New-York tribune., 1917-08-26
Fighting 69th"
Boys Happy
At Mineola
Good.Natured Irishmen See
Only Jokes and Fun
in Camp Life

CAMP MILLS, MINEOLA, l.. Aug
| 25-Another summer occupation was
added to the list on Long Island this
week. 1t is watching the terriers
drill" and the most popular spot on
! the island has become the parking
strip just outside the lines of the field
where the boys of the famous Fight
ing 69th" are encamped. Scores OF
automobiles are drawn up here every
day, and hundreds of men and women
sit watching the Irish regiment go
through its PAGES.
"Oh, joy! Oh, boy! Where do we
20 from here?" sing the men in camp
at night. But they spend very little
time during the daylight hours in
wondering about that or anything else
All of their energy is taken up IN
building a new camp and in getting 1t
to running smoothly. Under the leader
shin OF Colonel Charles D. Hine they
have gotten everything into such
speedy working order that they might
have been encamped at Mineola for
months. The gallant Sammies with
the Irish twist to their tongues don't
even glance upward now when flying
machine buzzes overhead.
But shure and they had all our
necks stiff the second day out" said
Mechanic Mccarthy, Of Company +.
Last week the men had been at work
in Offices and shops and factories OF
the city; now they were being in
troduced to the rigors Of camp life,
and the domestic part of it in particu-
lar came hard.
Its in favor of giving women the
vote, am" murmured Private Will
lam Bray as he bent with n steaming
face over the washboard. "The more |
rub the blacker it gets"
"And at home my wife even puts the
cream and sugar in my tea" mourn
fully remarked one of the group Of
potato peelers of Company c, where
Privates VI. Shalley, K. L. Bull, James
Brenner, P. Farrell, Joe O'Brien, j.
Keavey and Joe Alnwick were engaged
in a pairing marathon.
But Harold Cokley. the cook of Com
pany G., already known in camp life
as Madame Butterfly, was disposed TO
be cheerful about IL.
"G's the best letter of the alphabet,
and we're going to have potato salad
and salmon for supper ne observed
to his helpers, Privates Frank Sulli-
van, p. Gaynor and II. Habsche. you
can't beat that.
"All the comforts of the Bowery,"
said Private Michael Corbett, of the
medical department, as he sweated
over the exemplary shine he was put
ting on a pair OF shoes. And some
that Bowery never thought Of said
Private Howard King, as he welded
his hatchet in cutting monogram Tor
the officers quarters.
Private william McMahon of Com
pany VI and Private II. =. Cleary com
pared aches and strained ligaments as
they paused in their work OF trench
digging for a moment, and agreed that
camp life had something a little siren
uous about it'll you get used TO 1t,
that is.
as he ought to be, some of the men
SAYS at once the best loved and the
least popular private IN the camp at
present. Billy is the mascot Of the
band. which is very fond Of him; but
the other companies pretend not to ap-
preciate goats. and call him Billy the
Blight and Billy the Bum. And this
is unfair, for Billy is full of the trus
fighting spirit that has made the regi-
ment famous.
Red Cross at Glen Cove
From digging trenches TO doing Red
Cross work is not so far cry as 1t
may seem to be these days, when the
women are displaying as much energy
in their chapter work as the men can
hope to show in camp. The Glen Cove
Red Cross, which meets in the Neigh
borhood House three times week, be-
longs 10 this nch-digging type Of
chapters. Although the organization
is not a large one, its members have
already filled five boxes TO send to Eu-
rope this summer, and the summer aux
liary of the society, which meets at
the home of Mrs. Clifford V. Brokaw,
has filled five boxes more.
+. Willetts is the chairman of the
Glen Cove Chapter. Mrs. W. NJ. Zabris
kie the vice-chairman, Mrs. Bruce Clark
the honorary supervisor, and the in
spectors of the finished work are Mrs.
John Birdsall, Miss f. b. Coles, Mrs.
j. S. Appleby and Mrs. Zabriskle. Mrs.
A. w. Rossiter is the acting chairman
during the illness Of Mrs. Zabriskie.