The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-08-21

Y. M. C. \. BLAzES THE WAY
Prepares HOmelike Reception
Hall Under Circus Tent.
Expect Division To. Be in
France Before Cold Weather.
BY HUGH BAILIE.

stantly maneuvering high overhead,
20 900 American boys-the rainbow
division''-are today mobilizing for
war. They will be the first citizen
soldiers to reach the trenches.
Camp Mills, where this forty-second
division of national guardsmen from
all parts of the country will be QUAR-
tered until it starts for France, IS
springing into existence like a magic
city conjured up with Aladdin's lamp.
A week ago the 400 acres over which
it Is spreading were pasture lands.
Motor trench diggers, devouring the
ground at the rate of three feet a min
ute, cut bitches for two miles of water
pipes A thousand soldiers from the
Twenty-second infantry g.. laid out
streets, made roads, and with the aid
of civilian laborers built 800 shower
baths. Pits for the disposal of refuse
were dug.
Lemonade Awaits Them.
The vanguard of the troops now
flocking here from all parts of the
United States pitched their tents at
one end of the reservation, temporary
postoffices sprang up, the boys in
khaki marched in, sentries were post
ed, women came running with buckets
Of lemonade, and Camp Mills was
born.
Today the camp routine is in full
swing where the SiXty-ninth regiment
of New York is stationed, and a mile
and half away, where ambulance
corps, artillery and sanitary corps will
be placed. civilian workers still
hammering away at field kitchens and
guttering traverse streets. The place
where division headquarters is to be is
still corn field.
The camp is oblong, with a broad
avenue-called Main street." running
thru the middle from end to end. A
short distance westward lies the gov
eminent ~ IN =
French and British flying officers in
structing the young American eagles,
scoot past in automobiles and on
motorcycles. In the wooded country
nearby the roofs and towers of country
mansions can be seen among the trees
! This camp is in strangely peaceful
surroundings.
Depot Is Headquarters.
Col. F. H. Lawton handled the con-
struction work and is in charge of
feeding the division. He estimated
today that $4,000 pounds of food
daily-counting boxes and crates
would be necessary. Col. Lawton has
established headquarters in little red
brick railroad depot at Clinton Road,
Everything possible has been done
| to- safeguard the health of the SOL
diers. Roads are sprink1ed with call
cium chloride, reducing dust to the
| minimum. Great showers are con-
| structed on new plan-four showers
| to every company of $50 men. Under
| this arrangement, the soldiers are
| showered in squads of forty-a steady
procession marching under the water.
Five cooks are provided for each
| company, and the food is prepared in
| tents carefully screened against flies
A watch will be kept on neighbors
who want to bring soft drinks and
assorted tid-bits to the boys Indis-
| criminatae feeding out of hours, it is
| feared, will ruin the mems stomachs,"
as one officer put it.
| A paternal watch is also kept on
skylarking which might be DANGEROUS
| There was an instance of that when
an officer caught two boys in khaki
recklessly speeding on a motorcycle
| and reprimanded them severely:
| Every fighting man is worth big
money to the government now.
| To France Before Winter
The tents occupied by the troops
are conica1 shaped regular army
shelters of khaki colored canvas, each
| one f1oored to protect the men from
dampness. Tin stoves will be provided
| if the soldiers remain until cold
| weather. Such stoves, Colonel Law
| ton said, would keep the men COM
Portable even in below zero weather.
But present indications are the di-
vision will be in France before chilly
| weather comes. Each tent is fitted
| with regulation army cots.
In the midst of the tents a big
top of white canvas, conspicuous
among the brown army shelters,
houses the Y. NJ. c. A. 1t contains
tables for letter writing and has a
store of books and magazines
| An open air motion picture screen
will soon>be erected. There the men
viii see movies of life in other army
camps, as well as plenty of comedies
and war pictures.
The refuse trenches are burned out
every morning with oiled straw and
chemicals. Fresh water is available
in every company street. Camp Mills
has its own telephone system. with a
central switch board-constructe
poles and all, over night. There is
also telegraph office.
Thousands of Acres for Drill.
Over a slight rise at one end of the
camp thousands of acres are available
for maneuvers. Trenches criss-cross
d part of this territory and aviators
soar over it, photographingt the earth
works, dropping dummy bombs on an
imaginary enemy
AT night a million candle power
searchlight, located at the aviation
field, sweeps the country. the camp
the hilltops, picks up a solitary air
plane on a night flight and glints on
the roofs of peaceful homesteads The
airplanes are in their war paint, with
red,-white and blue rudders, and the
white star with a red center on the
underside of the wings. They lend the
last warliKa touch to he