The Monticellonian., 1918-01-04
The Kid Brother in Camp How Uncle Sam Has Organized the Training Camp Activities to Provide Heahu Outlets for the Soldier Energy
 By James H. Collins
By James H. Collins

IIo WcHt Iull OI 4edllu anu tneTSy- ithe army surgeons have seen to that When he reached his National army cantonment Uncle Sam immediately be gan to put more energy into him. He will live outdoors 16 hours day, and get scientific physical training to tune up every muscle In his body and make 1t available for endurance and hard work. War is the most energetic ac- tivity of mankind. They will fill the kid brother full of the energy of the athlete and give him the enjoyment of properly trained muscles that comes to the acrobat. They will do this and then multiply him by 100000, and the sum total of him will be 100000 Ameri- can boys with more energy and better ideas of how to use it than have ever been possessed by an equal number.
 This energy is being generated to fight the Germans. But before it can be applied on the western front there is problem even more serious than fighting Germans to be solved. Un- less you give that much energy an am- pie outlet it Is going to wreck some thing. If it cannot find anything else to wreck it will wreck itself.
 About year ago in little town on the Mexican border there were 5,000 kid brothers In our National Guard camp near town which had not even q pool room, much less moving pie ture theater. The one organized out let for energy there was q well equipped, efficiently run redlight dis trict. Many of those 5000 soldiers did the logical thing-proceeded to wreck themselves. They were so sue eessful that the war department hur- riedly sent trained social workers to see what could be done to stop the damage, and one of these social work CTS who is now in charge in the train ing camp activities of the National army resolved as he stood in the deso- late streets of Douglas, Ariz., that if he ever got chance to provide healthful outlets for soldiers energy he would certainly do the best job that he knew how. Today this man, Raymond B. Fosdick, has charge of the training camp activities of our new National army, and what sort of job he is do- Ing you may judge for yourselves.
 May Think Time Lost.
 The kid brother knows that when he goes to camp Uncle Sam will have provided for him a uniform, rifle, q place to live and sleep, and proper in struction in the soldiers discipline and duties. He has probably seen some figures of the food that he is to eat, the millions of pounds of beef, and beans, and jam; the trainloads of po- tatoes and onions and cabbage. He is willing to do this patriotic service as q soldier. Yet he may also feel that dis period of soldiery, whether it last one year or five, may be so much time dropped out of his life, spent in a sort of jail far from the people and the things that he likes. If he has heard anything at all about training camp activities it Is probably about only that part of it which relates to booze and vice. So much has been said about safeguarding his morals that he may have good reason to think that he is going to have pretty dull, sissified sort of time.
 some country town where good shows are seldom seen. If he got chance to see real Broadway success under the management of man like Marc Klaw he would not let 1t get by. We'll he Is going to place where there will be theater under the management of Marc Klaw, and will have a chance to see some of the real Broadway sue. cesses. Booze and vice have received altogether too much publicity in con- nection with the soldiers training, Mir. Fosdick says-they are negative activ. ities in his job and also the least i'm. portant and most uninteresting. Despite a great public curiosity in this phase of the work there has been little difficulty in making the surround ings clean. The army has enlist. ed local police officials in every trsn. ing camp territory. and these terri tories have been cleaned up, and vice and booze are giving little trouble, and that is about all there is to say oi them.
 Show Every Night.
 The active work is much more inter. esting. This Is divided into work in side the camp and outside in adjoining cities and towns. Each cantonment will have its own theater, seating 3,50C people. and In these theaters every night there will be shows given by pro- fessional actors and actresses travelling on regular circuits, far above the av. craze theatrical amusements available to 10 per cent of the boys in their home towns. Two weeks every month will be given up to legitimate drama goods plays. and musical shows, cur. rent successes from the big towns One week will be given up to moving pictures and vaudeville. and the fourth week to lectures. concerts, and ana. teur stuff.
 Hundreds of our leading actors and actresses have volunteered their serv. ices without pay. while those taking minor parts unable to give their serv. ices will receive nominal salaries.
 This entertainment is not to be free They tried that up in Canada and found that the soldiers, like everybody else, appreciate best what they pay Tor
 Then there will be singing. Every TtAn ni n McuIcpAnrD TIT ro