Morris tribune., 1918-08-16
MINNESOTA MEN MAKE
CANTONMENT RECORD
Less Than Eight Per Cent Rejected
for Physical Disability at
Spartanburg

tives and friends of the boys now 10
Gated there, as it gives some idea
of what takes place when they first
arrive camp and how they are
treated afterwards:
Less than eight per cent of the
Minnesota draft men have been re-
jected for physical disability. This,
according to army medical officers, is
the lowest record ever made in any
camp. Reflections usually run from
20 to 25 per cent, and in one lot of
draft men sent here from Philadel-
phia not long ago more than 80 per
cent were rejected The Minnesotans
are all Astounding with health and
good spirits and it is no exaggeration
at all to say that they have carried
the camp by storm. Officers en-
Unused over them as soon as they be-
gan arriving and the enthusiasm has
not abated one whit.
There are four physicians and
three dentists with each regiment.
All food is inspected and none is
permitted to go on the table if it not
of the first quality. There is the
closest sort of sanitary inspection of
the camp twice daily and refuse of
any kind, stale water, etc., is not
allowed to collect
Should any of the men get sick de-
spite these precautions there is a big
base hospital to which they are sent
The hospital has accommodations for
1000 invalids,> but there have never
been more than 500 or 900 within it's
walls at any one time. There is a
staff of between rs and 100 physi-
clans and surgeons and as many
nurses. The hospital has every equip
ment known to modern medical and
surgical sciences. Some of the ply
sicians on the hospital staff have
been making from $4,000 to $780,
900 a year in New York and other
large cities, but answered the call
for volunteer medical officers for the
army and are serving here with the
ranks of caption and major.
PLENTY OF TIME TO PLAY
This will be a comfort to the
mothers and fathers of the Minnesota
boys, and it ought to be. Uncle Sam
takes the very best care of his sol
diers. They are not worked too hard
in camp, either, though the work is
4 hard enough. Wednesday afternoons
and Saturday afternoons are half
holidays and the men are encouraged
in their recreations. The life of a
soldier is not bed of roses by any
means, but in Camp Wadsworth the
soldiers discomforts are minimized
and the figures on file in the War De-
partment at Washington show that
there have been fewer deaths in this
camp than in any other, less sickness
of any kind, and fewer assertions.
The morale of the camp has been
high from the start.
The Young Mems Christian Asso-
citation maintains seven buildings in
camp, the Knights of Columbus has
two, and the Jewish Welfare Board
has one. These organizations pro-
vide newspapers and magazines and
writing materials without cost to the
men, and religious services are held
in the buildings one night during
the week and on Sundays. At other
times the buildings are open for So
cial gatherings. The Y. M. G. A. has
so trained workers in camp, the
knights of Columbus ten, and the
Jewish Welfare Board four. They
work in harmony with each other,
and there is no friction among men
of different religious views. Some Of
the different denominations have
camp pastors, and each regiment has
a chaplain, so the religious side of
camp life is not neglected. The
Young Women's Christian associa-
ton maintains a Hostess House, and
the Red Cross has several buildings
and half a dozen workers in camp
who look after the welfare of the
men.
The camp is located four miles
from the city of Spartanburg. Travel
is by automobile and trolley, the
automobiles charging 25 cents each
way and the trolley cars 10 cents.
The people of Spartanburg have been
very hospitalable, and churches and
fraterna1 orders give weekly recep-
tions to the men in camp. Many
citizens make it point of inviting
one or more soldiers to dinner every
Sunday and to get new men each
time if possible, this being done so
as to give as many men day out of
camp as possible. The relations be-
tween the citizens and the soldiers
has been of the best, and there has
been little complaint of profiteering.
There have been some attempts at
this, but it has been suppressed by
the community.
There is large social club for
the enlisted men, the building hav-
ing been bought and furnished by
citizens, and the country club, two
miles out of town, has been turned
over to the officers. The Minnesota