Bisbee daily review., 1919-06-29
lS,OO0 AMERICAN SOLDIERS DAILY WERE PUT THROUGH THE MILL" AT
 BORDEAUX TO BID COOT|ES GOODBYE
Clothing Steamed and Casolined on Flat Cars Men Fah Clad In Pair Of Shoes And Smile Put Through Antiseptic Baths, Seven Physical Examinations;
 Then When Do We Go Home P Is Query

all the camps. Tt is a pig sty-a cattle pen" That is the impression that Pvt. Leonard Davis had of the Camp at Brest and it's sister camps at St. Nazaire and Bordeaux. He says that conditions at St. Nazaire l and Bordeaux were even worse than the newspapers made out, it was enough to drive you crazy. In fact, scores of the boys did go nuts. The only thing that kept me sane was the thought of coming home. At last when we thought We would never get out of that hole, got so that I even hated to get letters from home" Davis described the conditions as apalling. It rained in St. Nazaire where he was located nine out of ev- cry ten days and the mud was always ankle deep.
 Tn this constant cold drizzle. and in the sticky, black mud, we stood for hours every day in the mess line. It was little wonder that the hospitals were full of sick"
 But the thing that got my goat and made everyone sore was a stunt that they pulled off on us when Pershing came to inspect the camp. The off, cers wanted us to appear contented and happy so they made us get out in the rain and play base ball"
 Davis MaIigns Rain and Mud
 Being at St. Nazaire at the time I read this article I took the trouble to make a few investigations on my own hook and here are the facts about Pvt. Davis as shown by the records there. He was originally with the SSth Division and went to St. Nazaire on Dec. 14th, 1918, from Base Hospital 27 at fingers, was sent home in St. Nazaire Casual Co 1S2 on Jan. 17th, 1919, which shows that he was stationed at St. Nazaire for a lit tie over thirty days and never was at any other camp, so that he could not possibly have known of the condi- tions at all three camps. But that is small matter, his appreciation of the truth is shown in other state ments, so why doubt him? Pvt. Da- wis almost told one truth when he said that it rained nine days out of ten, but the weather bureau records show that it didn't miss raining a single day during the time he was ! there. A small matter was overlook ed while he was there. Someone should have detailed an orderly to keep him on the board walks which surround. and connect every part of the camp. And he even maligned the mud, for it is not of the stick, black variety, but nice sandy mud that splashes all over you every time anyone passes you. But the climax came when Gen. Pershing came to visit the camp. Now the insignifi- cant fact that he did not visit St. Ma zaire until Feb. 2nd and Pvt Davis sailed for home on Jan. 17th, made not the slightest difference in his visualization of things to be. The men had to go out in the rain and take their little bats and balls and stand for hours in the sticky mud The Commander-in-Chief and his Staff are such simple-minded fellows that lHey dppIeCldle lully SeelnS lhen contented and happy while doing such stunts. A small matter like the parade ground being filled with sol diers in mass formation would not in- terfere with a base ball game.
 Then again the small matter of feeding some 30,000 men three times day might force some of them to stand out in the rain for as long as 30 minutes, but honestly have you ever heard real soldier kicking af- ter he got home?
 He said he even hated to hear