Evening star., 1940-10-25
fFourth OF a series.)
Bv ROBERT BRUSKIN.

BY ROBERT BRUShIN.
The Army estimated training a
selectee for one year will cost about
$500. 1t expects to get full re-
turn in value 1t expects also few
losses on the Nations investment.
Training men in the profession OF
arms would be wasted if the soldier
became sickly or otherwise unfit for
duty because of inadequate shelter.
Therefore much energy has gone
into construction of barracks, in
plans for quickly hardening men
and teaching them how to care for
themselves. Food will be adequate
and appetizing, the Army hopes, and
new soldiers are expected to begin
filling out their uniforms around the
shoulders and chest Immediately.
Barracks have come long way
since the World War. Scientific
planning has made them warmer.
Where a thin strip of wood and tar
paper made protection for 1917 ard
1918 soldiers, the 1910 recruit viii
live in barracks lined inside and out
with composition insulating board
covered with heavy plankS.
Each building will house 63 mtn.
During the war each housed TO-.
Showers, wash basins and toilets
are provided inside the barracks.
During the war a trip to the lava
tories in most instances required
q long hike away from barracks.
Contraption From Tropics.
One new adornment to barracks
is "aquamedias," an importation
from the tropics The contraption
IS a skirt over the first-floor win
dows which permits them to be
kept open during transforms with
out soaking cots.
The World War cantonments at
Fort Meade, now being torn down
to make way for the modern build
ings. were heated by batteries OF
small. pot-bellied stoves. The new
barracks e2ch have a hot-air heat
ing plant and fans to blow the heat
into all crannies of the two-story
buildings.
The reception center at Fort
Meade is expected to be completed
early in November, in time to receive
the first selectees from the District
and nearby counties, but if any de-
lays occur the men will be sheltered
temporarily in "winterized' tents,
each equipped with a Sibley stove
raised floor and wooden sides.
Selectees need not wear them
sleeves out with laundering, although
tubs will be provided for thrifty ones
Quartermaster laundries perform
the arduouS work for about $3.50 a
month, no matter how many shirts
are sent. Clothing sent on Tuesdays
is generally returned before Satur-
day Thus soldiers may keep clean
at little expense. Cleaning of coats
and trousers are extra
Three Pairs Wool Socks.
The selectee will get only three
pairs of wool socks but the hygiene
Instructor will tell him to change
socks every day on the march. Toe
nails should be cut square across
Sex hygiene instruction will re-
ceive large share of selectee's time
The United States Army has one of
the lowest rates of venereal disease
occurrence and the intensity of this
instruction keeps 1t So A soldier
with venereal disease loses his pay
and the respect of other soldiers
An inspection is to be made every
month to find men who may have
contracted it.
All men at the center will be
vaccinated against small pox i'm
rediately and in the other arm
they will receive the first of three
innoculations against typhoid fever.
Later they will be given an anti
tetanus toXoid injection. which would
have saved the lives of many men in
training camps and in the field if 1t
had been discovered during the War.
More than 10000 selectees are eX-
More than 10000 selectees are ex-
pected to spend to 10 days in the
Fort Meade reception center be-
tween November 18 and March l
before they are assigned to troop or
CARNATIONS, but during that time
heavy emphasis will be placed in
teaching the mer to care for them
selves. BY this method the Army
hopes to avoid the influenza epi-
demic that killed more than 300 men
at Fort Meade IN 1918 and to keep
the peacetime death rate at less
than seven for every 1000 soldiers
not much higher than the death
rate among civilians.
Among the things the selectee