Evening star., 1939-08-20
By The Associated Press.

PLATTSBURG, N. Y. Aug 19-
This peacetime mock war the $4,000
troops of the First Army are wag-
ing high in the Northern New York
hills isn't exactly what Sherman de-
scribed. but has its points.
The company commander, for in
stance, who had machine gun nest
neatly hidden away to block an
enemy" advance, probably thought
Sherman's famous remark an under
statement, when party of tour
lists, moseying across no mans land,
stopped for look-See.
Within 5 minutes the enemy
quick to take a tip, blasted the spot
with theoretical artillery fire, and
an umpire advised the captain he'd
better move his men out of there
pronto.
It's also a bit hard on the smart
young lieutenant, who pushes his
platoon through a couple of swamps
to capture an opposing force, and
then is informed it doesn't count
because his enthusiasm has gummed
up the whole problem.
The lieutenant has to start all
over again. and nine times out of
ten, the outfit he captured winds
up by pushing him off the map.
Just Mystery to Men.
For the man in the ranks. the
whole thing is just mystery which
he doesn't even try to solve.
For no reason that he can see
his outfit is marched off across the
country, halted in the woods and
apparently forgotten.
Pvt. John Doe doesn't know it
put his company probably is being
held in reserve for some unit fight
ing a mile Or SO away. ANY way
1t makes no difference to him. SO
he pulls deck of cards from his
pack and starts game of rummy.
Lacking the cards. he may hunt
through newspaper to find ont
Wnat this wars all about, or lust
lie down and go to sleep for an
hour.
The Army has acquired trespass
rights to about 288 900 acres in this
1arm-dotted war zone, but few neu-
tral areas remain. More than one
commander, planning to move his
men through field of waving grain
or corn making perfect cover for an
advance, finds himself staring at
yellow sign reading "out of limits"
us all very perpleXing.
Face to Face With Enemy"
one umpire, trying to Straighten
out a situation temporarily stale
mated by a neutral zone, directed
the opposing forces to move around
the prescribed area to new positions.
A few moments later the enemies.
who for Safety's sake are under
orders to approach no closer than
100 yards, stared into each others
eyes across stone wall.
The natives are taking the "war"
in stride
It's not unusual to see a falm-
wife hanging out the family wash
while machine gun in her front
yard is popping away with blank
ammunition at an opposing force
1900 yards away. Generally the
woman doesn't even turn around TO
see what all the shootings for.
The blank ammunition makes the
war harmlessly realistic, but part
of the 26th Division of the MasSa-
chusettS National Guard got a real
scare when some one found several
empty boxes that had contained
live ammunition lying in a supply
truck.
For an hour the umpires held up
the battle while the ammunition
issued to every man in the outfit
was checked Every one breathed a
sigh of relief when it was all found
to be blank.
Field Camping Experienced.
The men are really experiencing
field camping. There are no board
floors to their tents, and while they
have cots, they sleep on canvas or
ticks stuffed with donkey food"
Enlisted men line up in front of
field kitchens to get their rations
in mess kits, but the officers eat in