THE. OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: JULY 21, 1918.
9 A
NEBRASKA!!
OF 70 ASKS TO
FIGHT HUNS
Leander Herron of St. Paul
Marked 100 Per Cent
Perfect by Civil Ser
vice Commission.
Leander Herron, 70 years old, St.
Paul, Neb., wants to get into the
army and, if he can fight the kaiser
as bravely as he fought the Indians
50 "years ago, he belongs in the front
line trenches.
The civil service commission in
Washington has investigated Mr.
Herron's record and has marked him
100 per cent in experience and, prob
ably, the old warrior will be given
noncombatant work in the army.
He served through the Civil war
in Company C, 83d Pennsylvania, and
was awarded a medal by congress
for valor in fighting the Indians dur
ing the early Indian wars of the west
Half a century ago, when the
great plains were the battleground
for the redskins and white people. Mr.
Herron, then a corporal of Company
A, Third United States infantry, rode
through a band of "dog soldier" In
dians and rescued a wagon train,
which was under attack. "Dog
soldiers" is the terms given to the
lawless Indians who were drummed
out of their own tribes for down
right meanness.
Scene. of Big Fights.
. The famous Santa Fe trail was the
stage for the most bitter Indian fights
in history. They were at their worst
in 1868, when 5,000 Indians banded
together with the avowed purpose
of running the whites out of the
country.
After all stage lines had been put
out of business by the Indians, a
pony express service was established
m western .Kansas. The men rode
through the "death zone" at night and
every man knew that capture by the
Indians meant death, either by bullet
or at the stake.
Herron was one of the pony ex
press riders, carrying the government
mail and army orders. On the night
of September 2, 1868, he was ordered
to take one man and carry dispatches
from Fort Dodge, Kan., to Fort
Lamed, 75 miles east.
He choose Paddy Boyle for his
assistant.
Start at Dark.
The two men stole out of Dodge
shortly after dark and traveled east
ward for three hours, then, far in the
distance, they heard a gunshot and
knew that trouble was brewing. They
rode on and soon they could see the
flashes of guns and, as they neared
the place, they saw that a wagon train
was being attacked by Indians.
"We took a pistol in each hand and
made for the wagon," said Mr. Her
ron in telling the story. "If the
Indians saw us. in 'the dim light they
thought we were of their party. We
guided our horses with our knees.
"Yelling and whooping just as loud
as any Indians, Paddy and I went
right through them, firing right and
left. We got through their lines and
into the wagons before the Indians
realized what was up. And ' there
were dead Indians ' because of our
dash.
"There were only four soldiers in
the. train. They had been fighting
the red men for an hour. The bucks
made a desperate attack after we
were in the wagon but we repulsed
it.
"The horses for the wagons had
all been killed and there was no way
for us to get away. So, after talking
it over, it was determined that Paddy
should attempt to break through and
reach the fort for help, while I should
stay and help fight back the Indians.
Paddy shook hands all around, got
on his horse and rode off.
Paddy Disappears.
"A few minutes later there were
several shots and bloodthirsty yells.
Then there was quiet. We knew Pad
dy was killed and it was up to us to
fight to the last.
"After several hours of fighting our
ammunition got low. We decided
that every man, as he reached his
last bullet, should shoot himself, so
that the Indians could not torture
him. The Indians charged repeat
edly, but we made every bullet count.
Once they got within a few feet of
our wagon but we drove them back.
"We were in bad shape. One of
our men had been wounded seven
times by arrows and bullets. An
, other had been hit on the head with
a tomahawk during a hand-to-hand
encounter. The third man had been
twice wounded and the fourth had a
bullet through his arm. I was unin
jured. "It was only by the most desperate
efforts that we were able to keep the
whooping devils back.
' "Finally we had but 12 rounds of
ammunition left and the Indians were
preparing for another Hun-like drive.
We knew it meant the last and we
stood in silence ready to take toll of
11 Indian lives before we turned the
last bullets on ourselves.
Rush Did Not Come.
"But the rush did not come.
"From what we could see the In
dians had divided their forces into
two parties. Streaks of gray in the
east told of approaching daylight
We could see that one party of In.
dians were dressed in white and we
wondered what it meant. We pre
pared to face both charges.
"Only one division charged and be
fore we could fire we heard a call in
English, 'Don't fire !'
A man threw his carbine up in the
air and yelled. It was Paddy Boyle.
He had gone through the lines and
reached the fort .
"The, Indians broke up and fled and
the white soldiers rode up to us.
"'What kind-of uniform do you
call it? I asked Paddy.
''Well, the boys were asleep when
I reached the post, 'he answered,
'They didn't take time to dress. They
haven't got any on but their Under
clothes.' "It was a fact. The men didn't wait
to dress and the five rescued men
thanked God for the fact"
Cholera Is Reported to
Be Rag!ng in Russian City
London, July 20. Cholera has
broken out in Moscow, according to a
, Russian wireless message received to
day. Within the last 24 hours, the
message says, there have been regis
tered in Moscow 224 known cholera
cases. 78 suspected cholera cases and
26 cases of stomach disease
Nebraskans Raising Belgian Hares
to Help Do Away With Meatless Days
v iL ftwr : :
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Expert Gives
Facts on the
Don't let the same litter
Separate them.
old.
Don't lift the rabbits by the ears. When handling them
take them by the scruff of the neck.
Don't neglect sick rabbits. They respond to nursing like
persons and will readly submit to their noses being sprayed
just like humans.
Some Flemish giants weigh 20 pounds when mature.-
Choice Angora rabbit furs are worth $1.50 when properly
stretched and cured.
Good bucks will cost from
Don't raise common or scrubby stock, nor don't raise ele-
phants in rabbit skins select
In England the rabbit industry is considered so important
the British government has already purchased in this country,
the current season, 900 does and 100 bucks to replenish the in
dustry that has been demoralized by the war.
In a few years rabbit hides, treated and pressed, will be
manufactured into shoes.
Rabbit hides, pressed and treated, are' already used for
the making of stiff hats for men.
By JOHN H. KEARNES. Q-
War conditions have given an ad
ded impetus to the raising of Belgian
hares and other breeds of tame rab
bits for meat purposes.
A mature doe of the meat breeds
will produce 200 pounds of live
weight in a year, and this is what is
attracting many persons in Omaha
and other parts of Nebraska to the
industry.
Fifteen or 20 years ago there was
a Belgian hare fad and large numbers
of persons were induced to embark in
the rabbit breeding game by get rich
quick prospectuses sent out by vari
ous rabbiteries and tancy prices were
paid for fine bucks and does.
Because the business degenerated
into the raising of pets the pot of
gold at the end of the rainbow was
never reached and persons with little
or no experience gave up the fad in
disgust.
Some stuck and the war came along
to help vindicate their judgment. In
Omaha at the present time over
$25,000 is invested by ISO persons in
the industry and over 5,000 registered
rabbits with blue-blooded ancestry
are used to produce meat substitutes
for beef and pork, which is sorely
needed in Europe by the soldiers of
Uncle" Sam and the allies in the
bloody task of winning the war.
No More Meatless Days.
When the breeding of rabbits for
food conservation becomes more gen
eral it will not be necessary to ob
serve meatless days and the butchers'
bills of families, hospitals, soldiers'
home and public eelemosynary insti
tutions will be cut in half.
One of the drawbacks against the
success of the industry in the past
is the fact that so many persons were
ignorant of the delicate flavor and
nutritive value, together with the
small amount of fabric waste of rab
bit meat. .
In comparison with chicken the
rabbit ranks very high. Rabbit
flesh contains 83 per cent of digesti
ble nutriment, against 50 of chicken,
55 of beef, 65 of mutton and 75 per
cent of pork. The meat is all white
and fine grained and free from the
oily substance found in ducks and
geese, and the meat is much sweeter
and more tender than that of the
wild cottontail or jack rabbit.
Rabbits are very dainty about their
eating and thev dine on nothing but
the cleanest kinds of food. Leading
physicians recommend rabbit meat
for aged and rundown persons on
account of its great nutritive value
and the fact it is so easily digested.
In connection with the raising of
rabbits for meat, they are also raised
for their furs, and a new industry is
being developed in America along
these lines.
Everybody Has a Hobby.
Nearly everybody has a hob,by
some for painting, some 'or music,
some for mushroom raising, and some
for the raisin? of oets. A hobby is
a good thing for the tired business
man for it relieves him ana keeps
him from srettinsr completely tired.
It serves to keep a mental equilib
rium. The hobby of Sergt. E. R.
Wilson, police court officer, is the
raising of Belgian hares. He' gets
rid of the sordid police court atmos
phere by going out to his rabbitry,
at his home, 3302 Meredith avenue
where he cares for the material com
forts of the inmates of his colony
"A rabbit, said he, ' has as much
sense as some human beings and
each individual has his or her per
sonality and are worthy of study. In
their home life and personal rela
tions with each other thev are verv
Figures and
Hare Industry
run together after three months
$25 to $50, according to breed
the happy medium.
interesting and it is a pity that more
people do not realize it
"Rabbits can be raised on a city
lot where chickens can't. A man with
a small city lot can have on hand at
one time as high as 300 rabbits. From
the day the rabbit is born until it
is ready for the oven at five months
old, when it should weigh seven
pounds, its board and keep will not
be over 35 cents. At that time the
meat value of the animal should be
$3.25. Contrast this with a Ply
mouth Rock chicken, which will only
weigh about three pounds in the same
period and worth $1.20, while it has
cost 80 cents to produce.'
Easy to Raise.
"Rabbits are easy to raise. The
average city dweller can raise as high
as 300 rabbits in a season in a rab
bitry 8x20, 8 feet in heighth at the
back, 10 feet at the front and with
a sloped roof. This will give space
for 32 hutches, with nine feet of
floor area for each animal. The
hutches should be ventilated from
above and below without any direct
draft hitting the rabbits, for they are
very susceptible to drafts and develop
snuffles or pneumonia from this
cause.
"Water should be kept in front
of them all the time in summer and
should be available once a day in
winter. I have patented a feeder in
which I keep alfalfa hay and this is
in front of the rabbits all the time,
This, with a light ration of oat daily
in summer, and an occasional feed
of corn in winter, to supply heat,
constitutes the bulk of their feed.
Green feed should only be given oc
casionally, and then but little at a
time. I do not recommend the feed
ing of soft mashes. Clover hay," with
an occasional nip of carrot or
mangels is good and dandelion given
during the summer season has great
medicinal value and the rabbits love
it. Keep a little rock salt where the
rabbits can get at it. .
Require Little Exercise.
"Rabbits being raised for meat pur
poses do not require much exercise.
I keep a hurdle in each hutch for the
rabbits to jump over in. going from
one side of the pen to the other.
This is to keep them from becoming
pot-bellied.
"There is no great skill required
in caring for rabbits. All is needed
is the exercise of plain common
sense; humane care and a zealous
regard for sanitation. It is as essen
tial that the rabbit hutch be kept
clean and well ventilated as it is your
own home. It is well to have shelves
made of window screen in the pens
so the rabbits can get cool air from
above and below during the summer.
All feeding and watering jugs should
be sterilized with hot water at least
once a week.
"Rabbits play and eat at night and
are apt to seem sluggish during the
day. They should be raised the same
as chickens, sheep or hogs, and not
as pets. Yet they are very cunning
and intelligent They get to know
the names you give them and will
come and go like dogs at call. They
can be taught tricks and are a con
stant source of amusement. They
produce from four to five litters in a
year and raisers have to produce
nurse rabbits of commoner breeds to
tear them. These are plentiful and
cheap and are worth the price for
the service they perform.
Litter Makes $50.
"The litters run from six to 12 and
are easily raised. I had a litter 6f
10 come in the coldest weather of
last winter and saved every one.
They brought me $50.
"There need be no worry about
1 ?v;-
Upper pair are Sunlight and Quaker
Maid. On right is Sergeant Will
son with Sam Joe, No. 486; Maggie
R, No. 4869. Lower panel are five
i Dutch rabbits used for nurse purposes.
Below is little girl with cavy and rab
bit pets.
the sale of the meat The trouble is
that the demand is greater than the
supply and all of the rabbit meat you
can raise will retail readily at '45
cents a oound."
Popular breeds raised by Omaha
fanciers are Rufus Red Belgian hares,
Checkered Giant. Dutch, Flemish
steel gray, New Zealand rabbits and
Angoras.
The best meat treed is the Belgian
hare, whose flesh is tender. The Flem
ish giants run larger and will ma
ture to 12 pounds in nine months,
but the meat is coarser.
The raising of rabbits for meat con
servation purposes is endorsed by the
Nebraska food administration and its
possibilities as a great source of sup
ply for substitute for beef and pork
is recognized.
Come From Belgium.
Before the war the breeding and
raising of rabbits was the national in
dustry of Belgium. Rabbits were
raised by Belgians to supply the fam
ily larder with meat and this was
a great economic item in a small coun
try with a congested population. Be
sides furnishing the national table
there was exported from the District
of Ghent, comprising the Province of
East Flanders, to England, in 1913,
10,000,000 pounds of dressed rabbit. At
the same time there was exported un
dressed rabbit skins to the value of
$2,000,000. This would indicate there
were eaten in that country during
that year at least 100.000,000 rabbits,
the meat supply for 7,000,000 industri
ous persons. The number is arrived at
for the reason the value of a rabbit
skin was 50 centimes in Belgian cur
rency, the equivalent of 10 cents in
American coin.
Since the war the vandal Huns have
confiscated every rabbit in Belgium to
feed to the 68,000,000 partially starved
people of Germany. 'The millions of
rabbits there have totally disappeared
as if they had never existed.
America's growing fur industry, of
which Omaha is an important center,
is creating a new value for rabbit
skins. The fur of the cottontail and
jack rabbit is too frail for commercial
use and has but inferior value, being
quoted last winter at 2 cents each, if
properly skinned and stretched.
About 25 tons were marketed at this
price. Domestic skins are worth much
more, that of the "White Siberian"
rabbit, which is the White Flemish
Giant, having an auction value of 98
cents. Skins of the Angora, Checkered
Giant, French Silver, Himalayan and
American Blue, bring fancy prices.
( Fur May Be Dyed.
These furs are clipped and dyed and
are sold under trade names. The fur
of the Belgian hare, which produces
a beautiful silky coat, has been dyed
and sold for years under the trade
name of "Electric Seal."
American spotted giants make beau
tiful sets of fur, as do the Cham
pagne d'Argent and the Blue Im
perial. The Belgian hare is the raciest,
most spirited and pugnacious of all
the rabbit breed. It is a mistake to
think the rabbit won't fight. When
they get in a fighting humor they can
put a bull dog to shame for tenacity
and ferocity of attack. A local fan
cier put a strange buck in with a
doe and started a real fight. The
doe nearly chewed the buck's ear
off, and the buck tried to eat the
doe without salt The fancier, act
ing as peacemaker, tried to separate
the furious pair and then the fur real
ly began to fly. In a minute they
both attacked him and had him licked
to a frazzle in less time than it takes
to tell it
Too Fat in New Zealand.
The New Zealand rabbit is about
the laziest animal' alive. All it. will
do is to lazily He from morning to
night and night to morning de
veloping fat It is too lazy to pro
tect its young or to get out of the
way of danger. Cats and dogs are
the menace to the industry because
of their destru:tive propensities and
must be guarded against.
Down in Oklahoma a big corpora
tion is being organized to handle do
mestic rabbits as a commercial propo
sition. The corporation will conduct
a mammoth rabbit farm, a rabbit fur
tannery and a big cannery where rab
bit meat will be put up. It has a
contract for huge supply of meat
for the British government to start
business with.
Noted Nebraska rabbit breeders
are: C. C. Wilson, P. Wiig. A. O.
Watson M. H. Fowler, V. E. Hall,
T. N. tanning, Charles R. Pinneo,
Anton Piskal, W. E. Sharpe, Oma
ha; C. B. Barnes, C. B. Capron, Mrs.
E. G. Clark, Charles K. Ott. Mrs.
In. N. Stiles, S. A. Webb, Lincoln;
Herman Roesch, S. R. Thompson,
Grand Island; Jason B. Clark, Falls
City; William B. Fuerst, Battle
Creek; Clyde Goble, Beaver City; E.
W. Hendren, Morrill; Samuel H.
Jones, Alma; Dr. J. L. Pennington,
Republican City; E. C. Peterson,
Dannebrog; H. Siemsen. Leigh; Carl
Spillman, Sutton; B. D. Stephenson,
Ushkosh. t
"Get the habit and raise the rab
bit"
Echoes Heard in Local
Lodge Rooms When
Leader's Gavel Fall
Fraternal Aid Union,
Tuesday night, July 30, Mondamin
Lodge, No. Ill, will entertain it's
members and friends at aa informal
open meeting at the hall, Nineteenth
and Farnam streets.
Woodmen of the World.
The card party given by the Om
aha Seymour Camp, No. 16, was
followed by refreshments. A series
of entertainments have been planned
to be given into the hands of Con
sul Commander Vincent Haskell.
Druid Camp, No. 24, is the proud
possessor of two fishermen, who re
turned last week from Lake Oko
boji, and it will be a long time be
fore they get over telling of the
sport enjoyed.
American Camp, No. 104, is very
active this summer. Deputy Joe
Leis is making the claim to more
new members for the coming banquet
at the Blackstone hotel than any
other deputy in Omaha.
Benson Camp, No. 288, added sev
eral new members to the camp since
June 1.
The Omaha Central committee will
meet with Seymour Camp, Tuesday
evening, July 30.
Woodmen Circle.
W. A. Fraser Grove, No. 1, will
make the August social meeting a
combination reunion, Dutch treat
picnic. In the meantime all ef
forts are being concentrated on the
securing of new members under the
Thrift Stamp campaign.
The young women of Alpha Grove,
No. 2, invite all Woodmen circle
members and their friends to a free
dancing party to be given for the
entertainment of "our soldier boys"
in Lyric' hall, Tuesday night.
Welcome Grove, No. 54, members
are urged to make an extra effort
to increase the class of new mem
bers being, secured during the Thrift
Stamp campaign, and to attend the
August 5 meeting when the service
flag will be dedicated.
John T. Yates Grove, No. 57, has
abandoned it's annual banquet and
is investing in Liberty bonds and
Thrift Stamps. '
Elwocd Grove, No, 85, Benson,
contemplates giving a card party in
the near future.
Members of Emma B. Manchester
Grove, No. 156, are urged to be
present Thursday night in the inter
est of the Thrift Stamp campaign.
Miss Dora Alexander, supreme
clerk, is arranging a Woodmen Cir
cle encampment at Y. W. C. A.
Camp Brewster, beginning July 27.
Mystic Workers' Social.
Alpha lodge No. 893, Mystic Work
ers of the World, will give a lawn so
cial at the residence of Mrs. Strawn,
1113 South Fiftieth street, Tuesday
evening. Ice cream and cake will be
served.
Disloyalty Charges Must
Be Cut from Newspapers
Bismarck, N. D July 20. The
North Dakota Council of Defense,
which, recently issued an order pro
hibiting the publication of charges of
disloyalty or pro-Germanism which
have not bSen based on authoritative
information, announced today that
this order will apply to all news
papers entering the state.
WAR MEANS MUCH TO
BRITISH OLD FOLK
Burden is Horded on the Old
er Generations Than on
the Younger, Says,
London Writer.
We realize, most of us, what the
war has meant, and still means, to
yoiith and to middle age. Its tragedy
and its sorrows have become part of
our every-day life. We know how
splendidly and, how gallantly the
young manhood of the empire has an
swered the great call; how, bidding a
tender goodby to the dear ties of
home, it has gone with undaunted
heart and head erect to fling itself
fearlessly into the fury of the fray,
writes George R. Sims in London
Chronicle.
We know how willingly and whole
heartedly our young womanhood has
volunteered for sisterly service in the
hospitals and in the camps, and how
bravely it has dared the perils the new
methods of warfare carry far behind
the battle front We have seen our
young womanhood lay aside the fem
inine arts and crafts and employ
ments of peace to take up without a
murmur the sterner tasks of war. We
have seen it carry on not only the
work of war, but fill the places of
men in our commercial undertakings
and our industries, on the land and on
the railways We have seen it re
inforcing the police, assuring the con
tinuance of the passenger traffic of the
streets, and saving the postal system
from confusion and delay.
Strain is Terrible.
We know with what brave hearts
the young wives of the empire have
borne the pangs of parting and the
ceaseless anxiety of the long years of
war. We know how terrible has been
the strain upon the mothers and fath
ers of the empire, whose sons are at
bay with a raging and ruthless foe on
land and sea.
But few of us have quite realized
the extent to which the world trag
edy has affected the aged men and
women who are nearing the journey's
end, and who, as the war drags on,
begin to fear that their eyes may
never again see the land they love at
peace. They have bravely endured
the long years of alternate hope and
fear, and now they are straining
their eyes through the darkness
watching for the first faint glimmer
of light which will herald the dawn.
Youth that survives the toil of battle
can find comfort in the knowledge
that the happy days will come at last,
and that in all those happy days will
mean it will have its share.
Still Have Chance.
The middle-aged have still a fair
chance of knowing again the calm
joys and peaceful pleasures of the
pre-war days. They have had to en
dure the long hours of darkness, but
for them the sun will shine again.
Victory may be delayed, but it will
dome at last and bring balm for all
their wounds. They will know at
least that the dear ones they have
lost have not made the great sacrifice
in vain.
But the old folks are oppressed
with the haunting fear that they will
have to pass into the great silence
with the fate of their beloved land
and all they hold dear in it still trem
bling in the balance. They, too, have
endured bravely. They have borne
unmurmuringiy the stress and pri
vations that the conditions of war
have brought upon us. They have
been sustained by their faith in the
justice of their country's cause and
in the might and valor of the proud
race to which they belong. But their
eyes grow dimmer and their limbs
more feeble, and their last days are
disturbed and saddened by the
thought that they may die and never
know. .
No Fear of Death.
Death would have had no terrors
for them if they could have died with
the Song of Simeon on their lies:
"Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have
seen Thy salvation." It is the salva
tion of the Lord s cause, the cause of
justice and freedom, it is the glory
of the people of the free lands and of
the people of their own race and
blood that these patriarchs long to
see ere they go hence.
It is not of themselves they are
thinking as the shadows gather It is
of the imperial race to which they be.
long, of the great empire that they
know is now fighting for its very ex
istence, and of the free and happy
land in which their lonar and useful
lives had been spent so peacefully.
In the evening of their days, with
their life's work done, their task ac
complished, the rest and peace that
should have been theirs have been
denied them. The cry of battle has
resounded in their ears. Many of
them have lived on to see the young
of their blood those who answered
the call of king and country pass to
the tomb before them.
Horrors of War.
They have found themselves linger
ing in a world filled with the horrors
of war, a war in which the hosts oi
tyranny, armed with every murder
ous device, seek to slay or enslave the
free peoples. From a world at war
with this tyranny they themselves
must Soon pass, but in that world
they are leaving their children and
their children's children.
They pray that they may be per
mitted to linger here until the victory
of freedom over tyranny has been
achieved. They pray that they may
be spared until their eyes have seen
the salvation of the world, and until
their hearts have been eased of all
fear for the future of their land and
their loved ones.
This is what I hear from the lips of
the old folks who talk to me of the
war. "Will those I leave behind me
ever know again the happy, peaceful
England in which I had lived all my
life until this terrible war came, and
in which I once hoped and believed
that J should die?"
The old folks whose summons comes
now are not only passing into the
unknown. They are leaving the un
known behind them. We cannot
blame them for their haunting fear of
the future. It is an unselfish fear, for
they themselves have nothing to gain
or lose by the fortunes of war. The
suspense that harasses and embitters
their last hold on life is not due to any
lack of faith in their country's will to
win or ability to win. It is the result
of that hope deferred which tells even
upon men and women in the full pos
session of their mental and physical
powers
HOW ENGINEERS
ARE INSTRUCTED
FOR U. ARMY
Camp Allen A. Humphreys, in
Virginia, Will Soon Have a
Capacity for Training
30,000 Men.
Washington, July 20. Transform,
tion of a forest into a great military
camp in four months is one of the
achievements of which the American
Corps of Engineers boasts.
Early in February, Camp Allen A.
Humphreys at Belvoir, Va., was vir
tually unknown. But American en
gineers were put on the job and to
day it is a thriving, pulsating camp,
a great city in itself, housing some 17,-
000 men, and growing day by day un.
til by August it will accommodate 30,
000. Camp Humphreys, named for the
first chief of engineers of the United
States army, is some 20 miles
south of Washington, just below the
town of Acotink, Va. Its confines
cover the historic Lord Fairfax tract;
to one side is Mount Vernon, home of
George Washington, and in the other1
direction is Gunston Hall, plantation
and typical old Southern home of
George Mason, illustrious Virginian,
author of the Bill of Rights, the fam
ous document which Thomas Jeffer
son made the cornerstone of the
American Declaration of Independ
ence. Camp Humphreys is peculiarly
adapted for an engineer training
school. In the hills and valleys
America's citizen-soldiers are tunnel
ing, mining, quarrying, excavating,
fitting themselves for work on for
eign battlefields.
Big Capacity.
The camp is the only engineer re
placement camp in the country, 4
it is here the vast supply of engineers
is to be kept, upon which General
Pershing will call for men to expand
and. replace engineer units working
with the American overseas army. Al
ready replacement units have been
sent across. Early in June 2,500 men
trained in all branches of engineering
work were sent to Pershing. The
camp can train, equip and dispatch
men to France at the rate of 3,000 a
month, and by the first of the year
the capacity will be raised to 6,000 a
month. . -
Washington newspaper correspon
dents recently were guests of the
corps of engineers on an inspection
trip to the camp and its vicinity. Ev
ery detail of the work was explained
to them by headquarters officers of
the staff of Lt.-Col. Richard Park, U.
S. A., an engineer of engineers, who
has been placed in charge of the
greatest replacement camp.
Seventeen thousand men are at the
camp at present, most of them drafted
men, and new ones are arriving from
civil life every day. .there ts a con
tinual ebb and flow of troops, men be
ing sent across the Atlantic as fast
as they can be accommodated in
France, and new ones arriving to take
their places at the schools. Even
after the war it is the government's
intention to make Camp Humphreys
a permanent training camp for engin
eers, and all work is being done witl'
that scheme in mind.
r -.ft. ......
One of the most interesting features
of Camp Humphreys is the light, com
bat railway which has been con
structed for the carrying of supplies
through the reservation, as well as for
training men in the construction, op
eration and maintenance of battle-line
railroads. A 60-centimeter, narrow
gauge road 12 miles in length, similar
to the French roads, covers the camp,
and all day trains of flat cars and
gondolas run back and forth with
construction materials and supplies.
The locomotives are built especially
for foreign service, and the power ii
furnished by four-cylinder, 50-horse-power,
gasoline motors. So well
trained are the Humphreys engineers
that the construction gang lay track
at the rate of half a mile a day.
These railways will be taken to
France with ' the railroad engineers,
and it wilt not be long before ther
will be running from the rear lines
to the front, loaded with shot and
shell and guns for American Infantry
and artillery. As rapidly as the battle;
line changes, the combat railway can
be moved to conform with it
All phases of engineering are tanght
at the camp. When the recruit ar
rives, he is put through the three
principal schools, the sapper, gas. de
fense and pontopn schools, in order
that he may get the rudiments of the
engineer's work. If he, is found to
possess special qualifications or tech
nical ability he Is sent through one or
more of the following supplementary
courses: Highway and trench con
struction, railroad construction and
operation, water supply work, for
estry, animal transportation, camou
flage, surveying, map production, elec.
trie wiring, reclamation, gas and
flame, gas offense, mining, quarrying,
bridge .building, trestle -work, and
others. ,
Quick Work.
On the correspondents' inspection
trip, three regiments of half strength
were marched in review approxi
mately 7,000 soldiers filing past the
commandant, his staff and his guests,
with healthy stride and military bear
ing, marching to lively music of the
camp band. In the outfit was one
regiment whose drilling was specially
attractive. With snap and precis'on,
the men of this regiment marched
across the parade ground, heads high,
eyes front men who eight days e-
fnre ewer? ncacrpd 5n civil nursiiifa.
They were the latest arrivals, and
eight days after they had answered
the nation's call for men, these younst
Americans were, to the civilian eye,
'a trained outfit of American engi
neers, apparently ready to face the foe
to do or die for the freedom of the
world. Negro troops of the service
battalion also commanded attention
of the spectators.
When a man has been graduated
from Camp Humphreys and is sent
abroad, he is an engineer in the strict
est sense of the word. He is more
than an ordinary soldier he is an ex
pert in his line, the best engineer his
officers can make him, and his officers
are the nick of the engineer depart
mentWest Pointers and civilian en
gineers who have "joined uo" so the
country may have the benefit of. their
knowledge and practical experience. -