The Washington herald., 1917-12-02
CREATES CITIES
IN WILDERNESS
FOR new ARMY
Brig. Jen. ]. W. Littell Per-
forms Herculean Task as
Cantonment Builder.

-YeHeydsy this pos q rVildsrssss,
s.usst of plain, bordering group
of hills, sentinel pines ogdiHSt the
sky; on the bottoms o niasn'ie
rvomb nth STRIPPING trees, bHryi"g
their roots in the muck. A sild Place
indeed, resort for berry pieksrs, or
NE. and Boys uitb dogs and gsns,
o.s from the neighboring tozrn. To-
dog Q city, q place Of o fhoasdnd
buildings set iH ysgEIov roops and
Housing 10000 men, boys full gro1Un.
A salient, bHsy community making its
residents ready for the most ssrioEs
bxs;ssss of their young E0es-the
sesisg of democracy for the por'd."
In the,. c -Apact sentences I'd
ward Hungerford has visualized the
esntonnents Of the United States. and
his inspiring story In Everyoodys
current issue II interesting to . de-
gree.
Genius Il Mobilised.
The camps Of the first half mil
Hon" did not grow. as Topsy says
she did. They are the result Of the
combined genius Of many men. Men
Of military training. men who never
shouldered . gun. men Of peace until
war came, yet each qualified to add
his quota to the wonderful achieve
unent represented In the sixteen camps
or eantonments.
II was q gigantic undertaking for
q Eoyernment, Just edged into war.
to provide training camps for . MIL
lion men. II was obvious that these
eantonments must be scattered-and
equally obvious that they must be
contiguous to but not too near the
large centers of population II was
not strange. therefore, when seeking
men for this stupendous job, recourse
should be had to the graduates of
west Point. The oficer selected was
Big. Cen I. W, LittelI, then q colo
mel No man in this war ever faced
or ever will face Q more Herculean
task
Has Able Helpers
As the quartermaster general was
charged with pr yiding shelter for
the army, the problem OF housing the
national army, and the National
Guard naturally became . duty Of
his office.
Col. I. W. Littell. since promoted to
. brigadier generalship. an assistant
of Gen. Sharpe, the quartermaster
general, was in charge of that branch
of the quartermaster generals Of
fee known as the construction and
repair divi-ion. and it therefore fell
to the lot of Col. Littell to take
charge of this great task.
He was ably assisted by Mai Demp-
sey. Maj. Marshall Maj. Whetson.
Mai. Gunby. Mai. Junkersfeld. Mai.
HumuIton. Mai. Wheaton and W. H.
West. in charge Of accounting.
Great Task Accomplished.
June was upon them, with nothing
done beyond organization. On this
day in December it can be said that
/. all sixteen cantonments are not only
. created, but occupied.
= Architects, contractors, city plan
ners, engineers and army men of all
grades under Col Littrell created six
teen cities, and peopled them. Beauty
and comfort-that men might live in
adequate quarters and pleasant sur
roundings, safe from disease and
moral administrative been the
aims ever in the mind of these pa
triotS.
The story will have to be written
/ again, but there is a story now in the
magnificent response OF labor, and
when history is written 1t will reveal
. In Samuel Gompers one of the great
men Of this man-creating epoch.
But the storm center of all this
magic was Col. Littell, and neither
time nor fate can rob him of the
credit Of rendering a great service to
his country in a magnificent way.
Born In New Jersey.
Gen. LitteIl was born at Elizabeth,
". J. After attending DR.. Pingree's
famous school for boys. he took q
course in mechanical engineering at