Evening star., 1932-06-12
HEALTH THREAT
TO ARMY GROWS
Dust Clouds Hanging Over
Camp as Hundreds
More Arrive.
BY THOMAS r, HENRY,

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
The call of the worlds greatest
jungle" was drawing hungry adven-
turers by hundreds from all over the
United States yesterday to augment the
old rag-and-tin-can city which bonus
invaders have erected on the south
bank of the Anacostia River.
With the tatterdemalion shelters
almost hidden under continual low
clouds of brown dust raised by the rest
less feet of thousands, the health threat
rapidly was becoming greater despite
utmost efforts of the bonus army lead
ers to remedy the situation. Everybody
was complaining Of the dust. Every
breath filled the lungs with this fine.
floating cloud-stuff that penetrated
shoes and clothing.
Saturday afternoon sightseers were
tramping through the camp. There
were many women in the dust clouds.
Washington was getting an eyeful of
this strange metropolis. of misery with
its canteens, its barber shops, its pub
lie library and its hotels" 1t was a
gala day for the veterans with numer-
GUS words of sympathy and contribu-
tions to the tobacco funds But it was
getting dirtier and dirtier with this
floating dust which settled into the
mess kits and the cooking pots. And
still the veterans piled in-on foot, in
trucks, in rusty cars.
New Streets Appear.
The actual size of the camp seemed
to have doubled overnight. New streets
with their nicely aligned junk pile shell
ters appeared as if by magic as more
and more veterans seemed to get the
knack of making themselves comfcrta-
BILE. But police car was making con-
tinual trips out of the camp with sick
men, there was much coughing and
splitting, and it all went into the float
ing dust.
The veterans realized that some sort
of crisis was near in regard to the
camp sanitation. There was a sterner.
more military note in the days pro-
ceedings. Acting on their own initia-
tive, guards were posted to keep auto
mobiles-the greatest stirrers of dust
of the field. The men we're separated
into State groups and assigned
streets" Regard for cleanliness in
food preparation was urged. The
guards began, for the first time, to
talk "hard-boiled"
After all, this big Anacostia Jungle" !"
with its population approaching 10000
squeezed into a few acres, represents
remarkable achievement of self-dis-
cipline. The men have been under no
legally constituted authority. No uni
form way of doing things has been
promulgated. The bonus army Is made
up of all sorts of individuals. There
are buns and panhandlers. There
are Jobless clergymen, physicians and
lawyers. There are white men and
colored men crowded together under
the same shelters.
Built Around Memories.
But they have fallen, almost auto
matically, into a sem1-military organi-
zation built around memories of war
days. There has been no crime, no
dissension, no rebellion. If any of the
war divisions had been as well be-
haved the commanding general would
have congratulated himself These
men, of course, are older than the un-
sophisticated boys who went to France
in 1917. Their spirits have been cooled
by suffering. But to their eternal
credit it must be admitted that, al
though unlimited guess of the District
of Columbia, they have not imposed on
the forced hospitality. About the worst
complaint yet was received yesterday
from an old colored lady living near
the camp that some of the men had
torn Stats off her fence to use in build
ing shelters.
1t is a quiet, well behaved assem-
bly, which drops into military forma-
ton and follows leader without ques-
tioning. ParadoXicaliy enough, it Is
applying the weapon of the pacifist
with the organization of the soldier. 1t
is turning the other cheek"-and or
ganizing in military regiments to do it.
But the health officers who inspected
the camp yesterday shook their heads
when asked about the sanitation pros
poets. These have gone from bad to
worse in spite of ell that they-and
the leaders who are cooperating with
them-can do. The drain on the fire
hose is heavier than ever. It Is hard
to obtain more than enough water for
the kitchens.
Cumming Discouraged.
Surgeon Gen. Hugh S. Cumming was
frankly discouraged after taking look
eral death trap for these men, many OF
them already suffering from malnutri-
ton The camp, he said. looks very
much like the notorious Chickamauga
camp where, during the Spanish -Ameri-
can War; more men died of epidemic
diseases than of Spanish bullets. DR..
Cumming is convinced that the men are
trying to keep clean. but that this Is a
physical impossibility. There are bound
to be among them many carriers" Of
typhoid fever, diptheria and other dis
eases which are spread by individuals
who are themselves immune. It would
be almost impossible to get so men to-
gether, it was pointed out at the Public
Health Service, without one or more
such carriers. They are. of course, un-
aware of their own condition.
The Public Health Service can act
only at the request of the District Com
missioners. Surgeon Gen. Cummings is
ready to put the machinery of the Fed
eral agency at work as soon as any de-
cision as to procedure is reached. He
is worried over the danger to Washing
ton and to the rest of the country,
since such prospective pest hole might
we'll form the nucleus from which an
epidemic might radiate over surround
ing States.
Doctors Services Needed.
Some Of the bonus seekers have de-