Trench and camp. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, 1917-12-12

part of which appeared in last
weeks Trench and Camp. Mr..
Odeii is a noted writer and his
conclusions regarding the moral
conditions in and about the camp
are worth noting.-Editor.
6.----
Imagine two square miles of tenn
ing manhood, firmly organized and yet
bearing every evidence of care-free
liberty. Nothing i'll the camp is left
10 chance, and yet nowhere and at no
tlme do you feel the faint of militar-
ism Here is platoon--aS large as
pre-War company-just finishing an
eXtendedorder drill. 1t has been hard,
grinding work under peremptory-
voiced platoon commander. Suddenly
the men come to attention in close
formation. An athletic director APP
pears, takes charge from a platform,
and gives them fifteen minutes of cal
lsthenics. Then-and you can hardly
believe your eyes-the platoon begins
TO play leapfrog. This goes on for
lew moments, and a couple of medi-
cine balls appear and for ten minutes
more these are hurled from man to
man with lightning rapidity. Imme
diately following there is a game very
much like drop the-handkerchief, in
which the participants chase about to
find the vacant place. The air is full
children, the drill monotony is forgot
ten, and when it is over the men rush
TO their shower baths and then sit
down to mess with the appetites of
tigers. Play is organized in all the
military establishments More than
thirty games have been invented, suit
able for company, platoon, or squad
participation. In Camp Hancock Wal
ter Camp, Jr of Yale is the divisional
director, and his quarters are with the
commanding generals staff. l talked
with him about his work. He has or
ganiZed the division with brigade bat
talon, regimental, and company direc-
tors Mr.. Camps enthusiasm is sub
lime. These recreational interludes,"
he said, are getting the men into a
VohtiOnal condition in which they will
respond quickly to almost any moral
ideal. We are working in closest har-
mony with the officers, on the one
hand, and the " M. c. A. physical di-
rectors, on the other. We are human
izing soldering. One regimental com
mander said Ito. me yesterday. after
series of company games: That's the
greatest thing / ever saw in the army
No man can have a crouch after going
through those games We are laying
great stress also upon competitive ath-
leticsbaseball, football, basketball, and
boxing, by companies, regiments, and
battalions.
/ happened to be having luncheon
with Commanding General Price. and
his staff when divisional adjutant gave
out a notice; The general expects ey-
cry member of his staff to report at
5 D. m. for calisthenics." Such a sight
was something not to be missed, and
reported also About 80 men lined up
under command of Walter Camp. Now
men who are as near the top of the ser
vice as the divisional staff are not
Youngsters and many of them are by
no means slim. For nearly half an
hour they were put through their PAGES
arm and leg and neck exercises, alb
dominal and back exercises, lung and
liver exercises; they puffed and painted
and grunted and groaned. but they
went on to the end. even the baldest
and theA latest of them. Then they
chose sides and played the most riot
Gus game OF baseball I have ever seen;
and, as I had been chosen umpire,
there as nothing that escaped me-
Military titles were dropped entirely,
one of the higher kind even calling
ranking officer a lobster" they united
vociferously in demand to kill the
umpire, and far be it from me to tell
either the score or the number of err
rors! They were just boys again, with
every bit Of their healthy human ma
ture unleashed. Those are the men
who are making our armies, who win
lead them onto the battlefelds of Eu-
rope who will watch and ward them
day and night until they return the
men to their communities and fami-
lies. 1t is all so American, so human
so utterly different from the horrible
Frankenstein monster which the paci-
fists describe as the devilish, dehu
manizing military machine which
brushes individuality and kills all nat
ural instincts"
One evening l was sitting under the
fly of Brigadier- General StilIwelfs tent
talking about the old and the new days
of the army. I had told him of all the
plans unfolded to me in the War De-
partment by Mr.. Raymond D. Fosdick
for training camp activities. The gem
eral is a man of few words but of much
thought, an officer always loved by the
men who have served with and under
him Suddenly he turned, and, using
The title that I bore for ten years on
his staff, said: Captain, Uncle Sam
seems to be making a National univer-
sitv as well as National Army" That
is almost literally true. There are aca-