The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1918-02-28
j. S. Army GET
Ting into SHAPE
STRINGENT DRILLING AT CAMP
PIKE MAKE THINGS LOOK
BAD FOR KAISER.
BASE BALL SEASON NOW ON
co. F TRIMS CO. E-BIG LEAGUE
MEN AND AMATEURS
CONSOLIDATE.

Patrick Henry had nothing on US
when it comes to using this express
sion with all the righteousness we
can command. That is the way we
quarantined men are beginning to ex-
press ourselves of late. We have no
objection to soldering under halfway
good conditions, but working under
the necessary restrictions of an army
supplemented by a strict quarantine,
sure is getting monotonous and if |
Were permitted to use few army adj
.jectives to fully give vent to my feel
ing tonight, I would cut loose. We have
been here since Thanksgiving and
have had TWO WHOLE DAYS free,
and if we hadn't double-timed out of
camp on these days, we would not
have had them. When we got back
from town the company on each oc-
casion was under the ban again. This
will give you an idea of the equal
regularity that men come down with
some thing or another, usually mumps.
If peace were one-tenth as contagious
among nations as mumps are among
the men here, we would have had
before the war began.
Squads east and west" school of
the squad and school of the
soldier are things of the past here
now; "push and pull" that exhilarat-
ing exercise, is infrequent. We are
advancing to company, battalion, regi-
mental and brigade formations and
parades. We were in one of the lat
ter one day last week. Everyone has
read in this letter about reviews an
the way they impress one. Make it
four times greater than the way we
described it and you can picture this
larger unit in its ponderous, yet ma.
chine-like and thrilling movement.
Bands at regular intervals pvt the
zip" into it, giving equal cadence, and
in the rear you can hear the roar of
wagons, laundering on behind the
procession. It is hard to realize that
a mighty organization like it is 2
mere bagatelle when you consider the
numbers of divisions at the front in
Europe, but the mere onlooker woulf
think that there was little hope left
for the Kaiser 1--WE hate to spell his
name with capital letter. when the
array had passed.
Picture even a regiment, in platoon
fronts, facing the Colonel. The COM
mand parade rest" is given, which is
carrying the right foot back about six
inches, bending the left knee slightly.
holding the piece in the center of the
body with left hand uppermost, butt
of rifle on the ground; silence and
steadiness of position is preserved.
Well, we have, gone through it num-
bers of times. The position is held for
a few minutes, while the band plays
or some other ceremony is being per
formed. You think you are but a
minute unit in that vast throng and
perhaps for second you forget that
"silence and steadiness" of position
a cloud of dust hits you in the face;
you reach up and rub your eyes an6
resume the position. All, you've
committed grievions wrong! you
won't be aware of it at the time, but
after the event is over and you arc
called into the orderly room of the
company commander, it will be ir-.
pressed upon you in a way you can
never forget. Yes, the mere move
ment Of a hand is distinctly observed
from the front, and any officer review
ing or in other capacity, is watching
for these mistakes. Now can you
picture in your mind the precision
clockwork and order that takes place {:
Out on the rifle range there is
continuance of rifle fire these days.
Companies are hard at target work
and according to the Little Rock pa
pers, the companies so far who have
had their go at it, have made gooe
records. Of course sore shoulders are
experienced by the men, but the
step-by-step process by which we have
been brought up to the science of
shooting, is great help. They are
all taught everything that one will ex-
perience at the range, with the ex-
ception of having loaded clips for
their rifles, before going to the range,
consequently it will not be so much
of surprise and they can spend the
bulk of the time working for perfect
ing their aim and making records.
The officers in my company have no.
titled us that there will be several
prizes in it for the men who make the
highest scores.
It's baseball weather in Arkansas!
For three weeks past now you can see
ball being pitched around or game
In progress on most every vacant
space. The companies are organizing
teams and lot of them have played
scheduled games already. Company
'F" 348th Infantry played Company
"E' Wednesday afternoon, starting