The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-03-17

rens only to find
 Da" rarker that they had to sleep ouy in tke open, in the biting cold of an unreasonable frigid spell. Due to the confusion attendant upon the arrival of thousands of soldiers here daily, tents had gone astray so that many soldiers, including Water bury toy,5 in the 1l8th Medical Regi- ment, spent their first night i'll Flor ida under the canopy of the skies, gazin2 up at a brilliant moon as they shivered even under extra blankets Fortunately for the men Of the ll8th, they had in Capt Peter Cos tigan of Waterbury, an officer well versed in the ways of the army. He didn't wait for the misplaced tents to come to him, but Pete went out and found the lost canvas tops aft ter Q. search of five big warehouses, that took half a day, with the result that the following night, the men Of the Hath were as snug as so many fledglings in Q cotton lined nest. Nor did the tents arrive too soon. Heavy, Florida showers fell that night but, with the regiment under cover, they merely served to lull the boys to sleep as they sounded their soothing lullaby on taut canvas.
 First Impression
 Camp Blantilng in it's present state looks like a suit of clothes when the tailor calls you for the first fitting. The first impression is one of Encouragement. Everything Is unfinished and one wonders If it will be possible ever to stitch all the loose ends together neatly. But when one realizes the vaStnesS Of the project. ones respect grows for what already has been accomplish cd. Not many months ago. the site of Camp Blandtng was vast waste of scrub pine, palmetto and sand. In a few months, 1t will be a city of some 60,000. The government ear-marked $l0,000, ,000 for the camp. Already, $27 ,000, 900 has been poured into the project and the goal still isn't in sight.
 Blanding is located about six miles east of the village of Starke. Who- ever named Starke performed a stroke of genius. One day in Starke and you're not only stark but also staring. It is little more than & main street with shabby buildings. surrounded by cluster of dwelling houses. The population is only a few thousands. There are no facilities for providing for the comfort and conveniene of the thousands who visit Blanding. No one in the town seems to have awakened to the opportunity that Is pounding at It's door. For over- night lodgings, one must proceed to Jacksonville, about 40 miles to the east. or to Gainesville, where the University of Florida Is located 25 miles westward.
 From Starke to Camp Blanding runs a turtle-backed macadam road in poor state of repair, just wide enough for two cars to pass. Along this pseudo-highway, an endless procession of cars travels, most of them at excessive rates of speed. If this road doesn't produce more cas- ualties than any action in which the New England Division will par ticipate, one prophet of dire con- sequences will have been wrong again.
 Lake Kingsley
 The camp, which almost com pletely surrounds Lake Kingsley, a large body of fresh water offering good swimming and excellent bass fishing, Is enclosed by six-foct wire barricade. Near the entrance, division of Florida National Guard troops is quartered. The first units of the 43d is located on the other side of the camps Mason Dixon" line. over a mile from the main entrance. All the personnel is housed under canvas. The only wooden structures are the canteens, mess halls, assembly halls, bath houses and headquarters buildings.
 The tents are large, airy, about f5 feet square, with wooden plat forms, wooden sides reaching about four feet from the floor, with tim Der supports for the canvas tops. Tn the center of each tent is a sheet iron stove, shaped like an inverted funnel. and based on bed of sand and gravel about foot thick to prevent the fire from burning through the floor boards. Every night so far, tEe boys have had to keep the home fires burning for in this latitude. Florida balminess at this stage of the year, disappears with the setting sun, if it was pres ent at all during the day.
 The officers sleep two in a tent and the enlisted men, six. For the soldiers there are three double decker hunks in each tent, leaving plenty of room. The side flaps of the tents may be rolled up in warm weather. exposing screened sides to guard against the horde of mos quitces which are already licking their chops in anticipation of many a repast on thick, Northern blood