the companies from the Chicago lines arrived at the camp in a driving rain which continued for four days. The ground was a sea of mud hea 11r- 4l,1 the clOud-roof the whole camp gave three cheers for it. The remainder of the day the men were to be seen hang Ing their shoes and clothing in the sun to dry.
 The British officers at the camp are highly pleased with the appearance and adaptability of the Americans an6 with the scheme of enrolling the rail- road men in separate units. One of. ficer said today:
 These men of yours are all healthy husky and intelligent and should dt honor to their country and themselves The American plan of putting railroaf men into separate units is excellent We should have done that at the be. elhnlg or the war. We would have been better off Many men, such a. railway operatives and men from tb. construction forces are infinitely more dple TOT that work than in the trenche, and can serve the country better.
 The trained man in the job he thor. oughly understands makes the most ef tlclent unit These men when the, reach the field of operations can run 7 military railroad or kill Germans Therefore they are doubly valuable The Americans and the British iron nearby camps, especially the CanadianS traternize freely at all times and spen, much of their leisure together. At tn gas trenches the Americans mingl, with the British at instruction. th campaign hats of the Americans bein, sandwiched between the caps of th "Tommies"
 The Americans sometimes meet wifi trouble in conversing with the British CTS As yet the Americans do not un derstand cockney speech well. and tn cockneys themselves have some littl trouble in understanding idioms of th men from Chicago and New Yorl American and British flags float owe the camp from the same pole and. t quote the adjutant of one of the bat tal1ons, they mix well-both red. whit and btue-the best in the world an the next best"