The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-07-22
Virginia Forest Has Been
Transformed into Big Mil
itary Establishment
5000 EACH MONTH
ARE PREPARED IN 1T
1000 Men Now Housed at Camp Hum
phreys Where 10000 Are Expected
Early in August-Eqiupped with
Model Light Combat Railway.

Transformation of a forest into a great
military Camp in four months is one of
the achievements of which the Amerl-
can corps of engineers boasts Early IN
February, Camp Allen A. Humphreys at
Belyoir. Va, was virtually unknown
American engineers were put on the Job,
and today it is thriving, pulsatlng camp,
a great city in itself, housing some IL
600 men and growing day by day until by
August it will accommodate 10000
Camp Humphreys, named for the first
chief of engineers of the United States
army. is some 20 miles south of Washing
ton. d. c., Just below the town of AGO
| tink, Va. Its confines cover the historic
Lord Fairfax tract; to one side is Mount
Vernon home of George Washington, and
| in the other direction is Gunston Hall,
plantation and typical old southern home
of George Mason, illustrious Nirginian,
author of the bin of rights, the famous
document which Thomas jefferson made
| the cornerstone of the American Decla-
ration of independence. Camp Humphreys
is peculiarly adapted for an engineer train
| ing school In the hills and valleys Amer
| ica's citizen-soldiers are tunneling, min
| ing, quarrying, excavating, fitting them
selves for work on foreign battle fields
The camp is the only engineer replace
ment camp in the country, and 1t IS here
the vast supply of engineers Is to b.
kept, upon which Gen, Pershing will cal
for men to expand and replace engineer
units working with the American over
seas army. Already replacement unit
have been sent across Early IN June ,, J0
men trained in all branches of engineer
ing work were sent to Pershlng. In
camp can train, equip, and dispatch mel
to France at the rate of 1900 month
; and by the first of the year the capacl
ty will be raised to 5000 a month.
, Washington newspaper correspondent
recently were guests of the corps Of Ell
gineers on an inspection trip to the cam
: and its vicinity. Every detail of the wor
was explained to them by headqaarter
officers of the staff of Lieut.-Col. Richar
Park, an engineer of engineers, who ha
been placed in charge of the greatest II
) placement camp.
Seventeen thousand men arc at the cam
: at present, most VI luelll dtalAed illSl
and new ones are arriving from civil III
every day. There is a continual ebb an
, flow of troops, men being sent across til
Atlantic as fast as they can be accomm'
dated in France and new ones arrivin
to take their places at the schools. Eve
after the war it is the governments il
: tention to make Camp Humphreys a pc
manent training camp for engineers, an
all work is being done with that schem
I in mind
u One of the most interesting featur
I, of Camp Humphreys IS the light col
Il bat railway which has been eonstruct'
$ for the carrying Of supplies through Il
c reservation, as well as for training me
in construction operation and maintenan
II of battle-line railroads, a 60-centimete
ii narrow gauge road II miles in length, sir
: liar to the French roads, covers the cam
Ii and all day trains of fiat cars and gond
d las run back and forth with constructs
lie material and supplies The locomotiv
A. are built especially for foreign service, al
It the power is furnished by four-cylindC
y 80 horsepower gasoline motors. So w
+ trained are the Humphreys enginee
l. the construction gangs can lay track
t. the rate of half mile a day
. These railways will be taken to Fran
. with the railroad engineers, and it W
not be long before they will be runni
!; from the rear lines to the front, load
: with shot and shell and guns for Anne
can infantry and artillery As rapidly
the battle line changes, the combat "a