The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-11-25
5000 Officers Graduate
 at Ft. OgLethorpe Monday
It's All Over That Is the Training and Those Who Have Sur vived the Crucial Test of Body and Mind Are Anxious Be Home With Loved Ones Prior to Going
 to Their Stations Somewhere
By RICHARD F. LUssIER

Camp Warden Mclean. Fort ogle-
 thorpe, Ca, November 4.-(Speeiai.)-It
 is all over. After three months of the most intensive military training that the
 skilled instructors of the American gov
 ernment could impart to the candidates
 the Fort Oglethorpe Officers Training
 camp will graduate on Monday morning
 some 3O00 officers for the new national
 army of the United States. It will De an impressive ceremony.
 Already instructions from the war de-
 pertinent have been received which will
 assign these new officers to practically
 all parts of the country-and many to
 foreign service. Nothing Is made pub
 lie. however, regarding these matters
 and only the bare announcement of the
 names of the men who graduate will be published.
 The graduation exercises for this camp will, it is planned, be much more of an impressive affair than previous cere- monies of this nature. Major General Duvall, commander of the southern de-
 partment will be present to hand out the commissions. It is expected that thousands of friends and relatives of the successful candidates will be present to witness the final scene in the making of reserve officers.
 Immediately following the graduation exercises, the reserve officers will at once hie themselves to their homes. There are men here from ati parts of the country. Special trains Will leave Chat tanooga on Monday afternoon for the northern cities of Pittsburg and Phtla- delphia, where hundreds of the officers reside, while special trains will also be operated to Atlanta. For the Birming- ham contingent, the regular trains will suffice.
 ] Many of the Alabama men had decided | to come home on the o'clock local train | from Chattanooga. which arrives in Bir- mingham at o'clock that night, but l inquiry of the railroad agents brought l the information that no special arrange ments could be made for Pullman accom- modations, as these cars were needed l for the special trains going north. Thus
 no party could be arranged and the Bir- mingham officers can be expected to ar l rive in town anytime from Monday night | to Tuesday noon. There are about 300 Alabamians left at this camp who will graduate on Monday morning as reserve | officers.
 l The last week of the training camp started out to be arduous-but the officers and instructors could not keep up the pace and there was general slackenlng | towards the middle of the week. By l Wednesday, the officers and instructors l began to talk with the candidates and the conferences on military matters that l followed became as a matter of course | merely friendly chats. The bars were lei ] down. One of the peculiarities of the letting down process of the training was it's physical effect. For the past three months the men in this training camp have endured without a murmur the most gruelling labor imaginable. They ] were so hardened that they could go out and sleep In a mud puddle all nigh' and never even catch cold. The can ddates imagined themselves immune to all illness and fatigue.
 However, from the very first of the final week of the training, scores of the linen began to feel tired. Others who had been scoffing at the sick roll call began to harken to it. There was a gen eral feeling of lassitude that could not be dispelled, and the psychology of the 1 whole thing was that the slowing up of the work on men keyed up to great ef- I fort simply made them a trifle sick. Some records on long distance sleeping
 should be made during the course of
 the next few days, as the men will ar l rive home tired.
 ], MEN OF ONE PURPOSE l Most of the men who will graduate : on Monday morning are samiliar with