Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-08-27
Yanks Dsbark and
Establish Great Camp
in Record Time

packed the streets | IN curb to curp
and stretched away for miles. 1t was
| four miles and up hill most of the way
| thru city, suburbs and country lanes,
| from the sea front to the great recep-
| ton camp located outside the town. one
Of the largest camps in the world and
| capable Of caring for the population OF
q metropolitan city. Hour after hour
| from this morning until late this
afternoon the steady tramp OF marching
| thousands had been going on, for this
| steady stream is the army Of $4,000 just
arrived on thirteen American trans
ports, making the record debarkment
| from ship to camp within twelve hours.
With Major X, the engineer officer OF
| the camp, we stirted alongside this
moving stream, from the landing to the
camp and had an opportunity of seeing
each stage in the huge movement up to
| the time the tired marchers pitched
| their shelter tents on the soaked
| grounds and crawled inside to sleep.
| Stirring as 1t was to see these menAcome
| to swell the million men in the Amerl-
| can ranks, yet there was grimness
and grayness to the scene suggesting
the stern reality Of war.
| A steady downpour swept across the
| ranks and the men were dripping as
they trudged thru the rain soaked mud.
They were at route step without the
regularity of paradinE troops and each
| man carried, beside his rife. all his
| belongings on his back. seventy pounds
of tent blankets. clothing, shoes and
all the miscellaneous equipment OF a
soldier headed for the front. Their last
camp was in the well equipped canton
ments in the United States. where they
slept on cots and had semblance of
modern comfort. Now they were on the
| war-swept soil of France and had seen
| the last of cots and comforts. II was
their first glimpse of real war condi-
| tions and any one who says it is cheer
! full shuts his eyes to the grimness of
| war.
There are more troops arriving" said
the ma jor as he led tho way. "than the
total strength of the United States
| army short time ago. And with such
an influx we have to provide very
| elastic camp, capable Of immediate ex-
pansfon from a thousand up to n hun
dred thousand men,"
| The major was well qualified to cX-
plain the magnitude of the work for he
| the New York subway system. had
planned and built a good part of the
system and had made the population
was based.
"To get an idea Of the camp" he said.
compare it with Central Park. We
have $500 acres here, Central Park has
500 acres. Why, the entire area Of New
h,t Tel nd &c
Al, 900 acres"
On both sides of the road, for mile
after mile as we sped along in an army
car, city of tents was rising and
there was the hum and hustle of camp
activity on vast scale. This morning
all the ground had been stubble field
from the newly cut wheat and barley.
But<n every available foot was be-
ing laid OFF by the army engineers,
working with tripods and nstrum ents
like a party Of surveyors. Tented
streets and avenues, headquarters tents
mess. kitchen and hospital tents and
vast parks for supplies and, artillery
and horses were rising in the fields
and spreading for forty square miles
over this huge enclosure.
I'VE never take a field of growing
grain" said the major, but as fast as
the grain is cut we take over the fields
and with harvest time well advanced
this entire farming section will soon
be turned into an American camp"
, In one of the fields where we stopped
to see the men. two battalions of 500
men each, just marched in and were
preparing to pitch their tents. The
great stretch of ploughed ground. just
cleared of grain, was rain soaked. and
the storm had set in for the night The
men stood ready, each with half Of
shelter tent, to drive the stakes and
lash 1t against the elements and then
crawl in. 1t seemed an endless wait
for all, the formalities Of laying out
the camp with engineering exactness.
yet all Of this was essential to the
smooth running of such a large con-
Germ.
At last the stakes were driven and
soon the great field was dotted with
thousands of little khaki mounds, about
as high as mans waist, called pup
tents" by the soldiers. probably be-
cause they look like dog houses. Tn
der the tent there is just room for two
lying down and If the ground is soaked
as it is tonight the rubber poncho
keeps out some Of the water and kind
~ nature and the iron of youth must
do the rest.
This was only one typical camp Of
the hundreds lining the roads for miles
in. this vast reception camp. Field
Kitchens and water carts were wheel
ing up to all the camps as the tents
went up. Filtered water is brought in
hogsheads and each command has it's
apportioned lot OF hogsheads. Later on
there will be n splendid system of
water mains for the whole camp. But
here are the mon and water system
Is not installed in a day. SO instead
Of waiting for the twelvc-inch mains
the primitive hogshead Is filling the
gap. Each man carries his emergency
ration for three days. Some Of them
were nibbling 1t before climbing into
ed for the smoking field kitchen to get
into action with its cooks. serving out
hot coffee and hot SOUP and meat. Tho
item Of feeding an army with pre-
cision is In itself a gigantic task.
I'VE served 100000 meals last
month";" said Major X" or 100000 army
rations of three meals to the ration"
And besides oil the feeding and
watering and sanitation there is the
immense paper work" Of such an or
ganization. There are 1913 separate or
ganizations in the $4,000 men Just ar
rived. Each of the 1913 must be sorted
out and brought together and every In
dividual soldier of the $4,000 must be
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