The Washington times., 1917-11-18


scheme Of the army has been changed
here By the issuing Of thousands OF
the fatigue uniforms. These are Of
indigo blue, and not unlike the over
ais and Jumpers that lAborors some
times wear. The long lines as they
90 BY seem . sudden shock to the
eye now accustomed to seeing every
thing In olive drab. The fatigue unt
forms are well named for most Of
the new men feel that way. The
loose bags seem conducive to loung-
Ing, and many men, new to army
ways, can be seen sitting around on
the sand or on boards after their
lnrst hour Of hard drilling.
The great advantage Of these suits
II the fact that they can be handed
out with a. little ceremony a. L re-
quired for supplying bathing suits at
some popular seaside resort The
suits look q bit comicAl. and this note
II emphasized BY the fact that .
lenient government has permitted the
manufacturer to post big advertise
| meats on the backs of the suits.
There Il no bill posting In the front
of the suits to mar them, but tie
sign on the backs IL certainly q hard
blow at the fitness Of things. A line
Of the men, when they suddenly. about
/ BOu5
ing scheme. There II no camoudage
about It The blue suits win be used
in all kinds Of work, and the white
printed matter win be nothing lessj
than q target
Regulafisa suats Conanr.
There b rough training ahead that
will mean terrible wear on uniforms,
and the fatigue suits viii soon be is-
sued to every man In the cantonment- |
In the meanwhile the new men will |
get their olive drab uniforms with as /
little delay as possible. The new men |
are devoting their time to marching, |
drilling, school Of the soldier and |
school Of the squad No new man n |
asked TO get busy with . spade or
shovel, because Il Il regarded a. ur-
gent that he get the soldierly bearing /
promptly. Some OF the men who have |
had their month or six weeks Of
training are now ~dOing their BIT"
with spade and pick. and they are
having q real lark Of It II 10 Q
JOY to see them trenching around /
their barracks 50 that no water will /
drain under and make the building
damp. The place is home to them,
and they take . pride In making II |
spick and span. Wen they may do
this for every Sunday the mothers
and sisters, as well a. wives and
sWeetheArts, are here to pass judg-
ment upon this womanIess town. Thaf
men cook and do II well Il q matter
OF wonder to them, and that men
manage somehow to learn to make
their own beds, tuck away their own
possessions and tidy things up - par
dcularly amazing to many women !
visitors who know how little the men
ever seemed to care about putting
things away before.
1900 Arrive In Day.
Tho new men pouring IN here b. the
thousand-as many as 400 In one day
are spared the experiences that sore Of
the frst arrivals had In the early days
cooks were afraid to handle food that
seemed expensive for fear that the ae-
counts would not balance At the end Of
the month Some Of the coolCs were not
cooks At all. but takers. Now an that
has been changed Mess serEsants now
keep things straighter than hotel men,
and when these fellows get married thsy
VIII bring more science into the kitch-
ems than any Of the academic cooking
experts could dream Of
The first men TO get here were Ereetsd
by General Kuhn himself. Now, Of
course, there II no time for that Bands
are too busy to 80 down to Disnoy every
tims . railroad whistle blows. But Il n
q warm welcome the new men get Tia
welcome II personal Hardy Miller, Of
the Tenth ward, grasps the hand Of some ,
old chum he left behind. and after that !
the chum feels like q guest Of the finest
bunch Of fellows the wind ever blew |,
upon Life 10 % simple here No bell
hops, no calling for water. no tips, no
doubt about getting up early. The nrst
sting the new men get IL from the sur !
geon's needle In the Infrmariea. The
veterans" tell about the horrors OF this .
and other ideals. but the sensible fellow !
takes the jesting as part Of the genial
atmosphere Of Life In baTracksL
An interested In work. ,
The new men listen to the extravagant ]
stories Of the others, but they seem to (
be more interested In catching up with :
the bunch than in hearing about the (
steps by which the first contingent 9
reached its present degree Of develop &
ment as a military body. The newly Z
made non-commissioDed officers take G
great pride in their ability to Impart G
what they have learned 20 recently. {
While squads are marching and count
other men are to be seen {
gouging bayonets into imaginary Huns, {
aiming and "hring" at officers who s