Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-03-24
REMAINS OF CAMP JACKSON |
Once Busy Camp Nov All But
Deserted.
STREETS and BARRACKS GONE TO RUIN
Fire, Wind and Water Working Steady
Ruin-Some Property Still on the
Ground-oeeasional Ex- Soldier Who
Was Chartered There Drops Out to
See What the Old Place Looks Like.

Was Chartered There Drops Out to
See What the Old Place Looks Like.
Correspondence The Yorkville Enquirer
Columbia, S. c., March 20.-If the
several hundred York county boys who
were at Camp Jackson at one time or
the other in training during the late
World War could see the place now
they would hardly recognize it. Moth
ing remains there but an empty shell
Of great military cantonment which
less than three years ago was the
temporary home of 10000 men and
probably more Now only It's men re-
main. About half of these are men of
the quartermaster corps engaged In
packing up government supplies for
shipment to present military centers,
while the others are members Of the
Sixth regiment Of infantry engaged in
the very irksome task Of doing guard
duty in protecting the empty shell from
robbers and vandals.
Company Streets Deserted.
Company streets that were once
thick with men in khaki are now en-
tirely deserted. Human foot often
does not travel over some of them for
weeks and weeks and months and
months. Great barracks that were
only a few years ago the living quar-
ters of companies and batteries are now
falling down. Unless they are salvag-
ed in the mean time every building in
the great camp will have rotted and
fallen down within another three years.
Practically all Of them were built
hastily and carelessly. In those build
ing days carpenters worked by the day
at So and $40 and even more and there
were so many carpenters on the job
that they were really in each others
way. The buildings were as careless
ly inspected when completed as they
were carelessly built and the faulty
workmanship is now showing up. If
great windstorm were to strike the
camp right now there would be little
remaining save a great pile Of wreck
age. ...
Many Buildings Burned.
Many barracks and other buildings in
the camp have been destroyed by fire.
The origin of those fires in most cases
has never been determined and there
are those who think that maybe some
Of the soldiers who have been station
ed at the camp from time to time since
the war came to an end have fired
them just to break the monotony of life
in the once busy camp. There are a
couple Of fire companies stationed in
the camp whose business it is to see to
it that the whole thing isn't burned;
but they don't worry much over the
burning Of a single building.
Roads Going to Rack.
There's probably more than enough
asphalt and concrete road within the
limits of Camp Jackson to reach from
Yorkville to Rock Hill; and IL York
county had the hard surface road in
the camp it would be of much more
value to the public at large than it Is
in the camp, where comparatively few
people travel it. The hard surface
roads at Camp Jackson like everything
else, are going to rack because of mat
tention. There has been much heavy
by and in many places they have begun
to crack, while in other places great
holes have appeared. No effort Is being
made to repair them now, because they
will not be used any longer. Uncle
Sam is done with Camp Jackson for
good and there isn't a Chinaman's
chance that the camp will be used fur
ther for military purposes of any ma
ture, it is said.
Uncle Sam has hundreds Of thou
sands of dollars worth Of ordnance and
other supplies stored around Camp
Jackson yet, although the soldiers are
packing the stuff and shipping it as fast
as soldiers can do in peace times, which
isp't very fast. The 175 men at the
camp are Of the opinion that they will
hardly get away before August and
uOl lHch mdny VI lHclH dIc
very anxious to go. Columbia is not
popular with soldiers any longer and
soldiers are not very popular in Colum-
bia. For instance, practically every
soldier in camp has a suit of civilian
clothes which he puts on when he goes
to town. If he comes into the city
| dressed as a civilian he is a civilian of
course for the time being the same as
any other civilian. But If he comes in
to the city as a soldier-well, there is
difference.
Numbers of Visitors.
| Every now and then some fellow liv-
ing in some part of the state who serv-
ed at Jackson during the war comes out
to camp to look around just for old
times sake; but there are not a great
many of these. The road from Colum-
bia to the camp, distance Of about
five miles, is hard surface all the way
and Is favorite with motorists of the
city who like to get out in the after
noon for a spin. Then there are fifteen
or more miles Of hard surface road in
the big camp which affords good
speeding. This it is that the old camp
is visited in the afternoon by good
many people. There Is no objection on