Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1917-11-28
news NOTES FROM :
CAMP DODGE
Interesting Information From the
Place Where Our Boys
Are Trdnlng.

Division Headquarters, Cam
Dodge, Iowa, Nov. 26.-It has been the
fear of many a mothers heart when
her son marched away that he would
meet a more loathsome enemy before
he reached the battle front.
She has heard how the moral fiber
of the soldier is destroyed by the SOC
ial vices she has been told go with
the uniform. She has heard that as.
ISOLATION with women beyond the pale
barred by society in civil life, is toler.
ated and condoned by commanders :
that it is looked upon as a necessary
evil the moment red-blooded youth
dOns the khaki. 1t is permitted, and
winked at, she has been told, because
it induces cOntentment. And content
ment of the soldier is so vital to vic.
tory.
1t is hard for her to picture a mill.
tary camp with women of the under
world living in shacks nearby, camp
followers for the soldiers pay. It re.
quires no conjuring for her to see her
son breaking his own leash, and, when
the war is over, come home to her,
unclean.
| There have been times and soldier
camps that justify such fears, to the
disgrace Of the men who command
them. But the black flag has not
flown from the flag staff of all camps.
Camp Dodge is one Of the places
where it is proven that the destruc-
ton of morality is not necessary in
the making of soldier.
The $4,000 men who have come in
to it since the day it opened are clean.
er now than the day they arrived. The
| little red chart at the hospitals proves
| it.
There has been as high as 100 cases
of venereal diseases in Camp Dodge
| under treatment at the hospital at
one time. That's one man out of ev-
cry 23O. Today, there are less than
one out of thousand. The hundred
cases were brought~by the men from
the civil life. The eighty have been
cured. Thus, instead of proving
curse, the army has been the friend
of the young manhood of the eighty
eighth division. Instead of spreading
the plague, the life of the soldier UNI
der General Plummer has reduced It.
And what other cantonment can point
to such cleanliness?
I'VE can do it," said General Plum
mer, "and it will be DONE" It has
been.
1t is all in getting of the right foot.
Down on the border last year, the
Iowa troops were stationed in the
same district with several regiments
OF regulars. When there were two Lr
three cases of venereal disease in an
Iowa regiment, there were two or
three scores in one regiment of reg
ulars, according to the information of
Iowa commanders. The Iowa off,
| GERS looked after the welfare of the
men. And the guardsmen came back
to the Hawkeye state with less dis
ease than they took to the banks of
the Rio Grande.
On the other hand, soldiers have
been barred from the city of Seattle
because it has its redlight district
that beck0ns to the men in uniform.
Removal of soldiers from Fort Shell
ing has been threatened because wom-
en- braZenly seek out soldiers on the
streets, ignoring civilians.
Camp Dodge started right because
officers drove out all the women and
waged relentless warfare against
bootleggers. The two go hand in
hand. Not having tasted of the life.
the soldiers did not seek And now
it is largely out of their minds.
Further proof is found in the report
| OF Col. James P. Harbeson, command
ing military police. It shows that
since the opening of camp up to the
present week, only Twenty-Five sold
t'iers have been arrested for intoxica-
ton. That is one drunk every third
day from $4,000 men.
Not a single woman has been ar
rested near the cantonment. Only five
have been arrested in disorderly
houses in Des Moines when soldiers
were present-just five in the two
months of the camp. And the mill
tary police who are on the Job in
large numbers in the city, have been
in at the catch.
Only sixteen bootleggers have been
arrested for selling to soldiers in the
two months, while fifty have been
captured selling to civilians.
Bootleggers fight shy of sales to
soldiers because the federal author
tiles have brought out and are using
the federal statutes that permits q
fine of not to exceed $4,000 and a
sentence of not to exceed two years
in jail.
And it's all because the vices did
not get a foothold, because public
sentiment was against them and now
because the soldier himself, settled
down to war training as serious
business, is either against them or
does not have time to SOW the seed
that will develope desire for them,
The girls of Des Moines have shown
their confidence in the boys of Dodge,
There are hundreds of them members
of girls Volunteer Aid companies, or.
ganized for the purpose of entertain.
ing the soldier boys.
Dancing, of course, is the favorite
entertainment. Mothers began to OBJ
ject because the doors were thrown
open and the soldiery issued gen
eral invitation to come. Parents fear
ed for the safety of their daughters
many OF whom were young. Others
entertained no terror for the soldiers
The two factions had a meeting tt
thresh It out. When It was over, Il
was announced that the Girls Volun
teer Aid would continue to civ,
dances for the soldiers.
So much for the moral condition a
Camp Dodge.
Tommy is with us. Eight Englisl
officers and enlisted men direct from
the battle front where General Haig'
men hurled back the Teutons from
the river Scarpe to St. Quentin, hav,
arrived to join the French officers i,
instructing the men of the Eighty
eighth. They are a healthy lot, non,
of them showing wounds but all vel
| ~ f11n a~A