The Washington herald., 1917-10-20
|85 D.C.BOYS
ENTRAIN TODAY
Leave Camp Meade for At
lanta and Probably
Over There"
~ ANDREW n. KELLEY.

Camp Meade, Admiral. MO-, oct.
I1s.-shortly after the first mess call
tomorrow morning eighty-fivs Dis
trict soldiers will pack up their be-
lonsings and march to the Disney
Military Station for entrainment for
Camp Gordon. Atlanta, Ga, the first
unit of washingtonians to move for
| what may eventually be "over there
there"
The names Of the men who will
comprise this group were disclosed
after the noon mess, and all were
given leave until taps to make
their fareweils to relatives and
friends in Washington.
I Some of the men were sad and
some were glad. but all leave the
312th Machine Gun Battalion with
the finest Of feeling for the cOnsid-
eration shown them by the Officers.
and with regret that they are to
leave companies entirely composed
OF Washlngtonians.
A SeIective Lottery.
| In selecting those who will move.
| the company commanders used the
utmost fairness. The names Of all
the men were deposited In a box and
they were drawn out in a selective
lottery, much like the system prac-
tised In the draft. At the request OF
division headquarters, the names of
the men are not made public. but %
| come from Company c, rs from Com
pany B, and % from Company A.
Among the group who were pulled
are a number of men whom the Off
| GERS see depart with sincere regret
for they have been doing exceedingly
| fin work and number had already
been picked for noncommissioned Of
f1cers.
Company c had the stiffest training
stunt of the battalion today-a
straight two-hour hike at q fast pace.
! and they are congratulating them
selves that not one man in the COM
pany fell out OF the line.
| A drenching rain. that set in late
in the afternoon, called Off the drill
work for the day. and the time was
spent in preparing for inspection to-
morrow and the much desired week
end leaves which will be granted to-
morrow and Sunday.
Piano for Company A.
The big event In Company A was
the RECEIPT Of q brand new player
piano and a pool table. The boys are
indebted In part to the generosity of
| Hugo worch, the well-known WASH
ington piano dealer. for the harmon
ious instrument They raised $50
! among themselves and Worch gave
them the new $500 player for that price
and included with It about siO0 worth
Of the latest records. Carl Worch,
a son Of the donor Is a member of
this company. The pool table will be
paid for out of the company funds.
| Court-martials were handed out to
| three OF the District boys today, and
, two men who overstayed their leaves
| were brought into camp under guard.
! Those sentenced TO lose two months
pay, two months leave and stretch
in the guard house were found guilty
of bringing liquor into the cantonment
and OF overstaying their leave.
Those who encourage the men 70
| remain from camp over their allotted
time are acting very unwisely since
the officers propose TO be more rigid
as the training progresses. One of the
| captains read to his men today the
/ punishment meted out to a regular
army private who deliberately over
stayed his leave and was brought in
as a deserter. Life imprisonment was
! imposed as a deserter. but a review
| ing board afterwards reduced the SEN
| tence to ten years at hard labor. 1t
| was an aggravated case, but was Of
| fered to show what q serious breach
of discipline such tardiness consti-
tutes.
To Handle Machine Guns.
For some reason. division headquar-
| teTs has not sent around the neces-
sary papers that will permit a num-
Der of the rejects to leave the camp
and return home. Although they were
| found physically unfit some time ago.
they are still in the barracks and
under pay and they are as anxious
| to get home as the officers are to
have them go.
| Much OF the time In the future will
be spent In sighting. pulling the trig-
ger and handling model machine guns.
Most OF the inexperienced men squint
| their eye and screw up their faces
| in sighting the targets, which is Just
| what they should not do. 1t also has
already developed that many men who
| never handled a gun Of any kind may
prove the most adept marksmen. Just
as soon as the work has advanced
! further there will be company COM
petitions among the Washington men
on this work.
Company C has the distinction Of
having the highest per capita average
\ in the cantonment for subscriptions.
! Nearly $4,000 has been subscribed and
the total for the boys from the Cap
ital has now reached nearly $4,000