New-York tribune., 1918-06-30
City Thrilled
At News of
Upton Army
18th Division, Now Hold
ing Sector, Is Called
'ENew York's Own"

News that the 77th Division had
taken over definite sector of the fight
ing line for its own, that there was an
actual Haphank front in France, gal
vanized New York yesterday. A bit
reluctant, perhaps, to adopt the nomen-
clature of war correspondence -"New
YorksI Own%9-the city nevertheless had
realized from the start that the di-l
vision from Camp Upton was the. local
Rainbow Division and peculiarly its
own.
1t had seen the men in the autumn
sunshine marching in struggling for
nation but with prideful bearing from
Eleventh Avenue, from Riverside Drive,
from Harlem and The Bronx to the
Long Island City ferry. 1t had seen
them again, strangely metamorphosed
from the motley silk and flannel shirted
throng Of few weeks before, pouring
up Fifth Avenue in precise dun ranks
while the snow furried about them.
A bleak winter interval during which
the compensation for the empty chair
at the breakfast table was the comfort
ing knowledge that it was only little
way to Yaphank and a long way to
France. and then came brief and mys-
terious leaves, silence and Y. NJ. C. A.
envelope marked Soldiers mail" The
77th was in France, horse, foot and
guns. And now it is on the firing line
and the National Army is in the fight.
Mobilizing at Camp Upton
With little of the soldier about them
save khaki shirts and wrist watches,
these $4,000 men began pouring into
Camp Upton on September 10. 1t was
the beginning of the nations "Great
Experiment" George w. Perkins, jr.,
and Sam Wah, laundryman, of course,
had pioneered the way into camp side
by side.
Lowbrows and highbrows slept one
yard apart, a new democracy, that
first night. The two blankets, thin as
All afternoon tea sandwich, promoted a
greater democracy in the early morn
ing hours, for hunks were placed be-
side one another and the blankets
stretched across. Many languages
mixed with the smell of army cooking
in the mess hall that first morning,
and there were many ways of eating.
Some had been accustomed to dressing
for dinner, others to undressing for it..
Bank clerks gayly wasted hundreds
Of dollars worth of manicuring on the
handle of pick in the early stump
pulling days. John Cahill, of Green
point, was a master worker then. He
had been grave digger.
On September 16 to 10, new incre-
ments began dropping off the trains
comfort kits and their choruses of
"Where do We go from here?" Com
panies were formed, and Plattsburg re-
serve officers, college men, business
men and regular army ex-top sergeants
began making good from the start.
General Bell Guided Machinery
Major General j. Franklin Bell, with
his forty years of army career and his
unimpeachable record of service in the
Cuban and Philippine campaigns, was
guiding the molding machinery. Briga-
dier General Evan NJ. Johnson. who, as
major general, now leads the divi-
sion, and Brigadier General Edwin Whit
enmyer, graduates of the War College,
with inches of varicolored service rib
bons on their chests, assisted him in
the early processes. Brigadier General
Doyle commanded the artillery brigade.
Assigning these bookkeepers, cloth
ing cutters, buttonh0le makers and the
others of civilian occupations unsuited
for war use to units where they were
best fitted was the task Of Captain w.
H. Perry, former chief engineer of the
Bridge Department of New York City.
Three choices were given to each man,
and these, coupled with a review of his
qualifications, were used by Captain
Perry in picking the divisions pers n
mel.
On October 8 an intensive training
schedule, calling for four months Of
strenuous work on the part of the
rockies, was promulgated. 1t had heen
formulated by General Bell in confer
ence with his chief aids. From Amok,
who hunted heads with other Igorrotes
in the Philippines Until he came to
America for exhibition purposes at
Coney Island. to Morris Fletcher, who
held four college degrees, the men
drilled, dug. hiked, exercised and stud
led day after day.
There was no fiinching during the
terrific cold Of December and January,
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