Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1917-10-03
news Notes FROM
CAMP: DODGE
Interesting Information From the
Place Where Our Boys
Are Training.

SS 's"VSO WI OVyO
Are Training.
Headquarters, Eighty-eighth Divis
ion. National Army, Camp Dodge, Ia.
Oct. 1.-When Americas National Ar
my lands on French soil to begin the
march to Berlin the world will see the
physically flttest collection OF lndi
viduals ever gathered under the ban.
ners of war.
No nation, in modern history at
least, has ever taken the precautions
against physical defects or submitted
its men to more rigid examination
than the United States is now doing.
Today at Camp Dodge. the cream OF
the medical profession is gathered to
pass upon the manhood IF Iowa, Min.
nesota, North Dakota and Illinois.
These men are passing upon the SO.
lective soldier, not in lots as cavalry
horses are picked, but as individuals.
Each recruit Is gone over as carefully
as If he were being chosen to enter
the arena like the gladiator Of old to
uphold the honor Of his country in
single combat against an adversary.
For instance, among the physicians
at Camp Dodge is DR.. Charles Ly-
man Green, one of the leading men of
his profession in Minneapolis. DR..
Green's professional income in Mime.
apolis mounts up into several thou.
sands of dollars each year. He is a
wealthy man. Yet DR.. Green is Civ
ing the benefit of his expert knowl-
edge to Uncle Sam at Camp Dodge
under contract wage of $3.50 a
month.
DR.. Miller. of Chicago, admittedly
at the lead among the medical men OF
the second largest city in this contin-
ent, il also at Camp Dodge drawing a
majors salary.
These are but samples. There is q
host of others of equal calibre. They
are specialists in nerve diseases, in
tuberculosis, in eye, ear and nose all
ments, and in every other branch of
anatomy study.
The selective who thought when he
had got by the local examining board
that he was physically fit for the army
had a surprise in store for him at
Camp Dodge. He goes thru an exami-
nation here that makes his home test
look like pastime. And the surpris-
ing part of it all that so few, about
2 IL per cent in fact fail to get by
the line of doctors and specialists sit
ting in judgment upon them. Which
proves that the manhood of the west
ranks high with that Of any place on
the globe.
Real drill and hard work are now
the regular order of things among the
10000 or mere recruits in camp here.
The saluting, tho marching in squads,
and the other little necessities Of a
military education are still being CIV
On. But the advance work which is
more like real soldering is also on.
In the first place, 5000 rifles have
been received and apportioned to the
men, so many to a company. Most
of these are the old-type Kraags but
there are few En11elds, the kind now
in use in Europe. The fundamental
knowledge Of how to handle the rifle
can be impaired with the Kraags. The
rihe ranges are being put in shape and
soon the poppop of target practice
will give Camp Dodge an appearance
Of somewhere near the 'front.'"
Cross-country hikes are also in or.
der: 1t is a wonderful sight to see
thousands of men, in company form.
alton, strike out across country for q
walk Of five miles. They go in all d.
recttons, up hill and down hill, in step
with head erect and shoulders back
breathing the pure, fresh air of the
Des Moines river valley.
The schedule now is 40 hours a
| week. That means eight hours a day
| counting the afternoons and Sunday
out that form the mems vacations. In
addition to this drill there is studying
at night, especial for the young men
who aspire to become officers. And
the word from Washington that the
third and fourth training camp for Of
f1cers would be filed with the non
commissioned officers from the train
ing camps makes it certain that these
boys selected from the farms and the
towns will be the lieutenants and thu
captains of the next National Army
| when It Is called out.
Keep the boys in Camp" is thu
slogan of Major General Plummer
commandant. The general has re
quested of Holmes Cowper, appointed
by the government as singmaster TO-