The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-02
Parents Have No Fears of Care
of WaShburn s. A. T. c.
Pond Mothers Have Been Con.
cerned Over Welfare.
OFFICERS EAT SAME MESS
Food Is Plentiful in Quantity
and Quality.
Barracks Are Warm and Quar-
tiers Are Comfortable.

Worry concerning the welfare OF
their young hopefuls seems to be the
principal pastime of the various To-
peka mothers whose sons are enlisted
in the United States army and are un-
dergoing initial training as members
of the Washburn students army train
ing corps. This is not surmise,
eithsr, for reliable reports from vari-
Gus sources indicate that the tele-
phones of the city are as busy as bees
buzZing with the wonders" and the
Il heards" and the Il wishes" of the
fond parents.
1t seems that one of the principal
Affections of the boys at Washburn
barracks. according to the story of the
mothers, Is that the soldiers have to
live in big barracks where they do not
get all of the comforts of home, such
and utter lack of any real hard mans
work to do. One of the other sources
OF worry is the matter, of food-it is
apparently the view of the mothers
that custards and pies and salads and
various indigestible daipties that grace
the home tables should be supplied to
these men who are in the process of
becoming real herman soldiers.
Plenty of Good Food.
On the food proposition here Is no
cause to worry. Answering the query
of one mother who made inquiry as
to the food which was mot being sup
piled to the boys in the corps" Capt.
Frank E. Shaw. commander o; the
camp, merely had to explain that
"three commissioned officers of this
camp eat tn same mess as the men,
without one bit of difference in either
quality or quantity of food furnished
and without any added trimmings.
These officers do not seem to be vast
ing away or losing strength on the
diet"
This seemed to satisfy the particu-
lar mother in question. for nothing
more has been heard from that source.
incidentally as far as can be ascer-
tanned there have been no complaints
from the men in the barracks on the
food. and from the way they go a.
their work they are not losing any
large amount of vitality on account of
the food-or the sleeping facilities
either for that matter.
Naturally, the Washburn barracks
are army barracks, and in the interests
of cleanliness and sanitation are not
equipped with dust holding carpets or
floor coverings of any kind. The beds
are ranged in long rows, and more
than that they are kept in order. Moth
ing filters the floor in any part of the
barracks. and the bed clothing is aired
every day
In the army sheets are something
unknown, as are many or the other
pieces of furniture thought to be so
necessary in civilian life. But taken
all in all the boys seem to be getting
on right well, and if the mothers for
get their worries and let them be men
instead of babies no complaints will
be heard from the Washburn neigh
borhood.
Plenty of Heat.
In the barracks-each one of them
there are two big furnaces set up in
the sleeping quarters themselves.
These furnaces are of a size sufficient
to heat a twelve room residence. and
the boys at the camp are not antici-
pating getting too cold for comfort
this winter
Being in the army the men of
course have to do some small amount
of work-it may be necessary that
they know the essential points of u.s.
ing a pick and shovel when the boche
sends over a barrage. Many of the
men are proudly exhibiting the first
callouses they ever had to show to
curious and wondering world. But
they feel that now they are men,
And Captain Shaw says that these
boys who came into the Washburn
Students Army Training corps as
soft handed sons of the toilless are
today showing the strain of the race
that hewed an empire of a trackless
plain. When the training course at
the college is complete these boys,
whose welfare is causing so much
worry, will be men-real honest he
men with the ability to give and take
orders. and the courage to face the
world with a smile and a grin.