New-York tribune., 1918-01-27

has always been of superior quality.
and it is obvious that there is nm cx-
cellent spirit both Mt work and play
among the men. Many forms Of
recreation have been successfully in
stituted
There arc, however. several features
that are not ut all satisfactory The
neid artillery regiments have virtually
no guns to drill with. not even wooden
guns so far as could see. For four
months the men have been going
through the motions with this chief
article of attack represented by an
area marked on the ground. Consider
how much Invaluable time for technical
instruction has been lost.
Shoes at Camp
Have Been Failure
'Thc shoes at the camp have been a
failure. The camps newspaper pub
Nshed prominently in its columns the
fact chat several shoes were found to
contain paper and glue filings in the
can afford it purchase durable shoes
outside.
IN laying out the camp, the conven-
tlonal design was strictly followed
with unfortunate consequences. The
country at Yaphank is rolling, and the
rigid adherence to the plan resulted
IN some quarters being placed in hol-
lows Of the ground. Naturally, during
the recent snowfalls and thaws, the
floors of some were flooded.
MANY barracks, though not flooded,
frozen ponds. Extensive drainage must
be provided in the future if the camp
IS to be kept open. At the present
time all roads of approach to the camp
are of soft dirt frozen into prodigious
ruts. Something must be done before
the spring thaw or Upton will be iso-
lated except by railroad. This is u
serious situation, of which no cog
nizancc seems to have been taken at
ashington Carloads of cindcrs
should be on the way there now
There arc several minor matters
worthy Of comment. The military po-
lice, which should have 800 horses, has
only thirty, and is without saddles,
save ten which it borrowed. There are
1000 horses in camp, but through the
complete lack Of halters none can be
used. There Is an ample supply OF
horseshoes, but no nails. and the stand
ing joke OF the police is which is the
best way to tic the shoes on to hoofs
There are not even yet sufficient
woolen gloves for the men, and in
spite of the fact that the wet weather
of spring is soon to be here, there ere
only few hundred of overshoes in
camp. There should be 10000 in view
Of the quality of the shoes and of the
soil or we will have an outbreak Of
grip and pneumonia
Doubtful if Camp
Was Wisely Placed
at is doubtful if the camp was wisely
placed. The surrounding country is
somewhat marshy and has a reputation
Of excessive heat and mosquitoes in
summer. An effort must be made to
drain these marshes. In spite of all,
however, substantial progress has been
made in infantry work, and it was my
pleasure to see an admirable drill Of a
regiment of engineers.
CAMP MILLS
"My first impression as approached
Camp Mills, the abandoned National
Guard camp on Long Island, was that it
had been hit by a hurricane. Tent
poles stuck up in the air at rakish an
giles, some with swaying guy ropes,
some with strips of tattered canvas,
while near by other tents Of various
sizes and shapes swayed and tapped
unsteadily in the icy wind. Ny advent
upon the ground only magniiied the
scene of desolation. For mile in
either direction was field with a sor-
rowful outfit of torn and abandoned
tents in ali stages of destruction. From
long rows of mess kitchens ragged bur-
lap coverings fluttered in the gale.
at seems that the Rainbow Division
had left in hurry, as the approach OF
winter brought on pneumonia, and had
left so hastily that it had no time to
strike camp. For some weeks the out
fit was left standing in the face Of on
coming winter. and by the time the
War Department had acted the damage
was done.
"About $50 tents were still standing
These we're for the most part frozen to
the grolnd-that is, they had been
ditched and the earth thrown against
the sides, leaving a solid mass Of ice
and frozen earth. These tents we're
gradually being lashed to pieces in
the wind. About 500 tents were down
on the ground and frozen in solid.
Pools of water had formed in the folds
of the canvas and were now ice.
Through this wreckage protruded tent
poles and angular stovepipes. All this
outfit was total loss.
"In some fields l could see that the
equipment had been taken down. the
poles and pins removed and the ground
cleared. A soldier informed me that
the destruction was not complete, but
that over 1000 tents had been packed
away.
81 went to look over the method Of
storage. There are at the camp about
six or seven rows of mess kitchens, Of
about twenty kitchens to row. These
buildings have roofs covered with tar
paper, but the sides are only protected
with screening or burlap.
Tents Stacked
In Kitchen
CAS- ] entered the first one I found
how the tents were stored. They were
stacked in piles Through the ragged
burlap the winter gale, with its fine
snow. blew in On two sides the bur-
lap was entirely down. The floor was
Of dirt. In this shack counted roughly
100 tents folded and roped. but with
the bottom layer frozen in pools Of
water.
"The kitchen also contained some
five hundred camp cots, collapsed and
stacked, but with the bottom row like
wise frozen in. After tramping q mile
and looking into many of these aban-
doned kitchens | found it was the same
everywhere They all contained stacks
Of equipment virtually unprotected
from the weather. They must have
hold hafwoop OOn oDI two fhONcar n