The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1917-11-19
What | saw in One Cantonment
(By Freeman Tilder.

(By Freeman TildenD
l went down to the concentration
camp at Yaphank on Long Island to
find out what the Y. NJ. c. A. Is do
ing for the fellows who are going TO
do the fighting for those who stay
at home and buy Liberty Bonds. i
went down there to find out what
the officers think. of the Y. NJ. c. a.
and what the men think of it.
came away absolutely convinced that
the Y. M. C. A. is doing work that
could not be done by any other eX-
listing organization, and work that IS
vital to the moral and physical wei
fare of the great army we are put
ting in the field. ="
This comes from a man who has
always SHE'D a little at organized ef-
forts to improve something or some
body. In general I've felt that II the
game was to make a better" man,
there Mas a fifty-fifty chance of also
producing a stupid man, in the pro-
cess. l sort of felt that though the
Waitings room of an interurban troll
ley car ffhe is 4 good place to stand
under when it rains, you cont have
LIZ WcSp- III ut1tuoC oDoo1 ~
consider it for a permanent home.
think yol get what l mean, Clarence
and Phoebe.
Now I say without reserve, after a
!: day at Camp Upton, short day, but
q busy one, that every dollar put In
to the work the Y. NJ. c. a. is doing,
during this is going 20 get ire
mendous dividends, not only while
the figf.is ggiHg On, but in that pre-
,,carious period-when the boys come
iihome. 1t is going to make the diff
/ ference between happy, singing,
contenfed army and; depressed,
J. homestck; and, 1fst1ess one. 1t is go
!. ing to mean the difference between
:: clear-eyed, clean, seif-respecting body
of men, .and--the other kind. And
that believe ME, Is good enough for
me: .s.
Wen, the argument ceases right
.here:..!The. rest: is what l saw, what
heard, and what l felt at Yaphank.
: Camp Upton isn't much to look at
in the full. glare. of the sunlight. 1t
e looks unfinished. 1t is unfinished.
$ And not only THAT, but several thou
: sand carpenters, lest you should for
get, pound the fact home to you at
every corner, "Pahg! Tap! Slam!
This plaee-whang! isn't finished
is S. Isn ca 4ep say falli nes
.5plank:: that nearly got 5sop permanent
3exemption.
4 The siunlps of;strees, still stare at
sSthe sky. Rockies who have been told
Ito keeps their seyes ahead fan conf
j cal victims IT, tRef rude us wit Of inter
the whole place was a virgin, but
! not respectable, wilderness of jack
, pine and scrub oak, only few weeks
ago. There is reek of boot-pound-
!, ed clay In the air. 1t was only a few
weeks ago that tendedly-cared-fo
Plattsburg officers were sitting un-
der sideless shelters, like toads I'm
der mushrooms.
But when 1 stepped out of an Of
fcers' mess room, after having one
of the best meals l ever ate any
where. there was something more
than half a moon. shining on zap
hank, and the landscape was about as
mellow as the good food had made
the campers. Looking off from the
narrow ridge on which headquarters
and the flag are placed, thousands OF
yellow lights are blinking from the
endless lines of two-story barracks.
There is an even-paced motion in the
Streets Dark figures move deliber-
atefy, but no slouching along. No
body is assisting telegraph poles to
stand erect. All movement seems to
have definite object.
Camp Upton is very new; lusty
infA6G Khleh isna yet sure about the
location OF its toes. A few studfous
geographers may know where any
particular company or regiment or
officer is situated. The rest navi-
gate around with about the same
chancefpf SUCCESS as@yous would fhave
OF 6Naing=R>mau On Broadway from
tha.MAtS dissertation that ne wore a
black derby hat, and was handsome.
My job, in the moonlight, was to
find certain Y. M. G. A. house.
There are six such houses in Camp
Upton, with two more building. They
all look alike, being not only painted
uniform green, but run in the
SAND d15l4asIo=design l wanted to
find particular Y. NJ. c. A. house
because Malmbarg had told me there
were to be pinks of very altitude
nous order that night. 1t seems that
two companies of the Three Hun
dred and Fifth Regiment were full
of pride as to the number of yaude-
vile artistsEthey had. Whenever a
man from Company 1 met man
from Company F.. he would say,
kid, we've got more talent in our
company than any other company in
this dump" Says the member of
Company F, THE equatorial climate
you have, bo." And so it went.
1t wasn't only the men, either.
Capt, Eaton is a friend of Captain
Kings, but he simply had to tell
him the truth that he, Captain Ea-
ton, has the most remarkable stage
talent you ever lamped. at which
Captain King sniekered disdainfLlly.
Well, before we can go. to France,
these things have to be settled.
You've got to prove it to me, kid,
see? How?. Where? At the Y. NJ.
C.. A., naturally, sThere is no other
adequate place. I'm the big, roomy
hall, with plenty of benches (easily
converted writing tables are a part