Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1917-10-24
News N6 |!!:['| IRON /
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UHllJt- UUUUI
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interesting |ntofh From the
Place Where Our Boys
Are Training, = !
= =. -. ...r5@' -
Division ]. Headquarters. s q mp
oodse. q. Oct. sa2-Thsy vondeFedf
wren Maiors Gsusral Plumma ssaidkts
would make soldiers At Camp Dodge
In three months, Kitchener said It
took six months. But Kitchener was
making; Tommies4 out Of slow but get.
there Enslishmen. --: -,.:~
They don't wonder any more: They
have begun to realize " that General
PIummer,s vision reached beyond the
logical adjective: It 70 logical to- meas
IRE what America can do with what
the nations of Europe have done. Con.
eral :P1ummer saw the material from
which armies are made. :. =. -.
He graeped the fact that the new
National army; is; thanks to- selective
couscriptiont to be builded Of The
Average American" And he knows
that the average man OF no other ma.
ton can stand up beside the average
American and prove himself his equal
In brains. He, also knows that the
best brains make the best soldiers:
The Canadians proved it first at Vimy
ridge and they have left no room for
doubt since.
The mq,t remarkable feature Of the
Eighty,eishth ;division cantonment to-
day IL the swiftness, with which the
raw and awkward recruits Of a. month
and ak weeks ago are being trans.
formed into soldiers. - =
You should see q battalion or regt-
mont of them swinging down the
broad concrete turnpike from the
drill grounds. with the easy stride
that marks the march Of the seasoned
soldier, their feet beating rhythmic
tread upon the hard road, keeping
time to the sharp count Of the ser:
geants, "Qne-Twe-Three--Four--
One-Two-Three -Four!" They car.
cy-4 their heads up and seldom is it
necessary: for the ~non-coms to break
the count with the remtnder of Heads
UP!t Their hats set sauarely upon
their heads, not down over one eye
or perched back In recruitish tilt.
They have learned their lessons WE'LL
John Barrett, director of the Pan
Union, came out from Wash
| ingtou and saw them a few days ago.
81 never have seen troops develop
80: wonderfully fast" he declared: He
had been asked what impressed him
most. a." ,@'r 80 IT, '':s'~
General Ptummer, in company with
Major General w. H. Carter, comman.
der OF the Central Department at Chi.
cago; watched "a regiment Of them
/ stride Into camp troma hike one at
tsrnoonjs' Veterans they are In mill.
tafy Hfe;iE yet when the last company
hxd passed; = they turned and found
each other With wondernent in their
eye1.' This 10 their first experience in
making soldiers of tho: Average Am.
'erican. Thru their years Of service
they have watched the regular army
man of peace times. who. tho a good
fighting man. when he has learned his
n1ilitarysA b ~G's hasn't the snap and
4 the. mental quiekness Of. his new bro
Their Of the ranks, the selective.
Cad Whatttso1diers they will be-"
/ exclaimed General :Plummer. "The
world will never SEQ an army their
equals. And this Eighty.eighth divis.
ion will Just be a. little better than
the rest.": ,~-. r. -
And in. that he; referred to the splen.
did physique of the conscripts from
Iowa. Illinois. North Dakota and Min.
nesota. the man of the middle west,
which are Just q little better than the
average not. only in America but Eu.
rope 10 we'll. er:'<'1:-:s $3.50
IL Williamo H. Sheppard, war CORES.
poudept ctos: The United Press, has
seen the soldiers" OF many countries.
But when: he went to, the border last
year and saw the boys from Iowa and
illinois and Minnesota and other mid
die western states. he sent out a dis
patch in which he said:
these guardsmen here are among
the biggest soldiers have ever seen
recall only two units with men Of
larger stature: They were the Kais
er'e own hand pick6d regiment. and =
prize regiment Of Russians"
What Is tho secret Of the rapid de-
velopment OF the boys at Camp
Dodge! ~
The day they set foot within the
military reservation, their business
became sold1ering. And they went al
It with American business style. They
kneW:zthey had to learn it and they
\ ~ ont to barn sit right. They are
learning It in minute detail. They
overlook 1othing that will help them
AFOREMENTIONED omcer's jobs avail,
the most pro cient. /: They have good
tnstructors-1,20e officers direct from
i training school at Fort Smelling and
500 per4eants hon the regular army
4 The regular army drill sergeant 10 81
+ & clans BY himself. But the oflcer.
from Smelling are ii many instances
fthef better ,tnitructors.. They :are
teaching I'll: other men what they have
just learned. And they haven't tor
gotten the points that were most diff
dcults for them tozmaster. There's
Il