CAMP PIKE NOTES
Iowa has more representa
tives at Camp Pike than any
other state. Twelve thousand
men from Iowa came last week
the first time that any of their
drafted men have been sent
here direct. Last fall quite a
number of Iowa men came to
Camp Pike from Camp Dodge,
near Des Moines, but the pres
ent delegation came through
direct from their home towns.
Already plans are uner way in
Little Rock for the formation
of an especial interest in mak
ing the newcomers feel at
home and assisting in making
their stay at Camp Pike a real
pleasure.
Ten thousand negroes are
now living in tents here, eight
men to the tent. Some four
thousand of them are in the
tent area just east of the Bel
mont ball ground, at the east
edge of the camp, while the
others are in the new section
at Fort Logan H. Roots. The
negroes were moved into the
tents to make room for the new
white arrivals of th past ten
days. A number of white
casual companies are located
in the open stables on the
south side of the camp, where
they are using field stoves and
getting a taste of real army
life. It is most pleasant there
this warm weather and will be
fine unless they have a severe
storm. In that case, some one
is very liable to get wet.
Benton County, Arkansas
has eight Y secretaries in
Camp Pike, the largest num
ber from any one county. Sec
retaries W. O. Burns, J. L
Mathis, R. L. Meigs, G. E. Ack
land, Volney Fenno and W. N
Gaither are from Siloan
Springs, and secretaries T. E
I McSpadden and Erwin Funk
! are from Rogers. At present
! there are some sevnty secre
taries in the Cmp Pike army
Y. M. C. A. work, which in
cludes the force at Eberts field
at Lonoke and the general hos
| ptal at Fort Logan H. Roots.
The physical equipment in
! eludes nineteen buildings, all
! manned with secretaries save
! the big Y auditorium. The
| camp has a full equipment of
! secretaries now and the work
I is making splendid progress in
I every line.
; An old army sergeant re
! cently visited the camp and
had his- first view of a non-com
| with chevrons on the right arm
| only. He walked around the
j soldier a couple of times and
! then demanded, “What kind
of a soldier are you, anyhow?
One side of you says non-com
while the other side says buck
! private.”
Poindexter Hill, Democratic
nominee for the lower house
of the Arkansas general as
sembly from Independence
county, came to Camp Pike
last week as a member of the
last selective draft quota fron
that county.
“Taking the leisure time o:
! the soldier and transforming i
| into a military asset of the na
tion,” is the real work of th(
Army Y. M. C. A. said the Rev
| A. J. Derbyshire in a recen
j address at the camp. He hai
just returned from a 6 month;
stay with the French troops a
a Y secretary and is very fami
, liar with the work and its in
j fluence upon the troops of al
. i the allied nations. Genera
- Pershng and every army offiec
. who has been asked to expres
- an opinion on the matter hav
.1 repeatedly affirmed their be
1 lief that the Army Y. M. C. A
. is a very important factor ii
i
the success of the allied troops
and declare that its scope and
the number of secretaries must
be increased rather than cur
taild at any point.
A number of the Y secreta
ries were detailed last week to
accompany the troop trains
from the home towns to Camp
Pike, and they report some
very interesting incidents. As
a rule, the home folk are learn
ing to send their boys away
with a smile and a happy God
speed, but here and there some
woman would give way to her
grief and cause a scene that
would dishearten the entire
train load of men for an hour
or two. The Home Service
work of the Red Cross is show
ing its effect at scores of plac
es, and with a knowledge that
the Y will look after the men
in camp, while the Red Cross
will look after the ones at
home, the home partings are
much more cheerful than ear
lier in the year.
Most of our readers are of
course familiar with the words
of the popular army song,
“Long Boy” but the following
parody may be new to them:
“Goodby ma, goodby pa;
Goodby mule with the old hee
haw.
1 may not know now tne stew
is made,
But you bet by Gosh, I’m not
not afraid.
And oh! my sweetheart, if I
die,
They cannot say, I didn’t try;
For I can swallow what I can’t
chew,
And that’s about all a fellow
can do.”
An inquiry a few days ago
■ came to Trench and Camp
with regard to the age limit
! for chaplains. A chaplain can
s not be older than 45 at the
i date of the issuance of his com
mission. Inquiry was made as
- to the training school for Chap
in lains. The school is located at
- Camp Zachary Taylor, Louis
* ville, Ky., and the function of
. the school is not to teach men
t to become clergymen, but to
3 intruct preachers how best to
3 administer their duties to the
3 soldiers. It is not a theologi
- cal seminary, but a regular
- training school for soldiers. A
I chaplain is a lieutenant and he
1 has to learn the business from
r the ground up.
3 -Buy W.S.S.
3 The one who took the ice
- cream freezer from T. W.
. Greer’s Butcher Shop, please
i return it. adv. It.
FROM L. C. MILLER
The following letter receiv- *
ed a few days ago is from L.
C. Miller, a Woodruff county
boy who was one of the first to
enlist in the service to fight for
Democracy. The letter is ad
dressed to his mother, Mrs. M. I
J. Stokes and comes from a
hospital Somewhere in France.
Dear Mother, as the rush
seems to be over at present, I
will write you again. I would
like to tell you a few things I
have seen in the last fortyeight
hours but all I will say is that I
have seen a small sample of
the horrors of war. I was for
eighteen hours without sleep
and then I slept five hours and
th enl worked for eighteen
without sleep, then I slept five
hours, worked thirty four, then
slept five more then I had my
usual rest of twelve hours off
and twelve hours on duty, yet I
am feeling fine after all. I
feel like I could help for forty
or fifty hours without rest if
it is necessary, but I hope it
will not be necessary. I guess
you have read in the papers
about the sever fighting that H
has been going on for the last
few days. I get a paper every
morning of the fighting the day
before. '
Let us work, hope and pray
for the war to close this fall
if not before for the Almighty
alone knows the sorrow and
suffering that it is causing for
all nations of the world. I don’t
believe there is a nation wheth
er at war or not but has suf
fered some inconvenience in *
some way or other. The Bosh
haven’t tried to drop bombs on
| the city for three nights, but I
i guess it is because they are too
busy at the front or our airmen
1 at the front have been so ac
tive that they cannot even get
by the first line of defense that
I defends the city, and it is very
seldom that one ever does get
1 by and if they do the French
I English and American airmen
i make it so hot for them that
he can’t tarry long and he does
j good business if he gets out
without getting crippled.
Of all who come over, the
| majority will return but of
| course some will stay but the
! true American will always say
; I am going back and that is
! the spirit to have so I say that
11 am coming back and I firmly
1 believe and will believe it as
long as there is breath in me.
I say that we have a merry
lot of men from the dear old
U. S. A. because I have seen a
few who were wounded pretty
■ bad and they would never com
plain and they take everything
in a reasonable good humor.
Well I am not at the front
where the bullets are the thick
est nor the suffering the great
est but I am where they order
ed me to be and I am doing all
! I can for I am doing what I am
told to do and the best I know
how to do it and I always grant
a favor to any and all whom I
can help in any way. What
I do is not much but I know it
will help. Well I must close,
! and will ask you to not worry
about me for I will get by some
I how and will be home shortly
, after it is over over here.
C. L. Miller.
*
The Home News’ Service Flag