Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-12-23
Omaha Man Writes Interest
ing Letter Telling of Rest
Camp of American SOL
dierS Overseas.

c. E. Hochstetler writes the fol-
lowing interesting letter to The Bee
from Maesgwyn. Winchester, En-
gland, where the largest rest camp
in the world is located. He has
been i'll England for a year and
says he has entertained a number
OF prominent American soldiers, in
Guiding the late 1t. Jarvis ]. Offutt,
General Biddle and Colonel Jones.
Fine sunrise this morning, SER
geant." Yes, corporal, they are
grand, sect, from the eminence Of
these beautiful Hampshire downs;
that is one of the reasons why
Lord Kitchener selected the sites
for his permanent army camps.
Look in any direction you please,
on either side of the Itchen valley,
and behold the white hutments on
the green SUBMITS. generously
loaned to the American army to
give you boys few days rest after
your long voyage across the At
lantic before leaving for the fight
ing front in France. Make the best
of your holidays, down in the valley
you will find the ancient city of
Winchester, nearly 5000 years old,
and earlier camping place for pre-
historic man. You will fall in love
with the historical places of the
old town.
Large Rest Camp.
\. "As many as 100000 Sammies
have found rest and amusement in
these rest camps and an equal num-
Der will visit them during the per-
iod of rehabilitation enroute home
ward.
up to the date of the signing of
the armistice. the war lasted four
years and 100 days. The troops of
the allies will remain in the battle
zones for many months after peace
is signed on garrison duty. collect
ing and shipping army equipment,
supplies, etc. The greater task will
fall on the British and American
armies; ships must be employed for
overseas transport.
The great camps were built and
used in the early part of the war
by the British; they turned them
over to the United States army for
rest camps. High-speed special
trains carried our troops from the
Decentralization ports, Liverpool,
Glasgow, Southampton and Ply
mouth, direct to the rest camps,
where they remained for few days
before leaving for France, except
those sent to the camp hospitals.
During the recent epidemic of flu
the hospitals were crowded. some
deaths occurred.
Camp Modern.
The camps are we'll planned and
permanently built. Gas, water, cleo
trio light and sewerage were in
stalled, streets paved and curbed.
the buildings and hutments are of
wood and rainted white; some are
graced by a small flower garden.
The army and Y. NJ. c. A. canteens
and amusement hall are splendid.
Each one of the many camp depart
ments is in phone touch with the
headquarters. Every sanitary and
hygienic means has been installed
for the health and comfort of the
troops. On the sports fields base
ball, foot ball and tennis are in
,dulged in. The British youth has
taken to base ball and it likely will
become a permanent fixture in the
universities, colleges and schools.
The camps have a wonderful de-
partmental organization including
banking, postal, telegraph, telephone
etc. The large veterinary camps
are not located near troop camps.
The staff officers, Colonel Jones
in command, eve have entertained
them at Maesgwyn) have a large
complement of soldiers to look after
the troops and to keep the camps in
order. The departure of troop ships
from American ports is cabled from
Washington to the American expe-
dictionary forces headquarters. Lon
don and Paris. Troops for British
Isles ports are provided for before
their arrival by General Biddle, Lon
don, and Colonel Jones and staff
make the assignments, where they
are promptly received and we'll cared
for, until their departure date for
France. Very few of our soldiers
have had or will have the opportuni-
ty OF visiting either London or Paris
Those who have visited WINCHESTER,
have been we'll entertained during
their short stay. Many of them have
in groups under a guide visited the
cathedral, castle and other histori-
cal places, and tramped over ground
that was populated by people as far
back as the stone age.
Home of Royalty.
Imagine for a moment, how we'll
known to the world is this little
town of Winchester, with a civilian
population now of only $4,000. Once
the capital of England and the home
of royalty, where Charles |, Charles
II, and King James II, spent much
time, and where | believe, our troops
learned more English history in a
few days than ever before. On some
days the harrow streets have been
crowded with American soldiers
as many as $4,000, at a time. On
these occasions, civilians did not at
tempt to do any shopping. The Sam
mics filled the shops, spent their
money freely. and many souvenirs in