Page:The history and achievements of the Fort Sheridan officers' training camps.djvu/365

 Nelson P. Parkinson and Murray C. Wilson are a team of good fellows that contribute much to the feeling of good fellowship that per- meates the company barracks.

A company like this could not be without insurance men. Like the devil, they are alw^ays with us: Charles P. Shaw, Frank D. Henry, Harold J. Payette and Richard M. Lewis look after the fire risks; Robert Johnson specilizes in life.

The w^orst, how^ever, is yet to come. We have new^spaper men here and they are in the open; no camouflage in the make-up. Norman W. Gregg is an editor, Donald G. Heinly is with a trade journal.

In the summer the activities of the Camp w^ere interspersed by the coming and going of friends. Many of the men's families came from distances to stay in surrounding towns. Every evening at five the company streets would be filled with sight-seers and from five to seven-thirty there was a constant coming and going of mothers, wives and others; and on Sunday nights the roads would be crowded with cars bringing the men back before taps sounded.

Much of this disappeared at the Second Camp. The w^eather w^as raw^ and cold. Great numbers of the men came from long distances. Sixty per cent were married men with families. Much of the social life so prominent in the First Camp was absent. But not the good times, which w^ill always be mingled in the minds of the officer students w^ith the intensive training and hard work.

There was the Charity Ball, the proceeds of which went to army relief. The gymnasium w^ouldn't hold the great crow^ds that came. It w^as the first military ball for most c»f the men and one that w^ill linger a long time in the memory of all there.

There was the trip to the World Series in Chicago. Just as soon as it was evident that the White Sox would win the American League champion- ship, a wire went from Fort Sheridan to the National Baseball Commission requesting that 2,500 tickets be set aside for the men who were in training. Soon an answ^er came back that 1,500 had been reserved. These 1,500 w^ere divided betw^een the thirty companies. And each company drew^ to see w^hat men should go. The result was that there were 1,500 successful contestants. Leave was given for the day. Special cars conveyed the men to the grounds. Colonel Ryan and Staff attending. Long before the game began they were all seated in the right field balcony and the game was on. For many it was the first World Series game. It was a good one, well played, and resulted in a w^in for the West and the White Sox.

To some unfamiliar w^ith the w^ork that w^as done and had to be done daily, these occasional excursions seemed to be somew^hat outside the prepara- tions for w^ar — but to those w^ho had in mind well-rounded, good-spirited, physically-fit leaders for the National Army, they all played their part.

There was always a deep earnestness about the work done and the plans and thoughts for the future, but an entire absence of drab and pessimistic or unnatural attitude toward life. It was the studied effort of those w^ho w^ere responsible for the morale of the Camp to see that there was a proper balanc- ing of work and recreation, so that the best results of the work might be always kept to the front.

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