Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-14
CITY SOLDIERS MAKE !
GAS MASK RECORDS
Philadelphia Company atLee
Dons Protectors in Short
Order s"
TRAINING is SHORTER
Lawyer From Here Marvel. at
Rapidity With Which Recruits
Become Soldiers
Bv a stor Correspondent


Camp Lee. Petersburs, Va, Sept. II.
THE rapidity with which new recruits
are adjusting themselves to army life
and acquiring military knowledge is ass
founding. Every man has detached him.
self from civil occupations and Is doing
his level best to learn, in seven weeks.
what other men were given six months
to acquire"
This Is the gist Of a statement made
today by Henry Vessels. Jr., nephew
OF Judge Vessels, who arrived at this
camp less than three weeks ago. .Wes-
sells gave UP a law practice to join the
army, and is nova member Of Company
F, Twentieth Training Battalion. Ref
placement Camp.
What he says in regard to the adaptr
ability OF the recruits from Phtladelphia
Is reflected every hour in the conduct
OF the boys. Their eyes and hearts ars
turned toward the Rhine. That they
will get there, or rather most of them,
in very short time. is certain, for they
are qualifying as soldiers in exceptional
time.
Company F made up largely Of Philay
delphians. proved the accuracy Of these
assertions today during gas mask
Division, now in France, did not receive
gas mask training until the men had
received nearly six months seasoning.
Speedy with Gas Masks
Company F. an organization less
than three weeks old. has not only
trained with the masks, but has dupli-
Gated the best records made at Meade
by the star performers in the Liberty
Division.
Uncle Sam. in order to prevent whole-t
sale casualties. has prescribed that his
soldiers must learn to adjust gas masks
In six seconds after the order to don
headgear Is given.
At Camp Meade, it required weeks Of
drilling before anything like that sort,
OF proficiency was attained and at the
time the Liberty Division sailed for
France not more than so per cent Of the,
soldiers could perform the stunt In that
time.
But this is what happened when Com;
pany F. was drilling with gas masks to-
day. Lieutenant T. W. Montell, a gas
instructor. stood in front Of the COM
pany and after a two-minute talk con-
cerning the necessity for speed, ordered
the men to try for time records. 1t
was their third day at this kind q train
ing and out Of. ninety-fve men in tina
company. thirty-eight adjusted their
head pieces inside of six seconds.
Eighteen did it in less than seven
seconds and the rest required from seven
to ten seconds. .....
These records. far superior to those
made ut Camp Meade. must not be con-
sidercd as a reflection upon the men in
the Liberty Division. for the latter
measured up with the best Of troops.
City's Star Performers
=. Four Of the star Philadelphia per-
formers today were Carl BrooRs, 146
West Laury street; John Rtveb iSsd
North Tenth, street: d. NJ. Hilliards 614b
osontx avenue, and Edward Swartz, -
Cortland street '''H tf'~
Rivel voiced the sentiments OF. other
Philadelphians when he said that the
men are so anxious to join fEhtine
units that they are taxing the military
training seriously. "We don't consider
this picnic" began the soldier but
real work that must be done. The
quicker We are trained the quicker we
leave, and that explains our intense
earnestness. 1t Is hard work, but we
are standing up under 1t and actually
enjoying the experience" ~
Briefly. the course of training pre-
scribed for men who are selected for
overseas work covers a period of seven
ana elHnt weeks, ana III tndI time tHe
men are disciplined, given rifle and bay
onet training. put through severe gas
tests and pushed through various prob
lens In tactics. On the other side an
additional six weeks training and the
men are ready to match their strength
and military prowess with the best Ger
man soldiers.
Reduce Training Course .'''1
A year ago, when the first National
Army troops swarmed into the canton
ments. a majority of regular army of.
fcers figured that 1t would take . full
year to whip them into efficient fighting
machines. They based their calculations
on old-time methods, and failed to take
into consideration the adaptabiHty Of
the American youth for soldering. But
old-time methods that applied to the
army have been discarded. and what is
true OF the war machine as a whole ID,
true of the individual soldier.
A checking up OF Italians today reveal-s
ed that more than 5000 men of that race
are in training at this camp. To meet
the recreational needs Of these men the
Y. NJ. C. A. has obtained the services Of
the Rev. v. B. Neyros. Of Middleton, N.
Y. He has established headquarters in
the central "Y" hut and is arranging a.
series Of Italian. concerts. Secretary
Neyros spent several years In Philadel-
phia and lived in Broad street, near
Carpenter -,