The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1917-10-04

selected men for national army serv-
ice will have a chance to rise in the
ranks never before offered by the
department to enlisted men.
landscapes Are Useless.
Fort Smelling graduates with
landscaping proclivities are discour-
aged at this cantonment of the ma
tional army. The officers who arm
rockies with shovels and set them
to beautifying the ground about
their barracks have been too promis-
cuous, it has developed. in their Sc
lection of labor for the drafter SOL
diers.
The construction quartermaster's
department sent force of men to
| excavate sewer connections and
grease traps in order to pack them
in frostproof boxes for the winter.
They dug up a few carloads of
dirt, dumping it Systematically about
the camp grounds close by the newly
made holes.
A few hours later a squad Of con-
tractors men went out with the
boxes. Shortly they came back.
There ain't no holes we can find, +"
said one foreman. I'VE thought
they wuz to be holes dug for u.s."
An officer was hurried out to
probe the situation. Sure enough,
there were no holes. An enterpris-
ing second lieutenant, seeing the un-
slightly piles of dirt about the bar
racks, set his troops to fill up the
holes. And they did.
Generally. however, aside from a
few minutes at police duty" which
consists Of picking up every piece Of
paper, cigaret stub or other scrap
of litter from the grounds three
times daily the selective soldiers in
this camp. especially those who
came in recently in the second in
crements from Illinois, Iowa, North
Dakota and Minnesota, have been
far too busy to spend any time fill
ing up holes.
Gasping officers, hoarse from yelling
commands to unheeding ears, have
been rushing the men at too rapid
a pace. This was due to an error of
judgment only, however.
Big German Gets His.
A big German came into the Of
fee Of Captain Erwin Kingsley Of K
company Three Hundred and Fifty
second regiment, composed of North
ern Minnesota and North Dakota
drafted men. The man. who could
not speak English, claimed to be an
alien and not subject to draft.
Captain Kingsley has a smatteTing
or German, and he tried to interro-
gate the man. Incoherent mumblings
were the only response to his uues-
ttons. He admitted finally his father
was naturalized. When asked how
old he was when his father received
his papers, the man lapsed into COM
plete dumbness.
Then lieutenant who spoke lit
tie German took hand. Still the
man failed to understand. The at
tempt to elicit any accurate informa-
tion was given up. The man started
to leave the captains office.
AS he passed through the door an
old first sergeant from the regular
army spoke sharply TO, the German.
Are you getting enough to eat
now?" he asked. The man was taken
by surprise and Off guard for an in
slant.
Sure" he replied quickly. I'm
getting all l want" That ended the
episode and the man still is in ranks,
a member OF the national army.
vaan Lear Makes Kick.
But this mans experience in get
ting enough to eat is not shared In
by all. For instance, Ralph Van
Lear, son of the Minneapolis mayor,
has eaten but one meal in the bat
terry mess hall Of the Three Hundred
and Thirty-seventh regiment, to
which he belongs Cant stand the
food" explained Ralph. "Thia stuff
Is disgusting. The beds are soiled
and dirty, the bIankets-look at
them"-and he held up pair of army
blankets with a thick layer of dust
on them, blown i'm from the tornado
OF dust blowing through the canton
ment streets-"how do they strike
your
Van Lear also registered q strong
kick on conditions in the base hos
pital. He says they give us two
pink pills and brush OF iodine for
everything" Ralph is suffering from
rheumatism and goes back to the
hospital to stay perhaps a couple of
weeks,
Have First Formal Muster.
Every officer and enlisted man at
Camp Dodge not physically disabled
or detailed to special duty lined UP
the other morning for the first form
al muster of the division.
For two hours the vacant spots
about the barracks were filled with