Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-04-16
OUR VS.
Write from
OV Err THE r E

Gould. Jr., will be interested IN the
following letter which was written
to Mr.. Gould's parents. MI. anu
Mrs. William S. Gould OF Dexter
and which we'll describes life in one
of the Southern training camps.
Mr.. Gould was formerly sergeant
in the Bangor Machine Gun co. anu
is well known in this section OF 'no
State. The letter:
Camp Jackson.
Columbia, S. c., April D.
Dear People: =,
You asked me to write you ie'-
ter that you can show my 1rlehos.
which will give them some IDEA OF
the camp and my duties here. so
will try to devote this letter TO IN
formation, or as near in1ormauoh
as we are expected to give
Our camp is the best l have ever
seen and | think it will compare Ia
! vorably with any camp IN the coun-
try. The ground is high and dry with
the kind Of sand that blows at eV-
| cry breeze covering everything ana
getting into your shoes. food ana
bed. 1 think we have got to the
point where our food would not
taste quite right if we didn't nave
! the sand and it certainly couldn't
! taste any better than it does or FOR
! that matter be any better. My COM
papy. the 10Th Provisional Ordnance
| Depot Company, has the record OF
! serving the best food in camp, and
! if any other company can beat us
! they have got to travel some. Sum
days and holidays we put ourselves
out little and have real spread
! For instance last Sunday our dinner
was about as follows: Roast chicken,
! escalloped oysters, mashed potatoes,
! green peas, corn, fresh sliced toma-
! toes, celery. mince pie the (k1nd
! that mother used to make) and
| strawberry shortcake. l got as far
as the shortcake and had to call a
/ halt. | might add that we also had
! both coffee and lemonade.
| Barracks we live in are comfort
able and there is not the slightest
| doubt about their being clean. We
| have an iron bed with fine spring,
| a tick filled with straw, good
heavy comforter, and three regula-
ton wooden blankets. and as we
nearly always sleep on top of the
! pile at the present time, on account
! of the hot weather, our bed is soft
/ to say the least.
Our schedule for the day runs
about as follows: G.15. first call;
! G.2O, revcille; $50. assembly; GAO.
mess; 4, general police around bar
racks 7.3O TO 11.3O, drill: II NJ,
mess; 40 to 40, drill: 5.15, re-
! treat: 80, mess; 9. tattoo; 9.41. call
| to quarters; 10, the most beautiful
! call of all. taps.
Our drill consists of everything
! that | have ever had previously In
military with the exception of rest.
! That is a thing that is practically
/ unknown during the drill period,
and the result is that we are tough
! lot physically and ready to take u
/ chance with our weight in Germans
any time they put us up against
! them, which cannot be too soon to
/ suit us As we have no Germans
j here to exercise on, we fill up what
! is put down on the list of calls as
fest with such ladylike sports as
! flag rusheS, where two companies
, line up on opposite sides of the field
and at a given signal try to set the
most hands on the flag. a piece of
| canvas about six feet square placed
! in the center of the field. You may
recognize this as the old flag rush
. that we used to have once a year at
/ the University Of Maine, one of the
rules OF which was, l believe, that
! none of the students should wear
! heavy shoes. There are no rules
( here and we wear hobnails, and usu-
ally have it about two or three
/ times q week, so YOU see we are
/ getting husky even If we are 4 bit
/ SCARED up.
For entertainment here, we have
/ the Y. NJ. G. A. and *. of c., where
/ they have something going on all
+ the time. We have a fine library,
branch of the A. l.. A.. and of
course we have our camp theatre
! with the best Of talent, where you
can get admission either with SMILE
age books or money. At this time
OF the month. we don't very often
go in on money. Last but by no
means least. is our own talent At
the dinner Sunday we had as good
string orchestra as you could find
as we'll as a number of songs by
members of the company. I'm also
! sending YOU a program OF little
| time we had before our old Sd COM
pany was broken up into the 18th
and Goth.
/ Regarding the number Of men In
! camp, l wouldn't tell you If l knew.
! and really l have no idea. There
| are "a good many and they repre-
sent every branch Of the service.
! AS YOU probably knnw, enlisted in
! the ordnance as machine gun and
small arm repair man for immedi-
ate service in France, but that was
December IA. and it is mighty hard
telling now when we will get there.
If thew consulted our wishes could
tell YOU it would not be long.
People down here are not as en-
thusiastic about enlisting as they
are up North, but Southern hospi-