Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-05-16
Especial Correspondence


Fort Niagara, \. Y, May 16.-
Following the formal opening of the
Reserve Officers Training Camp here
yesterday. the 2.134 candidates for
commissions in Uncle Sans first
'conscript army got down to their
long daily grind which will end with
examinations in August, and possi-
bly, commissions.
The men will find but little spare
time for plesure. The schedule as
prepared by Colonel Samuel C. Mil
Ter. and posted Saturday, provides
for sixteen hours and forty minutes
action in each twenty-four The re-
naming seven hours and twenty
minutes are the recruits, to do as
he pleases, but he's supposed to be
in bed. and the chances are that
each night will find him there, after
that long grind.
1t is expected that the vacancies
allotted to the National Guard of
Pennsylvania, 366, will be filed
some time next week, surely by the
end of the month. Then the total
roster of the camp will contain $500
names. which with the reserve off,
GERS, on duty here, instructors and
post staff, will bring the total to over
$500 men. Some thirty cooks and
200 walters. all negroes. brings the
Strenuous Routine
The daily routine or the post is a
strenuous one. The men rise at $50
o'clock and from then until 10
o'clock they have but little time in
which to enjoy the surroundings.
which are most ideal. Field work
occupies their time during the day.
light hours. and after the evening
meal they must pore over their text
= H.,
tour of training they must absorb
the contents of fourteen volumes.
Replete With History
Situated as it is on the Canadian
frontier, the Niagara river and on
the south shore of Lake Ontario, II
is one of the most admirably ap-
pointed camps in the country. The
territory is replete with the country's s
early history. dating back to the
middle of the seventeenth century.
During this period the flags of
three nations, all now allied against
the Germans, have alternately floated
over the post, and each has left its
landmarks which will stand for
many years to come. The French
held the post on two occasions and
the British wrested it from them on
both occasions. each time with the
aid of the Indians There was no
actual conquest on the ground at
the time the post was finally handed
over to the United States long after
the close of the Revolution. although
few years later they tried to re-
capture it. That was during the war
of 1912.
The first mention of Fort Niagara,
or the post at the mouth of the Nj
acara river, was in 1859. when Rob-
ert Cavelier de La Sale sailed down
the St. Lawrence river and built a
hut on the present site of the post
Ten years later he returned with a
commission from the French govern
ment and built fort which was
known as Fort Cont. This was SUBJ
sequently strengthened by the Mar
Quis de lie Neville. who Erected four
bastions and left a garrison of one
hundred men we'll provisioned. This
was in 1887.
The. following year the French
were compelled to abandon the fort
1t had been besieged by the Seneca
Indians all winter and the garrison
had been reduced by sickness and
death to a dozen men.
The French, anxious to recover
the territory because of its richness
i'm furs, endeavored to and finally
succeeded in regaining the favor oi
the Seneca Indians, winning theh
goodwill from the British. With
their help they finally triumphe6
over the British and in 1719 the