Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-02-22

Greene at Charlotte. y. G., where the
Milliken regiment of Maine has been
quartered.
He has written the following letter
to the Lewiston Journal relative
thereto, in the form of a plain state
ment Of his observations. The sub
stance of his letter is that the camp
is badly located. Mud is so deep that
one "a get about only with rubber
boots. Drills are impossible. There
are no sewer systems Water is
either removed by bitches or stands
in pools. Bathing facilities are made
quate. Men are oveicrowded in
tents. The equipment is wholly Jack
ing as to arms. They have been drill
ing with wooden guns. Food is good.
Social life is excellent. Health gener-
ally is good. Here is Congressman
Whites letter:
Congressman Whites Letter.
Newspaper reports and a memo
randum OF the surgeon general Of the
army relative to sanitary conditions
at Camp Greene, Charlotte. North
Carolina, where our Maine regiment
of Heavy Field Artillery (calleu at
home the Milliken Regiment) has
been for some weeks, led me to visit
this camp that | might have first
hand information Of the conditions
under which the men ale living and
might inform the people at home or
them. 1t was also my hope that |
might be able to impress on the au-
thorities here in Washington the
necessity for changes, if n need for
them was found to exist.
j left Washington Friday night at
1890 o'clock md arrived at Char
lotte at 9.45 the next forenoon. At the
station Major Weber of Auburn met
me and 1 was in his charge until |
took the train back to Washington
at 1880 that night. | reached here
yesterday about 1000 O'Clock.
Camp Greene is situated some two
or three miles out of h city, IN a
rolling country. There are quaVtered
here the Third and Fourth DIVISIONS.
including men from Maine. New
HAMPSHIRE, Vermont and many other
states. Two divisions call for $4,000
men, but my information is that
there are approximately $4,000 men in
the CdIuD. VI tt'lOd 49, ''s''
men. women and children in the cit
les Of Lewiston and Auburn. me
camp is reached from the city by a
macadasn read. This road however.
! does not enter he camp. Within the
limits of the camp the roads and all
else are clay. The first army vehicle
II saw was a motor truck which a
! turned from the macadam to n Of
the camp roads. II bad gone perhaps
so feet and vas unh TO the body IN
the slimN sticky clay. More . a a
score Of times uurinC the day | saw
similar incidents. -Four horses (muie)
teams struggled knee and hook deep
through the muck. They were a strain
ing, sweating, Guessing" procession.
The conditions We're killing 10 mules
and horses and ruinous 70 wagons
and trucks. The roads compared fav-
! orably with the soil of the rest OF
the camp. Everywhere vas clay 80
slippery that drilling was impossible
and men walked in imminent danger
Of an upset. Wore rubber boots ana
several times ] almost left them
behind ne as undertook 70 drag a
foot out of the mud and more than
once VAS in almost over the tops.
This was the condition Saturday II
the men assured me that il was bet
ter than for several weeks past. THIS
soil made transportation and train
ing of men a matter OF extreme diff
fcultv-the men la lone no drill
ing since December-and il is re-
( sponsible for other conditions to which
! shall allude hereafter.
On reaching camp | reported TO
regimental headquarters, put on rub
Der boots, the only guarantee of dry
feet. and started visiting, observing
and questioning. ! disposed Of the Of
! fccrs first. They all claimed to be in
good health and looked the part.
Later I took mess with the men of
the Nelson Dinghy Battery, so-called.
From al the means At my disposal /
gathered many facts and got many i'm
pressions which ran perhaps be best
conveyed to YOU and your readers "
topics.
Sanitary Conditions. There Is no
sewer system AZ the camp. Water
from the kitchens, baths and over
flowed !atrines is removed either by
bitches or it stands in pools. The
soil seems ilupervious to water and
annarentlv absorbs nothing. The
latrines are placed al varying dis
tanceS from the tents IN which the
men live. some being within enc
hundred feet. Nothing is carried off
from them. but all is confined ny the
water-tight soil. 1t would seem 70 a
Ia1man that with the coming Of hot
weather these latrines Will become
breeders OF odors, flies and diseases.
During the cold weather in which Il
men have beer in. this camp. they
have been tolerable, but it seems as
though they would soon become i'm
possible.
There has been NJ dry ground while
our men have been at the amp and
a dry foot would have been a matter
Of wonder.
Bathing facilities have been wholly
INADEQUATE Then $50 or more Maine
ROOFS bathed. when they had the
hardihood 10 do so at all, in a single
building containing only four showers
and until very recently they have had
only the cold water Of winter. 4 short
while ago our officers on their W
initiative rugged up a small tan and a
little wood stove and now a few
5000 --, @lI4 30 ,r1 DnSAr