The Robesonian., 1918-01-28
ApMY CAMP LIFE

Interesting Letter From Robson
County Boy With the Colors at
Camp Joseph E. johnson.
To the Editor Of The Rohesonian:
PerhaY. the boys rack at home
will he Interested il hearing some
thing Of Camp Johnson and Of SOL
lier hoy who has been in active SER
Wee for only ten days.
In tie beginning, boys. / must cay
that army life is interesting, fascinat-
ing. but busy; lonesomeness is repu!s-
I'D by activity; but the soldier boy
hoes rave time to reflect on the past
md think Of dear old home. He. OF
co;,r,e. can think Of home and, TOO,
many other things while marching at
double time, and as a matter Of fact
while marching in this manner many
brains are busy with thoughts Of home.
But. rshaw! it is not hard, even If
the captain does shout. Double time,
march," on the last mile Of a ten mile
hike
Camp Johnson is a real town within
itself. The distance from east to
west is about two and one half miles
and from north to south two miles.
Bows. from these dimensions you can
get some idea Of Camp johnson, be
decked with buildings ranging in I'M
portance from peanut stands to nos
pitals. The most welcome buildings
here are the Y. M. G. A. and the
hosDitals There are various sorts OF
buildings and branches of activity
here. Camp Johnson is quartermas-
ter's training camp only, and that fact
accounts for the various branches OF
activity. Anyone who has ever done
any sort of work is ready to go to
| work after he has had his military
| drilling.
When 1 think Of the words, "cuar
termaster's corps, ! at once think OF
one boy who wrote his mother telling
of his Christmas dinner at Jackson
vile hotel, and many other events, all
of which l cannot mention.
| He wrote: Dear Ma: I hope you
had as big Christmas ~ I did, for
l shore had one more swell time. The
men from Jacksonville came out hers
to camp and got US in their automo-
biles and we didn't have to pay them
a cent either, and they took us to Mr
Aragon's great big house right in the
middle Of Jacksonville--or reckon it
was his'n, for it had his name wrote
on the front in great big gold letters;
and when we got in man with big
yellow buttons on his coat and Mr.
| Aragon's name on his coat collar told
us that Mr.. Dixon would arrive soon
And Mr.. Dixon soon drove up in a
| great big long automobile just like
| Mr.. Dixon's at home. ! thought ha
was kin to our Mr.. Dixon, but he said
he warnt But, Ma. Mr.. Dixon don't
have any stairs in his house. He took
us in little room and negro boy
closed the door. thought l was goin
to burst through the floor feet fore
most. l just felt like / was gaining
a hundred pounds of flesh second
and all at once that feelin stopped
and I. thought I was goin to stretcsl
out and become a great tall man. Ny
head was swimmin little when tbs
boy opened the door, but when | saw
| the tables and all lookin so nice 1t
stopped. They didn't have pretty red
striped table cloths like yours, ma
but they were all -. They had
| ali sorts Of weeds on The table and
some raw cabbage. They called it let.
tuce, and I didn't want to eat it, but
the other boys did and did too. They
had chicken, turkey, pie and cake and
| all sorts of good eats. Ma, we sure
had some feed. I wish you could beer
| with me- Mr.. Dixon must be awful
rich, for he gave US all cigar. They
shore was some cigars, for they said
he paid about ten cents apiece fol
them.
"There is another rich man around
here, too. / think he is bout as rich
as Mr. Dixon, for he shore has lots
of automobiles. / don't know his
name but he has @. NJ c. on all his
cars, and I reckon them letters is his
initials. He owns nearly every cal
around here, and he has them al
sizes from Ford on up to one like
Mr.. Dixon's. And he has some great
big things; they look like rail road
cars, but they amt, they are automo-
biles, too.
an ow, Ma, I'd tell you more news
but the lights is goin out and l got
to git to bed.''
| After this depression, will tell yor
something of our barracks. They al
are two stories in height, and each
building accommodates about sixty
five men. They are arranged in or
der along streets, and set off in
!, blocks. The streets and buildings are
numerically numbered, while the
blocks are alphabetically numbered
This arrangement enables even one
who has never before been on the
: post to locate easily any desired
!; building. The barracks are in easy
reach of running water, both hot ane
!; cold, and are equipped with moder1
!; conveniences. The buildings have large
} windows and are we'll equipped fol
: ventilation, and no matter if the tenn
: perature is bit cold of mornings, We
have to abide by our ventilatory rules
: We, however, have good beds ane
plenty Of cover. There is much diff
ference in being here in a warm eli
mate and being in climate where
the temperature is six below and nj
) mattress on your cot, no pillow, ane
but two thin blankets. For three
| oIc houc T -, &ho lo44or I,,I