The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-01-26
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
ACTIVITIES At CAMP DODGE.

Camp Dodge, Iowa, Jan. 81, 1918.
To the Editor:
Activities during the past week
were staged mainly at Building No. 2.
This building is the favorite haunt
of the Depot Brigade Ordnance unit
which looks upon it as home Large
crowds congregate there each night
and when formal programs are not
given, the boys entertain themselves.
Sunday afternoon, under the direc-
ton of Lieutenant Cakes, well bal
anced program of music, singing, etc.,
was rendered. Monday night was
known as New York Night, when the
boys from the Empire State, under
the management of Private Leo v.
Keehan, contributed the entertain
ment. Thursday evening an i'm
promptu concert was given by talent
from Des Moines and Detroit. At the
main building, the weekly feature
boxing and Wrestling-comman o.
large attendance. The elimination
contests in the various weights proved
the attraction. At Building No. 3,
the band of the Forty-second Infantry
held forsh. This is a weekly attrac-
ton, and is proving quite favorite
amongst the boys.
Sunday seven Masses were cele-
brated, the attendance being up to
standard and the number of COM
munions, two hundred. The K. of C.
initiatory exercises at Des Moines,
Sunday, were attended by about one
hundred and fifty of the boys in
khaki. 1t is estimated that about
thirty per cent of our Catholic boys
at Camp Dodge are knights of Co.
lumbus. The program following the
banquet was in the main, representa-
tive of the Camp. Lieutenant Father
the Post Chaplain, and Cap
tain Neil Cronin responded to toasts.
Privates Campbell and Flannery, both
of Detroit, sang themselves into the
hearts of the audience.
Chaplain McDermott gave an inter
esting account of the work that is
being done under the auspices of the
knights at Camp Dodge for the physi-
cal, social and spiritual welfare of the
enlisted men.
No distinction is made on account
of creed, said the chaplain. We don't
even draw the color line. Men of all
creeds and no creed had been well
coined and helped, socially and
spiritually. Athletics have received
special attention on the social side,
and boxing and wrestling have be-
come favorite recreations under the
direction of boxing instructor, Lieut..
Mike Gibbons, of ST. Paul.
The chaplain emphasized the
spiritual side of the work at Camp
Dodge as the principal means of safe
guarding the manhood and morals of
the men. The army, he said, was 40
per cent Catholic, and the better the
Catholic the better the soldier, he
affirmed to be true of the knights.
Catholics have been trained in the
of obedience and know
what it stands for, and when our men
are. ordered to go over the top they
will face death promptly and cheer
fully. There will be no yellow streak,
it can't be there" he declared.
The work of the knights in the
army increased it's morale and helped
the men lead clean, pure lives, and
the cleaner the man the better the
soldier.
Captain Cronin paid brief tribute
to the G. A. r. as an introduction to
his remarks on the work of the
young grand army" with it's heritage
of 1776 and 1861, that the country is
now sending and must continue to
send lover there
Fraternally yours,
PATRICK N. McDERMOTT,
X. of G.. Post Chaplain.