The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-09-07


Brest! Where first we had seen French
soil.
Where we entered a strange country /
on d mission Of which we had but a
vague general ideal
Raw material from the viewnolnt Of /
the allied armiesl, with from two weeks .
10 two years training i'm American army .
camps, flowing in khalli.colOrcd streams .
through the narrow and seemingly .
wholly inadequate channel, Camp Pom /.
tane2en, to spread out in flood-like /
waves to every nook and crevice of all |
Of France. with little knowledge of |
the method of warfare into which we
were to engage, and with no knowledge T.
at all of the topography of this strange
country. or the customs, ideas, ideals
or language Of It's people the stream
flowed on in ever increasing volume
until the eleventh hour of the eleventh
day OF the eleventh month, when, with
little hesitation. the stream turned end
began flowing the other way, so that,
ten months from our initial visit again
we came to
Brest, But HOmeward Bound
French soil. But now, with deep
understanding Of the mission for which
we had come. Veterans, an. in the
ways Of modern warfare. having dem
onstrated to the allied armies that raw
material could fight and win in the
face of hardships and dcprivations and
'lack Of knowledge yea, even in the
face of the supposedly invincible "Prus
sian Guards
From every nook and Granny and
crevIce Of all Of France we came with
knowledge Of the topography of the
country, and a deep understanding OF
the customs and ideas and ideals and
language Of its people, flowing again
in eager khakicolored waves through
this channel of apparently everincreas-
ing adequacy-Camp Pontane2en,
Camp P0ntaneTen, l9lS-l9i9.
Camp Pontanezen of 1918 was mud
dv. unsanitary hole where soldiers
camped in muddy mudfence enclosed
lots. sleeping on the wet ground in their
shelter tents.
Camp Pontanezen or 1919 is a clean.
sanitary camp, more than a camp, it's
great machine Of wonderful ef-
ficiency.
As we marched out the same dusty
road from the docks where our train
stopped uhe same docks on which we
had disembarked from the boat, we
could scarcely realize that we were ap-
preaching the same camp. Where had
been mud fences and mud holes were
now great barracks, and warehouses
and Offices Where mud had been ankle
deep in the roads, we now Travelled on
the famous duck boards at the side of
well-paved streets.
American Efficiency
American inventive genius, and Amer
lean efficiency certainly had gotten the
upper hand, and everything moved with
a precision and rapdity that was eN-
tremelv gratifying to an a. L, F. that
wanted TO go home.
The Ways of an Army
Did I say last week We had our last
inspection? Twas not so.
The ways Of an army and the ways Of
n maid are much the same and pass
eth all UNDERSTANDING
"Cootie" inspections came first, and
we were given certain ten minutes in
which to arrive, he Inspected bathed
and depart. I've forgotten what the
record is but they handle them by the
thousands an hour in those inspections
Next came equipment inspections,
when we marched with everything we
owned. to buildings specially built for
the purpose, uurol!ed our packs, spread
our belongings, We're inspected ana out
OF the building before we realized what
had happened to us
\ final equipment inspection which
was simply for the purpose Of seeing
that all our packs were rolled in uni
form manner and all equipment carried
according to regulations, and we were
pronounced ready to go on the sailing
list,
While these inspections were going
on. the orderly room force and the Of
fcers were preparing the paper work
all accounts. reports. etc, which would
be turned in before we left. with the
turning in Of these records we ceased
to be a part of the A. T.. T., slipped
from the authority Of General Pershing
and came under the War Department
once more.
The AnswCr--GOOd and Plenty
A great deal has been said by the
French. about destruction of valuable
material i'm France by the A. f.. +. This
refers of course to United States prop
ertv sent over to assist in the work OF
winning the war; property which
served its purpose and was no longer
of value as war material. The Frencf
standard of value differs greatly from
ours. and where they can afford tC
spend days repairing n wheelbarroW
we, in our days of fast and furious do
ing find that the time consumed in re
pairs is far more expensive than new
wheelbarrow.
with a cost OF anywhere from 100000
to $50 600 a day to maintain a division
IL that division remains in service q
week longer, to take care Of salvagec
property worth 100000, somebody's
bound to lose money. and It wouldn't be
the people who bought the salvage, Ell
ther
Probably the personal opinion Of some
1000 900 men who We're overseas woulc
be that anybody who does not like the
way the A. +. f. transacted business
should have gone over the summer OF
o,rI,, r,u of 1913 and taken a hand ir