In connection with all our cantonments there are field hospitals arranged and managed as they would be on the battle front. As the training camp does not provide enough real emergency cases for training the hospital attendants, ambulance drivers and stretcher bearers, able bodied men submit to being carried on stretchers to the hospital tents where their imaginary wounds are treated with neatness and dispatch. The training and work of our army surgeons and hospitals corps wearing their insignia, the red cross, is worthy of a whole lecture. This single view will have to suffice at this time. It should be remarked, however, that our men whether in the training camps or on the other side, are receiving the best possible medical attention without distinction as to rank or previous position in the civil life. “The health conditions,” at these amps, to quote from ex-president Taft who made a tour of nearly all the cantonments, “Are so much better than they ever have been in the past, that while we should not abate our efforts to reduce disease, we certainly can felicitate ourselves and the War Department on the comparatively small percentage of deaths and illness.”
A decidedly realistic turn is given the novices when with their gas masks they practice carrying supposedly overcome companions on stretchers from the trenches. In this view the details of the masks can be seen. The rubber contrivance fits closely over the head with great staring goggle-eyes which gives the wearer a sepulchral appearance. A large tube brings the air from which the gas has been eliminated or neutralized to the nostrils of the encased man. When the danger from gas is passed the mask is removed, folded just so, and put in the flat carrying case worn on his chest where it will be ready for immediate use. All branches of the service are provided with masks, for German gas shells are often thrown far behind the lines even to the sections were the artillery is located. In France, even the peasants who work the fields near the front are being supplied with masks so that they can continue their agricultural work not only amid shot and shell as they often do, but in the enveloping poisonous gas.
Before the signal to fire is given we will go over to the enemy’s side, out of range, however, and see what happens. There are seventeen cannons drawn up opposite us and at the signal all of them belch forth. In America it sounds big — like the real thing. Were it on the other side during a big battle it would pass almost unnoticed. The impossibility of reproducing actual war conditions on this side makes it necessary to gradually accustom our men to such conditions near the battle lines. No matter how brave a man may be, he cannot be changed from a civilian to a hardened soldier in a day. The spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak. We must bear this in mind in all our plans as to the size of the army we ought to put in training at once.
Next to the infantry, the field artillery is the most extensive and important branch of the army. A brigade consists of brigade headquarters, two regiments of light and one of heavy artillery, a trench mortar battery with 72 guns, 12 trench mortars, and the necessary transportation supplies, etc. The total strength is 185 officers and 4781 men. A brigade makes a very formidable array. We do not see all of the units in this view, but we have light field artillery units from several brigades as they passed in review at Camp Hancock, near Augusta, Ga.
As the gases used are all heavier than air they settle in the trenches and shell holes where they would remain for a long time rendering them uninhabitable except with the protecting masks. To clear the trenches of this gas, squads of “flappers” go through with great fans stirring up the gas and driving it out.
Going to another camp we see the head of an artillery column with the limbers and casinos drawn by from four to six horses, as they start out early in the morning for the day’s drill. The general view of the camp in the background gives an impression of the size of these cantonments.
Somewhere at a distance from the camp the field pieces are drawn up in position, the horses removed and the guns made ready for action. The shells are taken from the caisson, passed to the gunners, thrust into the breech of the gun and everything is ready to fire at the given signal.
For a few minutes let us turn our thoughts to other things. Wherever the army is found, whether on this side or on the other, the Y.M.C.A. huts are in evidence. The work of this organization is absolutely interdenominational and its hospitality is extended to Protestant, Catholic, Jew, or any other sect. In most of the camps there are eight or nine of these huts beside the central office and auditorium. One of their temporary buildings is shown here. Most of the cantonments are now provided with wooden buildings of a more permanent character and painted green, which makes them a veritable oasis in the desert of unpainted barracks. They are equipped with various attractions and conveniences which make them a home in which the soldiers can come and write letters, play the piano, or listen to a victrola, or chat with their comrades. It is the most powerful gloom — and homesick - eradicator in camp and fortunate is the man who early learns to frequent its rooms. Lectures, entertainments, musicales, and other gatherings are provided and the moral welfare of the men is given special attention. The sign of the Triangle means development of body, mind, and spirit, and is the symbol of hospitality to all.
Those strenuous outdoor activities both in play and work develop voracious appetites, to appease which the cooks have to earn their money. The typical field kitchens are shown here as the loaves of bread are being put in. The army rations are plain and substantial such as the men need. A fair sample meal consists of potatoes, cabbage, boiled ham, bread and butter, lemonade, tapioca pudding, or cake. Everything is well cooked and clean. No appetizer is needed. The service is the same as in a “serve yourself” restaurant. The mess sergeant has an allowance for food and can buy from the commissary or in the open market. Whatever he saves can be spent on additional delicacies such as ice cream and cake. It has to be spent for the mess. So the frills to a certain extent depend on the skill and economy of the mess sergeant. Our soldiers are the best fed soldiers in the world.
Although the Y.M.C.A. takes in all denominations, there are other buildings which have been erected for the special activities of different religious denominations and organizations. The Knights of Columbus and the Young Men’s Hebrew Association have a number of buildings for the use of their own organizations. The view now before you is in one of the halls built by the Knights of Columbus. Of course there are also the army chaplains for the different denominations so that the spiritual needs of the men are well cared for. No pains have been spared to provide the best protection, moral and spiritual, for our men in training. Not only has the sale of liquor to soldiers in nearby towns been prohibited and the prohibition strictly enforced, and other vices eliminated, but ample provision for healthy entertainment has been made. It can be truly said that there is no safer place for a young man than our training camps.
