Evening star., 1918-02-18
men TO FILL GAPS
IN REGULAR UNITS
Transfers From Camp Meade
Designed to Bring Commands
to War Strength.
ALL EAGER TO GO OVERSEE

CAMP MEADE, Md, February IS |
Another big movement of selected men |
Of the 10th Division of the National |
Army soon is TO be made The men are |
to be transferred from here to fill up |
gaps in Regular Army units which are |
being brought up to war strength as
rapidly as possible to be sent overseas.
Some non-commissioned officers, who |
were told they could not retain their
rank if they volunteered to be trans
ferred to the Regular Army units,
stripped their chevrons from their I
arms and announced that they did not
care what rank they held just SO they |
would be sent across.
In some companies as high as six
times the quota called for volunteered |
to make the change when it was ex
planned that it would undoubtedly
mean early service in France. AS the
men are to be transferred to various
branches of the service, many of the
volunteers We're permitted to select the
branch they most preferred. Some are
to be assigned to units which will oper
ate tanks.
Not as Perilous as Name Suggests.
what chance has my boy of coming
back?' This is a question which hun
dreds of mothers of boys in the Dis
trict machine gun battalion have been
asking. as they worried over the fact
that in the vernacular of the canton
ment the machine gun battalion bears
the suggestive title of Suicide Club
About 999 chances out of thou
sand, was the Succinct reply of of 4
the corps of allied officers here. who
has participated in scores of battles in
the past three years and can speak au-
thoritatively on this subject.
aCasualties in machine gun units"
declared another officer. Maj Lieben-
rood of the British army's Machine Gun
Corps and attached to the staff of the
18th Division here adviser ARE COM
paratively light and certainly not as
high as those in the infantry
Rush to Tank Service.
There was a rush to volunteer for the
TANK service unit by members of the
District and other machine gun bat
talions when it became known that the |
change undoubtedly would mean early
service in France.
Such men as are accepted however
will not cease to be machine gunners
as these weapons, with the addition of I
one or two cannon, form the principal |
fighting equipment of this monster
war chariot. Some men will be wanted /
to act as tank chauffeurs. Other men |
will be needed to soothe the battered
nerves of the machine, with an oil can
after it returns from one of its ram
pages
Only men who are handy and possess
some sort of mechanical ability are
being accepted, for the job will mean
fighting at one moment and resort to
their mechanical ingenuity the next.
Owing to the fact that there is only a 4
moderate amount of space inside the
tanks. the midgets of the machine gun
battalions are preferred for this sort
Of service.
Many to Attend Athletic Meet.
Athletes from this camp. many of
them stars of eastern colleges and uni
versities will take part in the four II
teenth annual indoor meet of Johns Il
Hopkins University in Baltimore. Feb
ruary 25.
The biggest event for the soldiers will
be the relay race. in which they will I
compete against a soldier track team
from Camp Dix. N j.
The Liberty Theater will be officially /
opened tonight at I O'Clock with a per-
fornance by the members of THE I
Princess Pat company, Broadway at |
traction
Practically every member of the force /
of men looking after the theater. from
the orchestra to the man who attends |
the furnaces. will be in uniform, as they /
are all National Army soldiers, who fol- /
lowed the theatrical profession in civil |
ufe and IN most cases performed SINH |
lar duties to the ones to which they |
have been detailed as soldiers.
There is an excellent orchestra, the /
members of which apparently came |
directly from the theater to the Army |
when the draft law went into effect. |
On the stage will be expert scene |
ehifters. bossed by sergeant in olive |
drab. They, too. will not need much |
coaching. for they have spent the big /!
Eest part of their lives letting down t
skies. rural gardens. business offices |
and other scenic effects from the stage |
loft.
Theater a Large One.
The theater is very large. Its I
orchestra seating space is greater than /
that of any theater in Washington or |
Baltimore. The seats are ranged in |
a long incline. 1t is comfortably heat
ed by a dozen big hot-air furnaces and |
Is brilliantly lighted by electricity |
Mrs Newton D. Baker will sing Gen |
Nicholson will speak, and Harold Brad /
dock. director sof the "Smleage" book |
campaign, will be present. ..Smileage |
books will be used at Camp Meade |
for the first time
, Frank II. Moss, business secretary of |
the y. NJ G. A. here, will leave for
France early in May, where he will |
continue to serve the Amy Y NJ c. A.
In an executive capacity.
National Army men here are expect
ing TO receive a day off duty February |
z2. Washington's birthday, which is a |
regular holiday in the Army