The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-08-30
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

At SNVs Oue III opportunity Io sec tHe way the government does its work and the manner in which a private corpora
 tion transacts its business, and both are
 working under high pressure and in a
 big way.
 You will have an opportunity to see how quiet farms nestling in valleys or lodged on hiilsides have been transformed in less than month into busy, bustling camps.
 The farmers wife no longer goes to the meadow and calls "Sookey," the noise of hammer and saw is in the land, and plan tations have been converted into training grounds for thousands of soldiers.
 It's hard to realize that since July 23 a camp that will soon hold more than twice the population of Anniston has sprung into existence as if by the magic wave of the hand.
 But nothing just happened. Everything was done by blue print. It means that back of 1t all were men who knew what they wanted and the best and quickest way to get it. The officers and the gov ernment contractors joined hands and went out for and made record, for what they have done will stand for many day as the high water mark in engineering and building.
 Rain and mud couldn't stop the onward march of men who had battled with weather conditions at Panama. Maj. c. L. Dulin, who has well earned the nick name of Chain Lightning Dulin, as construction quartermaster, demanded re- suits. His long residence in New Orleans made him familiar with the firm of con- tractors-John o. Chisolm Company. In- corporated-who are doing marvellous building stunts.
 Big cities have their German, Irish or Italian quarters, but Camp Mcclellan for weeks was miniature New Orleans, so far as the men who were doing the work was concerned, for there were about 4000 of them from the Crescent City, and they had with them their French chefs.
 I was invited to lunch with the officers and the heads of the construction work but unfortunately had iunched in Annis- ton. I inspected the open air kitchen and the dining hall and smelt the cook ing, and it was mighty attractive and appetizing. I always did love French cooking.
 Talk about men who do things. Major | Dulln is the personification of energy | and yet he halls from the quiet and sleepy | town of Aberdeen, Miss. AS rapid fire 1 construction artist he won his first spurs in the Philippines. It was Dulin the gov- l ernment sent to fight against the raging | river when 1t went on it's ram | page in 1s12-1S. He got food and clothes and medicines to the needy ones. Uncle | Sam knew whom to call on when he wanted Camp Mcclellan to be built over- night A hurry call was sent for a slen- der, quiet, soldierly young man by the | name of Dulin.
 When I was over there, General Nor l ton had not arrived, and I missed Gen. 1 eral Gather, but got to meet Maj. Reg inald C. Stevenson of Vermont, assistant | to Major, Dulin, who had the diplomatic | work of appraising the farm crops. 1 met him after a hard days work, yet he | was as affable as if he had been out for | a pleasure ride. Then there is Capt. War | ren A. Stickney, who Is the boss of the | roads, and sees to it that the workmen | are transported to and from Anniston. | He Is traffic manager. He is big west | erner and halls from Dakota. Then there | is one Mark Anthony. do not know just what his title is, but I do know that he Is some little fixer and keeps things q movin' and everybody smilin." I all ways did get mixed up on military titles so I am. going to leave the military and talk about civilian. I
 met some of the big men in the Chisolm company, but the one cottoned to was Charles F. Labarre, the purchas- ing agent. I thought I had seen some busy men in my day, but it seemed like everybody was letting Charley" do it, and he was doing It. A friend said, MT Labarre, I want to introduce MT. Barnett of The Age-Herald." Please to meet you, sit on anything you can find" He tried to be affable. but long distance kept calling him and every time when he hung up the phone, in rushed messen- ger boy, and for half hour it looked as if there was a contest on between the telephone and the telegraph people as to which could get his attention for A 1ocf hn hod Q n n terval in which we could exchange few words of greeting.
 I was amused as I watched him at work, knowing that he left the legisla- ture to get on to his new job. and that he was politically in the New Orleans ring" otherwise known as the demo- cratic party to differentiate 1t from the gangsters, and that he rather gloried in the fact that the reformers had never been able to get his goat. But why write about his political career, which is well known in Louisiana and of little interest here?
 I will say that he is making great purchasing agent and the tales he tells of his fight to get goods at close prices on quick dilivery are almost unbelievable. He has had the question of purchasing stuff on his brain for quite awhile, for he tried to put a bill through the Loui- siana legislature in 1916 to create state purchasing agent.
 He told me that he called up a certain firm here in Birmingham one Saturday afternoon they close at 1 p. m.) and