Newspapers / Trench and Camp (Charlotte, … / Jan. 7, 1918, edition 1 / Page 7
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HP; In the summer of 1916, when onrl > troops were temporarily mobilized on ' the Mexican Border, I was seat down,! as a special agent of the War Depart- ] meat, to study the conditions which were surrounding the troops. I re- i member standing in the streets of Columbus very shortly after Villa : . devastated that village, and watching ; the soldiers as they came acroes the < railroad tracks. Five thousand of our i I men were in camps there. There was , absolutely nothing in town that could in any way amuse them. There were no moving picture shows; no places where they could write letters; no 1 athletic equipment for their use; no library facilities of any kind; no homes to which they could go?absolutely nothing offered to the soldiers / in the way of clean entertainment. Just after war was declared last April, the President and the SecreLtary of War, having these facts keenly in mind, asked me to assume the chairmanship of the newly appointed Commission on Training Camp Activities. The main job of this Commission is to supply the normal things of life to the hundreds of 1 thousands of men In training camps. Besides the chairman, the members of the Commission are Lee F. Hanmer, of the Russell Sage Foundation; Thomas J> Howells, of Pittsburgh; Marc Klaw, the veil-known theatrical K producer; Joseph Lee, president of the Playground and Recreation AssoI elation of America; Malcolm L. MeBrlde, the former Yale Football star; Dr. John R. Mott, well known as General Secretary of the War Work | " Council of the Y. M. C. A.; Charles P. Neill, of Washington; Col. Palmer E. Pierce, U. a A., and Dr. Joseph E. Raycroft, director of physical educa* Hon nf PHncftfnn TTnlwmiltT. ft ' It was oar task, in the first place, 11 to see that the inside of the sixty odd I' army training camps famished real I . amusement and recreation and social j|! Die. In the second place, we were to see to it that the towns and cities J) near by the camps were organized to T - provide recreation and social life to the soldiers who would flock there . when owl leave. In short, the Gov' 'eminent took this attitude and is holding to It ,U along: "OmromSHen men are training hard to fight for the Government; the Government will give them, while they train, evAthletics Prove ^ Big Help to Men , In Training Camps The wisdom of appointing athletic directors In all the training camps and cantonments to co-oramaie amletica with the military drills has been, thoronghly established by the results achieved. jjSv , The soldiers hare been immeasurably assisted in their military work by their participation in games in . which the same movements were used as in drills. As a result they . have made astonishingly rapid progress. Much of the credit for the splendid condition of preparedness in which the men in the" camps and can5 tonments are found today belongs to the professional coaches and regimental and Y. M. C. A. athletic directors. Of particular assistance to the men E%s,< have been the athletic games in which the participants wore uniforms or heavy marching order equipment The athletic programs were so arranged |S' as to put the participants through the same movements as they would be called upon to execute under actual war conditions. In a number of the camps the athletic games have approached trench i conditions, the men taking part in &; contests of bomb throwing for dis ! tance, bomb throwing for accuracy $ and bomb throwing for speed and accuracy. These contests have been I witnessed by French and British ln| structors, who marveled at the ability of the American soldiers in mastering the art of bomb throwing in such a fashion as to compare them most favorably with the men now in. the Ri ' trenches. CONSCRIPTION IN CANADA Conscription has. been adopted in I Canada by a larger majority than was expected. The majority will be it increased by the votes of the Cana u* dian soldiers "Over There." practically all of whom cast their ballots In J*: favor of selective service. The retention of the Union government in power In the Dominion carried with It endorsement of the "wln-the-war" policy as against the "quit-the-war" policy of s certain element of the &u?llas<^ TRENCH A 'E SOLDIER By RAYMOND wy possible opportunity for eduea-j Lion, amusement and social life." ! ' Tha PnmmMnn has net dnvnlnnAd my more machinery than was absoIntely necessary. So tar as possible we wished to work with the existing agencies. The Commission leans heavily on the Y. M. C. A., the Knights of Columbus and' the Jewish Board of Welfare. For the general club facilities inside the camps the splendid achievements of these organisations are so well known that they need no explanation here. The American Library Association was asked to assume responsibility when It came to creating library facilities inside the camps. It has raised a fond of over a million dollars, and in every National Army cantonment and National Guard camp there is now, either finished or in process of construction, a library building?in charge of a trained librarian who makes it his sole business to see that the men have ready and easy access to any type of book which they desire. The needs of a million men in camp, however, cannot be met by club facilities and books alone. The War Department felt that It was absolutely necessary that opportunities for athletics, mass singing, dramatic amusement and ' education be furnished, not to five per cent or twenty per cent, but to one hundred per cent of the men within each camp. Accordingly, the Commission on Training Camp Activities has established lor uie uuniramoai a u/ui|nwcuuig organisation which will furnish such opportunities in each of the training camps. Sports directors, song leaders and theatrical managers on the payroll of the Government are superintending this great work at most of the important army training camps. For instance, to furnish dramatic entertainment to every man in the sixteen National Army campe the Commission has erected a theatre seating 3,000 people. These theatres were built under a standardized plan and are completely equipped with full sets of stage paraphernalia, lights, drops and a moving picture machine: By building theatres on a standard model we obviated the necessity of transporting scenery from camp to camp and made poesible the production of high-grade performances at I very low cost, for the expenses are reduced to a minimum. *""? l-I'. 1 i nat kuuwc ii urn ' ' 1 Gamts, wrapup"L jj5 A COUPLE OF BOXES S o W OFMVCHOICtStCISARS TOR MR. DOBS TOj?^ * jaxe back lonrtesy McGure Newspaper Syi HP CAMP 5 RECREATU B. FOSDICK on Training Camp Activities) Mr. Marc Klaw was given the taak of organising four companies to play light comedies and four companies of vaudeville stars. "Turn to the Right," "Cheating Cheater?," "Here Comes the Bride," "Inside the Line" and other popular plays trill be presented In turn at the various cantonments, "the professional vaudeville companies will also make the rounds and the theatres will he offered to the I men for the production of amateur dramatics or special moving pictures. There will be a small charge of from 15 to 25 cents made for the professional entertainments. In addition to these theatres, and at both the National Army and National Guard camps, the Redpath Lyceum furnishes entertainment. The general direction of all paid entertainments at the camps is In the hands of Mr. Harry P. Harrison, the president and general manager of the Redpath Lyceum Bureau. j One of the most interesting activities of the training camps Is a brandnew one?mass singing. That Is, a systematic and organized development of It Is new. Victorious armies have been singing armies for many j years, but the United States Is probably the first country to go into mass I singing on such a big scale. Under | the direction of a song leader, singing in nearly every training camp has become an enthusiasm. To meet the {demand for songs, the Government 11 or me ursi uiue um iiuuwu ? ^"6 Mbok. This was published by the Commission. I To make sure that the man who wanted to study French or English or trigonometry?Indeed any such subject?would hare an opportunity to do so, a special committee on education attached to the Commission has been charged with the responsibility 1 for supplying Instruction in any course for which a demand is seen. The great number of men throughout the camps who have seised upon these educational opportunities is inspiring. Naturally, in many of the camps of forty thousand men there are a number of native Americans and a number of foreigners who have taken up with Interest their first lessons in English grammar, and in reading and writing. The Committee on Education Is utilising in Its work the machinery not only of university extension courses, but particularly the ed the 13th Squad. if Wri W W II | MAY I COME OUT ^ A\U L TO CAMPSOMC ' W1' AW da Y-' r? cove ) l|\ ^ I idicate, New York ON ||g ucational department of the Y.M.C.A. Athletics in connection with the HQgjjJT*? training of a modern army la, of coarse, extremely Important. The re- flfttyyrw 8ponsibility for the organization and conduct of these recreative athletics in each camp is in the hands of a wZgwA TO skilled organizer and coach who is 1 >->! officially recognized as a civilian on jvvi 'Jfan the staff of the Commanding Officer. Sr f**/A His salary is paid from Government J funds. Thirty such sports-directors (jm / ,? have been appointed by the Commls- (m sion and assigned to posts. The su- ?///wZ&l | pervision of this work in each camp involves the creation of a Division Athletic Council, supplemented by I regimental councils, and by suck organizatlons among the companies as vwUw/wA may be necessary. The sports-directors in the National Army camps will be assisted by boxing instructors, flf- BtvYl'aW teen of whom have already been ap- wK.11.wmQ pointed. They will also co-operate UtiuiyWg with the representatives of the Y. M. P^jT ^ C. A. and the Knights of Columbus assigned to athletic work in the 1 j| The whole object of this comprehensive athletic program is to give to the inrowt Doasiblc number of sol- II dier8 the opportunity to play hard as III llll well as work hard?and to play at ||| IIII organized athletics If they want. One III llll of the most popular sports has proved N IKI So mnch for inside the camps. What about the very important problems of recreation and amusement for VKVm soldiers on leave in the towns nearby? To make these communities adjacent |jhjTjjf|j to the training camps the best pos- a ||Iiii'DEh sible places for soldiers In their free Ha' time?to organize the social and re- Hf&j|jjjjgTl creational facilities of the towns to I meet every need of the men on leave, the Playground and Recreation Asso- H elation of America has sent, at the H request of the Commission, nearly one hundred train workers to such towns. Their object Is to Impress the various city organizations with their responsibility for showing a sin cere hospitality to men in nnirorm. They are emphasizing the fact that the soldier in uniform is exactly the same men who walked on the Btreets In civilian clothes a few months since, and the putting on the uniform has |Blllf?3 not changed the man but has in- D||I||M^H creased the responsibility of the com- ImHiDy am munlty toward treating him fairly? kjgMt *9 ? and, more than that, cordially. MtM RV P. L. Crosby. F/ M 'fteme movents in ||lgH 'ookief life. an cceptiho AN INVITATION to XM AS OWN Eft vJjAM?^TEU ] NORA TO HAVE / A XMAS BOX V FOR MR.0068 7\ T AISO t J| 'V. / ' .s""" " ' .
Trench and Camp (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Jan. 7, 1918, edition 1
7
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