CAMP LIFE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3020, 6 March 1917, Page 6

CAMP LIFE

OF INTEREST TO MOTHERS. Sir,—l have often heard fond mothers say that they would not like their boys to go to camp. The reason, however, is best known to themselves. . Anyway, my object in writing this letter is just to allay the fear of parents who are under the impression that camp life will in any way harm their sons. My uwn mother lias often said .that she would not like me to lead such a life, but now that I am in camp and she has seen the benefit I have_ derived from military training, her opinion is now tho reverse. When I say lam the only one in the family aud havo lost my'father, you will know that my life has not been hard. Tho time has come now when hostilities will soon be reaching a climax, and to make victory more glorious every available man is needed. 'There are men coming of age every day, who, no doubt, will enlist or stand the chances of the ballot, and they will find, when they go into camp, that it is the best life they have ever led or ever likely to lead. Unless a man has had a week in camp he can't even imagine what discipline is. EveryI thing here makes for health, absolutely, i Expectorating on the floor is a crime, i and is punishable by gaol; the throwI ing of cigarette-butts on the floor of j the hutments is against the rules, and ! may often get a man "C.8." Clear> I liness is everything. Every night j after parade the men "fall-in," and j are made to gargle CondyV fluid. The • dentists are experts, and the chiropodists are absolutely out on their own. I There is no exouse for a man to have I the slightest thing wrong with him ! cither inside or out. We have plenty lof good, plain, wholesome food, and ! plenty of exercise of othe most valuable ; kind. The officers—though stern men ' —are kind and painstaking, and assist i a man to tho utmost.' Regarding ! balloted men, there is no difference | whatever made between them arid volI unteers. They all enjoy the same '< privileges. As for amusements, we have concerts, pictures, shooting galleries, and side-shows, _ reading and writing-rooms, and institutes governed by tho various religious denominations, where men may go and play the piano, games, or sit and smoks. In conclusion, let me advise all mothers to let their boys go to the call of tho Empire, and they will find it is tho best thing that ever happened. A man makes his own life. If lie treats his superior officers as he should ho will be treated well in return. Discipline Is everything. "With all the thousands' of men in camn it is hard to find a piece of paper in ony of tho streets, and I will guarantee that at 10 o'clock at night one can hear a" pin drop on the floor of any hut. That spells discipline, and discipline spoils what we are all aftersuccess. —I am, etc., A PRIVATE.