The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1939-1949, 1943-08-26
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Up-to-Dat City
Modern Conveniences
Make Life Agreeable at
Big Army Center.


FORCES IN CENTRAL AFRICA
A year after its establishment, this
center Of American army affairs Tor
a vast area has been turned into
little piece of u. S. A. for thousands
of men who may have to call 1t
home for the duration.
Their Job is to keep open the
aerial supply lines which lead to
North Africa, the Middle East,
Russia, India. Burma and China.
They must see that planes. urgent
ly needed supplies and high-priority
personnel get to the right place at
the right time.
The tremendous camp has no
name-iust an army postofice num-
Der. Yet it Is quite metropolis Of
concrete, wooden and canvas homes,
of mess halls and cafeterias, of pow
er plants, telephone exchanges and
steam 1aundries, of hospitals.
churches and movies, of barber
shops and tailor shops, of stores and
warehouses. Of baseball fields, ten
mis- courts, clubs and bars.
Live Comfortably.
It likewise is a city with electric
lights, with modern plumbing and
sewerage, fire and police depart
ments, bus lines and free taxis.
Officers live comfortably in the
concrete block buildings, one, two
or three to a room depending on
rank. There are screened porches
and easy chairs, rugs on the floors,
reading lamps, comfortable, nom
army beds, showers, and even plugs
for electric razors. Black-skinned
house boys, paid and supervised by
the army, wash and lay out the
officers clothes, shine their shoes,
scrub, sweep and dust their rooms,
air their bed linen and run their
errandS.
The privates and ''non-coms," for
the most part, are less fortunate.
Theirs are the scores of prefabri-
Gated hutments. barracks and "win-
terized tents" Theirs also are the
canvas and. the rope cots.
Mess facilities range from a cafe
terra capable of feeding 5000 enlist
ed men to a small, nobly equipped
dining hall for officers with the rank
Of major or higher. The men use
their mess kits, the officers enjoy
the attendance of walters and dine
much as they would at home. Food
obtained locally lenGs variety to the
army rations.
Thousands OF natives report each
morning for work of a dozen diff
ferent types and are paid from 40
to go cents day.
Storage for Food. ..'ss
A score of large warehouses,
among them REFERS" where frozen
food may be stored, receive sup
plies for the soldiers as fast as they
are brought in by plane, truck and
boat. There are fruit, vegetable,
fish and poultry buying departments.
and even an egg Gambling room.
A hospital with $50 to 200 beds
receives any injured man, labora-
tory and pharmacy stats work
around the clock to meet his needs,
along with X-ray and other techni-
clans, he gets a bed in a roorny
ward and receives the attention of
American nurses as well as doctors.
On Sunday the soldier can go to
church at any one of the three chap
els. He may see movie in either
Of tw3 large outdoor cinemas any
night in the week, or lounge in one
of several recreation halls where
magazines, pool and ping pong ia
bles, radios. monographs and, above
all, deep, soft chairs, await his
pleasure. He can check out books
from a library of 1000 volumes or
get the free use of cards and poker
chips for little game.
If he's looking for sport, and is
good enough. he can get on one OF
the ten baseball teams in the camp
league, or he can play tennis, vol.
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