New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-02

say, III you EtN "F ~ Wv
fore : o'clock, eat your breakfast, take
ffteen-minute run at double-quicS
time. spcnd ten minutes on setung-up
exercises. then battle, shave. wash your
clothes. clean your tent, brush your
teeth. oil and polish your gun e''a',
copr company street, air your bed ana
roll up your tent flaps all this before
: o'clock in the morning and then Il
vou appear in the vicinity OF camp
Mills a. that hour you will hear tune
less blast from 1000 sturdy pairs VI
lungs shouting this verse as the r"en
swing down lazy country foau vi
@Hon' Hep, Hep, - Left! Right:
Left, Right! Keep in step tnSre.
sbonts the captain as he Glances down
,bo line Of SQUADS. Number OIL 'he
rear rank YOU are out OF step! hep.
Hep! Hep, ChinS IN, men! n a",
vonr chests out, There. that's hne.
swing your arms, Straighten out your
nieces icuns)! Let's get some pep INTO
this! Hep! Hep! Hep! Hep! 5000
aahds, r-r-r-right! Hureh;
A perfectly straight wall OF neaiSns
humanity lines INC ANNN'
nI~ ~ nriSe in the captains eyes as
he takes in each rudy isoe' 'N0'
ashds haiti Rest"
A Rest Is Welcome
Although the morning Is COOL the
fast march has made the men persplIe'
and at the command Rest. GroAh
of relief goes down the line. DOZENS
of clean white, blue, red and green
handkerchiefs are Jerked OUT from
t;cbt pockets and applied 10 damp
80 TIE Van-Who- Never-Gets- Tired
falls ont Of ranks and turns haho-
sDrinr on the green. Some one starts
mn the chorus. "The infantry, the IN
fantrv"-. Another joins; three
more voices chime in, until, IN lew
seconds, the entire command IS once
more believing out its favorite tune.
"Com-pa-nee 'ten-shun!' The cap
+ain's voice is heard again. Every man
scrambles for his place in line. In
less than ten seconds the line is once
more perfect, the men absolutely rlgla
and quiet. A meadow lark triIs us
clear notes near by. An automoolie
honks in the distance.
Private Kelly is wrinkllng ms nose
His expression is one of pain ana rage
hut no dares not move. A mosquito,
taxing unfair van "a ,
himself right between kelly's eyes.
The more Kelly wrinkles his nose, the
faster does the voracious mosquito MI
himself with Kelly's blood. A smsrting
tear rolls out OF Kelly'S eye, but he
does not move. In two short weeks OF
armv life il has been pounded into his
head that moving in the ranks means
punishment. And so we leave them
Kelly at panied attention, wrinSilng
his nose, and the mosquito, tail IN ar
still quenching his horrible thirst 'of
blood.
When the men are finally brought 10
Camp at 10 O'Clock they are tired ana
dusty and hungry. With the exception
of those who are suffering punishment,
cvery man can do what he pleases until
. o'clock in the afternoon, when the
conoDanies are taken out again to drllI
A visit 10 Camp Mills reminds one Of
busy antpile on a fair spring day.
Near the kitchen ten or twelve soldiers
ere helping the cook. Pots are boiling
over the field range. Three men are
neeIing potatos. Two more walk by,
hearing huge quarter of beef on their
shoulders: another pourS several
quarts Of sugar into a l0O-gallon can
where coffee boils merrily.
Further down men are tossing med
icine ball; a small group is carpenter
ing a wooden floor for their tent. A
redhead peeps out from behind a nap,
and shouts: Hey, jim, have you gotta
butt my smokes them James gave
me is all gone"
Some one is stunning guitar.
Private Thomas O'Kelly sings song
her down
the company street fiddle strikes up
a tune; il is an Irish melody command
ing quick step.
As YOU walk on you are suddenly at
tracted by the queer buzz Of voices
emanating from one of the tents. You
investigate and discover Private Frank
Curtis teaching French to about twenty
soldiers.
At the end Of the company street
fftv or more men are enjoying
showerbath. Half of them are wash
inc their clothes at the same time. An
officer passes by and fifty glisten-
ing bodies stand at attention and
salute.
You couldn't find a finer body of
men in the world" remarked Captain
William Kennedy, commander OF Z
COMPANY, at the end OF a tour Of IN
spection. "They are eager to learn and
ouick to understand. And we have them
here from all classes and every ma
tionality.
Fists Teach Cleanliness
Take. for instance, the case of R.
This man is a writer and lecturer OF
repute. His education has been com
plete; his manners are perfect. lie is
everything a gentleman should be, tie
enlisted in the 69th as a private and
was assigned TO my company. Nhen
we arrived at Camp Mills R was
shifted into a tent with ten other men.
One man was q Jew, another Pole,
two were Italians and the other SIX
were Irish.
"All the men came from the prole-
tariat classes, and | was very keen 70
see what h would 40 "aIcheo
him.
Three days later the first sergeant
came TO nv tent and reported fight
between R and one OF his tent,
mates. investigated the matter. and
discovered that R had threatened
TO thrash the fellow if the latter did
not take "A bath within twenty-four
hours. And he did. He had both eyes
closed as result
81 Immediately promoted r to be
"A corporal, and find that the men not
only like and respect him, but that he
hobnobs with them in the clubblest
manner
Captain Kennedy is fine type OF
soldier. Although he is known as one
of the strictest diSciplnarians in the
1G5th Infantry formerly the 69th), he
Ill l .