The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1919-04-10
TWO WEEKS IN
CAMP MERRITT, n. ].
by TOM RHEA PHILLIPS
(Article Ten)

(Article Ten)
AS soon as we had disembark-
ed from the good ship, the George
Washington, that brought us over
we were lined up on the streets at
Hoboken, N. Y, the port at which
we landed.
Immediately the Red Cross lad
les were at work, and passed up
and down the lines, speaking
words of encouragement to the
boys and giving to them all, cof-
fee, rolls, candy, chewing gum,
and cakes. The more we came
under the beneficent influence of
the Red Cross, the prouder we
were that we, when in civilian
life, had answered the call for
help. No one except those actual
ly concerned in this great organ
ixation can really appreciate the
scope and magnitude of the work
accomplished.
Roll Call over, and the soldiers
inner self satisfied, we started
through the streets of Hoboken
to the train that should bear us
to camp. The side walks were
crowded with masses of cheer
ing people, assembled to- show
their welcome to some mothers
sons. Now and then an old man
or an old woman would pass a.
long the line of marching sold
iers, and hand fruit from bask-
ct to the passing boys. We could
see behind this kindness possibly
a son buried in Flanders Fields,
or one not so fortunate, but who
is to come later; and thus love
was shown to his companions who
came before him. During our
march we were amused by the
cry of a little girl, "Ou! la! la!,"
the expression of pleasure that
we had heard so often among the
French.
Within a short while we were
at the railroad station, and on the
train. After a brief ride, we de-
trained, and found that we were
near Camp Merit, N. ]. A two
mile walk, along we'll paved
streets brought us, at about nine
o'clock p. m, to the barracks we
were to occupy for the night. For
the first time in nearly month,
we had access to a real hot water
bath. It is needless to say that
the boys were ready to take ad-
vantage of this opportunity.
After good nights rest on a
real mattress, we were awaken
ed early, had breakfast, and then
made arrangements to go to the
"delouser" or as the boys said,
3 through the louise house." The
authorities have made ample pro-
visions that the insects that in
fest the camps on the battle
fields shall not be carried home.
The body is disinfected and
cleansed, and the clothing is
turned in, and new clothing is
sued. When the soldier returns
to quarters he is feeling like a
new man entirely. The old clothes
were put in a barrack bag, and
turned in. They were then put
through steam pressure for an
hour, and then either issued to
some other soldiers, or were to be
stored away somewhere until they
are of no use to anyone.
AS soon, as our "purificati0n'
process was over, we were moved
to another part of the camp, to
await orders to move. The streets
we're all paved with asphalt, the
barracks were we'll built and COM
Portable. Here we found our
first snow of the winter, but
since we had real American
stoves, and plenty of coal, it was
of little inconvenience to us.
We had arrived on December
%" and on Christmas we were
offered passes to New York City.
/ grasped the opportunity, and a
short street car ride carried us to
the banks of the Hudson river.
Anchored in the river were some
of the American battleships that
had just returned from Euro
pean waters. We saw and recog-
nized, Mississippi, the Pennsyl-
vania, and the Oregon. The Fort
Lee Ferry carried us across and
landed us at the 129" st. station.
A short walk up 129" and Man
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