Norwich bulletin., 1919-03-26
Sees No Reason F, Criticism of ,st
Secretary Daniels Finds Food, Water, Amusement and Embarkation Conditions Good.


 Good.
 Brest, Monday, March e4-Secretsry or the Navy Daniels, after his inyesti- gatlon of camp conditions at Brest gave The Associated Press the fol- lowing statement:
 have spent portion of two rainy days in the camp at Pontanezen and it rains $50 days out of the year here. have seen more than 50,000 American troops encamped here waiting for em- barkatlon home and have conferred With scores of officers and many men just from the front
 This morning I walked for miles on solId boardwalk from tent to tent in which the marines are quartered and in the wooden barrackswhere the sol d!ers sleep. l visited the modern Kitchens and dining rooms and saw where dinner for 5000 marines was prepared in one of the twelve kitchens. This large number is fed in forty min utes, and just as many are fed in the eleven other kitchens.
 T sat upon the beds of the soldiers | and ate my midday meal with them. The meal was we'll cooked ualatabIe l and plentiful. and tasted as good as any meal l ever ate in my life. The midday meal consisted of a large help l ing of roast beef, mashed potatoes, l stewed carrots, rich meat gravy. bread pudding with raisinS, two large slices 1 Of white bread and large cup of 1 coffee: Over the enti ance of each of the dining halls is a large sign in | French which freely translated means l that you can have as much food as you want and go home right away. Few asked for second helping, for the first | ,E I. 1 soldiers could eat at one time
 q noticed a few rosy-faced youne chaps who came for another helping | just as they had been accustomed te do with the food that mother used tC serve them.
 ! The soldiers were happy when told them that Rear Admiral HalsteaC had just received a message that tn, first of the German transports to carr, American troops had been commis .i stoned with a navy crew and tha others would follow, the navy person
 nel already having arrived on this sid,
 tc man them. It heartened them t know that in the harbor of Brest wa
 the mighty Leviathan ready to carr, | twelve thousand soldiers home ant
 that four battleships were being coale, } preparatory to taking soldiers bacl
 home.
 The bigness of Pontanezen camp , hard to understand until you see tn tented and barrack- covered city
 Speaking of tents, I went into a SCOT
 of them Not a drop of water can faI , into any of them. The tents are we , drained and each one has a stove an
 is warm and comfortable. The me come and go by the thousand. It is , city of movement, certainly as far a the population is concerned. As an illustration of the rnagnitud Il of ,,:tS operations, as many as .eigt l thousand trnopS- are received som days and as many as seventeen thou sand are embarked in a single da, , | TweIev thousand will embark on Wed s pesday on-the sLeviathan alone.
 T do not know which to coInmen
 tile highest. the spirit of the sailor i who patriotica1ly remain in the nav; : service in order to bring these soldier back when good positions invite thel e to civilian life, or the returning so @ diers, the heroes of hard fought ba n ties, whose courage and sacrifit C helped so much to preserve the libert nl and civilization of the world. They a e brothers in valor and in cheerfulnes d '"The outstanding impression e brought with me out of the rainy da. e at Pontanezen is the buoyant al
 
 n men saw in camp there.
 e Tn two trips over the camps he - I walked about while it was rainin 1T but fifty miles of boardwalk made
 possible to visit all parts of the can O without inconvenience. Every man -- camp has Q bunk, mattress and ii
 blankets. Every tent is squared
 vooden framing and has a wood
 floor and stove. I found an amT 6 supply of fuel available for all t
 stoves in the camp. I found bathil
 facilities sufficient to give each man 70 70 camp two baths a week and laund ,e facilities ample for clean underwe ,S twice a week.
 "I found twelve amusement places ls operation which last week entertain y 130,000 men. I found the water supp -e ample. 1 can see no reason for CT icism of this camp, but more to prai than in any camp have visited in ,e United States. l found the embark te ton facilities ample and above crit = ism. I found the camp well light Ae ana saw the beginning of operatio
 for a complete lighting system.
 T wish to congratulate the war part1nent on the ability of Major Ge IL eraI F.. A. Helmick, who Is the col tn manding general of the base secti he of the A. E. F. He has execut he ability, vision and discipline " IT, sympathy. The commanding gene he of the camp is Brigadier Gene or Smedley D. Butler. He is a ste; en engine in brooches and his work IL sn, is monumental.
 If the mothers of America CO 20 have been with me yesterday and ire day they would have been happy u W. their sons have such leaders. WI
 Inc peneralS have done is only equal
 by the excellent service of Admi IT Halstead and the naval personnel ,+ charge of naval operations on the co Ai' of E>ra,1Te''