Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1917-06-16
Interesting Letter
From Comfort
Fort Logan II. Roots, Little Rock, ARK
June 9, 1917.

here at camp, l know % no I.-ttI N"'
that these can be spent than by writing
to the folks at hame through your col
umns, telling them of what Uncle sam
is doing in the way Of training m,i,
future officers Of the amy, 20 be-, IN the
methods OF present warfare.
Abbcyillc is well represented here by
five of its sons: T.. }. White, Reno Val
lee, Wilfred Montague, Michael Perrct
and the writer.
Fort Logan II. Roots at Little Rock,
where We are encampcd, is one o. the
sixteen training camps instituted 10y tine
government, for training only the best
men physically, to be officers commits
stoned in the service Of the army, and
only those men who desire this training
are admitted. OF course this does not
say that all who attend will be given
commission. To get comm. ,Siun mcI
must show their qualifications and ablt-
ity and are required to pass a certain
set standard. Throughout the training
period an efficiency record is kept OF
each mans conduct, habits, general APP
pearance, recreations in class and his
ability to handle men. Should any one
not qualify for a commission it does
has been wasted. The training is one
Of the finest that can be haa in the
service and is conducted en- the same
plans as the course offered at West
Point; and, it puts YOU in a better po-
sition to command a higher Office IN
rank than any OF the men who are TO
make up the new armies created by the
draft system.
The attendance at the camp is some
thing over 22J0 men who are from the
states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Okla
h1ma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois and
some few from other states You Will
be very glad 10 know that our state has
furnished more that her quoto OF men,
and we are very nearly ! 900 strong
Nest IF the men are college men, while
married men are in very CONSPICUOUS
numbers about the place.
You are probably interested in the
location Of the camp, and its general
conditions. Fort Roots which is an
army post is four miles from Little
Rock, just across the Arkansas River.
The post is ON the | 400 acre govern
ment reservation, the greatest part of
which is or a hill, probably two hun
on the north and east sides are small
farms and farm houses, surrounded bv
dense woods;on the south and west sides
is the Arkansas River with its numerous
large sand bars projecting high out of
the water. The city of Little Rock and
the hills with their dense woods in the
distance present very beautiful land
scape. Previous to the establishing OF
the training camp the buildings on the
post, ell brick, were those occupied bv
men Of the regular army and were no.
large enough to accommodate the mum
Der of men who were to attend cam,
Since then, thirty two camp houses
sixteen mess kitchens, sixteen small
houses for officers and the companies.
Y. NJ. c. A. and quite a few other
buildings have been erected.
ms brings me to the housing and
feeding of the men. The "shacks',. as
we call them, are about one hundred
and seventy-fve feet long, and thirty
feet wide, arranged side by side and
to the main street lead |
ing TO the parade grounds. Each com |
pany is allotted two shacks, with :;
forty foot street between each buildinp. |
mess kitchen, just in front and across |
the street, and a bath house. shower. in |
the rear being used by every two com |
panies. Each shack when full houses
eighty men. You may be in doubt |
about this but when you consider that
a bunk is only thirty inches wide and
a twenty-four inch space between hunks |
you will readily see that we have no |
trouble In housing all of these men.
Now that you know something about |
our living quarters, should think that |
your next question would be how are
we fed? Uncle Sam takes mighty good |
care Of us in this department and gives |
us the very best. most wholesome. and !
most nourishing food to be had. The
allowance for a days board for the en-
tire camp is nearly $1,700 a dav. Quite |
food bill for our Uncle Samnlie ism 4 |
1t, and this is for one camp only.
Can you conceive the tremendous task !
it is to feed 2200 hungry mouths three
times q day and still maintain an at
mosphere Of satisfaction bervaen The
men and the cooks9 Our never chanpinr
dish Is Irish potatoes. set IN in oil |
styles. We have them for breakfast, |
dinner and for change, Irish potatoes
for supper. seven DAYS out Of the weak
we enjoy them though, for the, are
good. Besides potatoes we have meet,
in all styles. fresh vegetables, desserts
every dav, fruits, breakfast fools, teq. |
coffee, chocolate, lemonade ard ulapty
OF bread and syrup. We are well salts !
fed with the way we are treated and
have no complaint to make Whatever.
told you at the beginning that spare
moments were rare occasions, and we
hold them as luxuries. Perhans Won
sort of questioned such a statement. but
IN such times as these, l believe that
most Of us realize that the time for
play Is over and that the game To be
played is now one of war. Few people
In proportion to the population of this
country realize to the fullest extent
that our country is actually at war. and
the whole will not awake to this noir+
until wars grim toll Is brought to their
doors. IL seems impossible that sucb
peace loving people as we Americans
are, should be plunged into this grea,
world catastrophe, il is here, and we
arc going II meet i in the same wav
that our fore fathers met and defeated
previous infrinCements OF our liberties
and honor. So, saw that we are nm
here TO work and glance at the fol
lowing daily schedule will help Won
realize this:
First call, or the time for rising e
sounded at $3.50 a. m assembly for roll
call at J;45, breakfast al 600. After
breakfast comes police duty, IL civilian