The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-06-19
AVER CAMP WILL
 SHELTER 30,000
 OF OUR NEW ARMY
Site Will Be 10 Miles Long; 10000 Feet of Lumber
 to Be Used

R. Edwards, U. s. A., commanding the Department of the Northeast, that a camp site at Aver. Mass, for the 1st Division of the new army to be created by selctive draft has. been ap- proved by the War Department, di- rects. public attention to the ground chosen.
 The town of Ayer-known to trav- elers as Aver Junction-is important chiefly as a railroad center, for here the main line of the Fitchburg di- vision of the Boston & Maine is cross ed by the line between Worcester, Nashua and Portland, by which through traffic from New York for Northeastern New England is routed.
 The Junction, which is 35 miles from Boston, is distributing point for Western freight, and has sidings with trackage for 5000 cars, it's freight yard being one of the largest in the East. .s
 These facilities, together with null tfple opportunities for the introduc- tion of spur tracks on both the lines named and also on the Greenville Branch of the F1tchburg, which starts from the Junction, had an important bearing on the consideration of Aver as a site for the 1st Division camp.
 An equally important factor in fa- vor of this location cover others was the presence of tract of virtually unoccupied land large enough for quarters for 30,000 troops, headquar- ters. storehouses. aviation field and rifle and artillery ranges, which could be obtained without excessive expense and without injury to private inter ests.
 The site approved lies west of the village of Aver and extends from within the limits of Townsend on the north, in a. slight curve, into Harvard on the south, and around to the Port land & Nashua line south of the Jun- tion., It's length, including the artil- lery range, is nearly 10 miles, and it's width more than a mile.
 All the rail lines named traverse the tract, which is also crossed by the State highway to Fitchburg, a town highway to Shirley and Har- yard, besides various minor roads. The Nashua River, on it's way from Fitchburg, IA miles west, to Nashua, IS miles northeast, takes an irregular course through the tract.
 The approximate area of the camp site proper is not far from 2,000 acres, but there are about 2,500 acres more, north of that, in the direction of Townsend Harbor, that may be taken for the artillery range.
 There are about 100 owners to the 4,500 acres but only about 250 acres of the whole is under cultivation, in few farms near the river. The rest is wild land, covered with scrub pines and oaks, underbrush and blueberry bushes.
 The soil is sandy, and almost worth less for cultivation, but ideal, from the sanitary standpoint! as q camp site.
 It is understood in Aver that the government has offered a rental of $1.50 a year per acre for the wild land, and that the rental for the farms will depend on the con- dition of each with regard to crops
 This rental brings a money return from many acres that have never yielded income, except from timber, of which they were stripped many years ago. Leases are to be signed in a few days.
 From a picturesque standpoint, the campsite is striking, though it con forms in no way to the accepted ideal of broad parade ground and border ing expanse of flat, cleared ground for camps.
 The land rolls for the most part. though many g. bush-grown plain southwest of the town of Aver. to- ward Harvard. might be made into a parade, ground on which a brigade could be drilled.
 Near the center of the tract, and dominating the lanscape for miles around, is a cleared hill, rising above r0i ho hridpa carrying the Fitchburg trolley line across the stream, that would afford an ideal site for headquarters for so great camp. The flag raised on. a staff planted here would be In ,View for 20 miles around.
 This hill owned by venerable ci- tizen of Aver, Levi W. Phelps, aged 94, who is the largest individual own CT of the acres which will be em- braced in the camp sites. ' A few years ago MT. Phelps con- ceiyed the idea of establishing an pavilion on this hill, and built there dance hall, and beside it an eight-roomed cottage.
 There has never been much danc- ing in the pavilion, and the cottage has never been occupied. The build ings are in good condition and stand ready TOT d dSnGTdl dAu AAAS cse1AA e~AA~ their clerical workers
 From this site the view over the proposed camp site and the adjacent country is perfect. To the northeast lies the village of Aver, mile away. few miles beyond it is seen the Goth ic towers of the famous Groton school for boys.
 Around to the southwest and south, but recently touched with the green of a tardy spring lies the ideal site for a. big infantry camp.
 The hills here ron gently, while the plain, slightly undulating. stretches toward the railroad for matter of two or three miles. In its midst is a yellow bank of sand that backed the largest, of a local gun club in years gone.
 The work of preparing this rough terrain for use as a camp, will be mans job, but ~there are no insuper- able obstacles to carrying it on rap idly. A light tractor would make short work of the bushes. Road ma chine would soon put company streets through the sandy soil A minimum of grading in most places