Evening star., 1918-01-11
WOOLE HELMETS
NEEDED AT MEADE
Ears and Faces of Soldiers
Exposed. and Appeal Is
Made to Knitters.
COMES FROM RED CROSS

CAMP MEADE, Admiral. January II.
There is a need for woolen helmets.
The Red Cross has not enough to dis
tribute to the boys Of the Liberty Di-
vision.
Throughout the night guards, hun
dreds of them. including District boys.
march up and down the highways
around the barracks. They have nice
warm mittens, thick woolen sweaters,
warm socks. heavy overcoats. but their
ears and noses are cold. In fact, they
become "nipped" by frost.
"If I ever hit my ear with my gun
while changing it from one shoulder to
another, I'll bet it falls off," said SEN
try, pacing up and down one OF the
highways to watch that no one ap-
preached a quartermaster supply sta
ton.
That was the plight of many other
sentrieS who stood guard that same
night. It is also the basis of an appeal
from the Red Cross station here FOR
knit helmets.
Many Sweaters Distributed.
Over $4,000 sweaters have been dis
tributed to the selected soldiers of the
division. according to Charles ]. Ferrin.
jr.. at the head of the Red Cross station
here. Furthermore there are many in
store, and every man can obtain one
by coming to the station with slip
from his lieutenant or captain, stating
that the soldier Is without such article.
This applies to wristlets, mufners @or
socks, but there is a great shortage Of
Therefore in distributing the helmets
now being received it Is necessary to
give them to men who drive trucks,
stand guard or are otherwise exposed
to the cold weather for long periods at
too small to provide for all these.
The report of the Red Cross also
shows, while 5000 pairs of woolen socks
were distributed last month, contribu-
camp. Members of the Liberty Division
are pushing their toes and heels through
them at a great rate.
Thirteen hundred wrist1ets were given
to the boys during the past month.
while 1850 wearers of the olive drab
Conduct Physical Examinations.
Physical examinations OF all selected
soldiers Of the Liberty Division will
take place twice each month"; Brig. Gen.
William j. Nicholson, cantonment COM
mander, issued a general order that all
brigade. regimental and separate unit
commanders will require that medical
onicers, accompanied by company, bat
terry or detachment commanders, will
conduct such examinations of all men
in the ranks. Careful attention is to be
paid during these Inspections of the
feet and footwear and the condition of
personal cleanliness of the men,
UNIQUE experiment is being carried
out in Company L, 315th Infantry, in
teaching men of that command the Liza
son system, signaling in many forms
FROM distant hill on the eastern side
o! the cantonment intermittent flashes
or light pierce the fnky darkness, which
are answered from other sections of the
countryside. Inside the company bar
racks, in the recreation room, a wire
less instrument begins to splutter dots
and dashes. In another quarter a buz-
ger is worked overtime. 1t is merely
the soldiers of the company practicing.
me whole thing is the outcome of the
oeslre or Capt. w. Ward Pierson, a
structor of commercial law in the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania, to educate his
men in all forms of signal work.
Lends Variety to Training.
system of this character is operated
when the weather calls for indoor work,
or the training program allows time
for work inside the barracks. The pur-
pose OF this scheme is to lend variety
10 the training in order to sustain the
interest of the men,
The idea of Capt. Pierson is proving
such success that Brig. Gen. Z. d.
hatch is considering applying it to
every company in the brigade. which is
composed of the 315th Infantry. 316th
infantry and the District Machine Gun
Battalion. --
The indoor program of period studies
starts after mess in the morning. when
the company is divided into classes of
sixteen men under command of a SER
geant. Each class reports to an in
structor. ''
One class Is taught bayonet work.
another the manual of arms, another
wireless operating, a class is being in
structed in buzzer signaling, while a
group are learning f1ash-Iamp operat-
ing, boxing, wrestling and the school
OF the soldier. After twenty-five min
utes the men in the bayonet school go
to the class of the manual OF arms and
so on. N-io
Special classes are also teaching
French and English. The latter class
is attended by foreign-born soldiers.
incidentally. there are seven native
porn, unnaturalized Austrians in the
organization. despite the general an
nouncement that such men would be
barred from the service In addition
the company has two Germans. but thew
nave become citizens under the Stars
and Stripes. All these men are renortS
diers. eoo" eoi-