The Westford Wardsman, July 7, 1917
Center. Among our home girls teaching in other places, at home for the summer vacation, are Miss Elizabeth Kittredge, from Cleveland; Miss Jennie Ferguson, from Springfield, and Miss Ruth Tuttle, from Winthrop.
The Misses Atwood have purchased a new Ford touring car, equipped with self-starter, and Miss May Atwood is learning to operate and care for this new purchase.
Of a class of 319 boys and girls graduated from the Lowell high school on Wednesday, June 27, Donald F. Cameron, of Lowell and Westford, besides receiving his diploma, was one of six to be awarded the special Carney medal for high rank in scholarship and deportment. This award is always of the greatest interest to parents and friends as well as to the pupils themselves, and we are glad that it came to one of our native Westford boys this year.
Announcement cards have been received this week from Mr. and Mrs. William Chase Norris, of Nashua, N.H., of the marriage on Saturday, June 30, of their daughter, Bertha Huntington, to Arthur Griffin Hildreth. This announcement is of much interest to their many friends for the groom is a Westford boy, the son of Frank C. Hildreth. He received his education in the Westford schools and at Bowdoin college, and since his graduation has taught at Munson academy. Miss Norris was one of our popular teachers at the academy for nearly three years, coming here in 1910. After a wedding trip, Mr. and Mrs. Hildreth will spend the summer vacation in Westford, making their home at the picturesque log cabin on Prospect hill [owned by Ella F. Hildreth?]. Many good wishes from the Westford friends go out to them for happiness and prosperity in their new life.
Forge Village. Mr. [Solomon] Dufort, of Leominster, father of Mrs. Hugh Daly, died at his home last Saturday after a long illness. The funeral was held in Leominster on Monday. Mr. Dufort was a resident here for many years and was held in high esteem. He leaves four sons and seven daughters; also, several grandchildren.
The members of the I.O.O.F., M.U., held a very interesting meeting in Abbot hall on Monday evening. The speaker of the evening was Harold J. Wentzell, p.p.g.m., Boston, and also the corresponding secretary. The next meeting will be held on Monday, July 16, when Deputy Frank Gregory of Littleton, p.g.m., will install the newly-elected officers.
John O’Neil, Jr., only son of Mr. and Mrs. John O’Neil, enlisted in the ambulance corps and left here Tuesday for New York, where he was ordered to report. A party was given in his honor on Monday evening by his parents, and a large number of friends tendered their good wishes. John Gray, another popular young man, has volunteered his services and is awaiting orders.
The Red Cross sewing circle meet at the sewing rooms of St. Andrew’s mission on July [no date given].
Miss Mary H. Cherry has returned home from New York city, where she graduated from a business college.
Mrs. Mary A. Lowther is entertaining her daughter, Mrs. Charlotte Mann, and grandson, Vincent P. Mann, of Glassport, Pa.
Misses Edith, Ruth and Monica Cuddy of Lawrence are enjoying their vacation at the home of Miss Alice Walsh.
Mrs. Tyndle returned to her home in Bloomfield, N.J., after an enjoyable visit with her nephew, Fred Naylor, whom she had not seen for twenty-four years.
Misses Julia Delaney and Annie Walsh have returned to their homes after a stay of several days at Hooksey, N.H.
Mrs. Maria Smith and daughter Fanny of Tyngsboro spent the first of the week at the home of Mrs. Harriet E. Randall.
Miss May McKenna of Cambridge spent the holiday as the guest of Mrs. Caroline Brown.
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Blodgett of Medford with their son, Edward, and Mr. Gifford visited their many relatives here July 4.
The mills here are to close for a week’s vacation from July 28 until August 6.
Mrs. Walter Brooks has returned to her home in Bryantville [a section of Pembroke, MA] after a long visit with Mrs. H. E. Randall.
A large number from here went to Westford, where the local baseball nine defeated the Westford ball team in one of the best games of the season.
Center. The Oaklands, the new baseball organization of all Westford boys, played against the North Chelmsford Juniors last Saturday afternoon at the Whitney playground, winning from their opponents by the score of 2 to 1. It was a well played game and watched with interest by the friends of both teams. The Oaklands are a promising team and all home talent, so to speak, and it is hoped the townspeople will give them their hearty support and encouragement in every way. All games are to be played at Whitney playground, which has one of the best baseball diamonds hereabouts.
J. W. Rafter was taken suddenly ill the first of the week and removed to the Lowell General hospital and a serious surgical operation was necessary. Notwithstanding his seventy-eight years he is resting as comfortably and making as good a recovery as can possibly be expected.
The A. E. Days and S. B. Watsons enjoyed an over the Fourth trip to the Mohawk Trail, going in Mr. Day’s new Oakland Six car.
Dr. W. H. Sherman gave the first in the series of twelve first aid talks at Library hall last week Friday afternoon. This series promises to be of the greatest interest and practical help and fully merits the good attendance and attention shown.
The Fourth was a quiet day in town, with no special program arranged, but there were many pleasant family gatherings and auto trips scheduled by various families. “The night before” was quiet, aside from the ringing of the church bells at midnight.
The John P. Wrights entertained a group of long-time friends for the holiday—Mr. and Mrs. John Bancroft, Frank Field, Miss Harriet Wakefield, Misses Alice and Ethel Tilton, all of Lowell, and John Ayer, of Brighton.
The strawberry harvest is in full swing and of unusually good quality. Will Wright, Robert Prescott, the Greig farm and Mr. Gumb are shipping some good berries daily, mostly going to the Lowell market.
The Ladies’ Aid society will hold an all-day meeting with Mrs. John P. Wright on Thursday of next week. Basket luncheon and coffee or lemonade at noon by the hostess.
The home guard have met twice this week for drill under the direction of Hon. Edward Fisher. The officers are Charles W. Robinson, capt.; H. V. Hildreth, 1st lieut.; Edward Hanley, 2d lieut. Ninety men have joined the organization and much interest is being shown by the members.
The Oaklands won the morning game on the Fourth at Whitney playground against the Martin Service of Lowell by the score of 12 to 5. In the afternoon the Oaklands were defeated by the Forge Village nine by the score of 7 to 5.
James L. Kimball has rented his house for the summer to Mr. Hyland and family, of Lowell, and is spending the season with Mrs. Kimball at Winthrop.
Ayer
News Items. The greatest number of automobiles ever seen here in a single day passed through town last Sunday. It is estimated that between 5000 and 6000 cars came through town on that day. The military camp grounds appeared to be the main attraction. Great crowds also came on the electric cars, which were crowded all day.
Camp Notes. F. T. Ley & Company, the contractors who are building the camp, have erected several saw mills near the railroad tracks for the cutting of lumber for the buildings.
Officers of the Team Drivers’ Union of Fitchburg have been here during the past week, urging all drivers at the camp to join the union, and have met with success in their work.
A large automobile bus is used to carry the telephone girls and clerks at Contractor Ley’s office between the camp ground and the Lowthorpe Annex, Groton, where they make their quarters. They go back and forth daily.
Within a week it is planned to erect a bakery capable of turning out several thousand loaves of bread a day, with all the cake and pastry which can be used by the men. An ice cream freezing plant also will be erected. It is probable that when these are working it will require nearly 200 men to keep the commissary department in operation. The bakery will be as well and fully equipped as any city plant and will be on the same style as plants maintained by the Baldwin Company in Springfield and Hartford. Because of the plans to erect it, no contract has been placed with any company to supply the camp with bread or pastry. H. S. Baldwin, president of the company, is personally in charge of the work in Ayer. As soon as more men arrive the second tent will be placed in operation.
Many visitors go to the camp every day. They are received courteously by those in charge and allowed to look over the different details of construction. It is expected most of the preliminary work for the $6,000,000 job will be completed this week and then the actual construction of the camp will start. From time to time the tent villages and rough sleeping shacks will disappear as they are replaced by more substantial buildings.
Nine secret service officers are doing duty at the camp. They are in charge of Chief Beatty. He has now forty-four officers, including the specials, under his authority.
A meeting of the selectmen of all the towns bordering on the camp was held here Monday evening, when plans were discussed relative to camp conditions. Particular consideration was given the matter of policing those places.
The New England Power Company of Leominster is gradually pushing the way through Leominster with a line of poles and necessary fixtures for electrically lighting the camp for which the company has the contract.
The first corps [of] cadets, engineers’ regiment, arrived here Thursday afternoon on the 1:55 train from Boston. The corps will prepare the camps for the troops, which are soon expected. The corps comprises about 200 men. On leaving the train at the railroad station they formed in line and marched to the military camp by way of West Main street. The appearance of the men, marching through the streets was a novel sight in this vicinity. The men are a fine looking lot. The corps has within its ranks college athletes, men who have seen service on the Mexican border and some who have fought for the Allies across the sea. Among the cadets was William Gray, of Ayer. “Bill” received a fine greeting from his fellow townsmen as he marched away with his comrades. The large number of tents were carried to the camp by the government automobile trucks. The second battalion of the 6th Infantry, consisting of Companies B, D, I and F, will arrive here this week Saturday. They expect to remain here for an indefinite period. The camp site has already been picked by Col. Sweetser and Major Dolan, who came here yesterday for that purpose. The change from Framingham to Ayer is agreeable to the men.
Signs are now posted in many places about the camp forbidding any trespassing on the main grounds. The reason for this action is that many visitors naturally hamper the work of camp construction.
Capt. Robert Bonner of the quartermaster’s department, who has charge of making leases for camp purposes, was very indignant this morning when he saw a clipping from a paper which contained among other things a statement that the owners of the leased land were not satisfied with the treatment they had received in the matter of rentals. In speaking of the matter, Capt. Bonner laid emphasis on the fact that newspapers should be more careful in printing facts, especially when wrong statements are likely to cause trouble. He said that every one who has made a lease so far is perfectly satisfied with the compensation for the use of the land. In one case the government paid more than was asked for as the agent saw that the amount which the owner wanted was below what it should be. In other words, the government aims to be perfectly fair in regard to all its transactions.
There was a good deal of excitement here a couple of days ago when the rumor went around town that a German spy had been captured at the camp. An investigation showed that the rumor was groundless.
Clipping. The following interesting article is taken from the Boston Sunday Post of July 1:
Two weeks ago General Edwards stood upon the veranda of the dance hall pavilion that Levi W. Phelps, the largest individual owner of the Ayer camp site, built on top of the hill that rises from the main line of the Fitchburg railroad and the Fitchburg-Ayer trolley line. Looking from this spot no layman certainly could have conceived of the bowl-like terrain before him being converted into a city of 35,000 people [in] short of a year.
For as far as the eye could reach over the 4500 acres nothing could be seen but forests and dense brush. Only 250 acres of the site were under cultivation.
A few days ago General Edwards visited the same camp. The dance hall is a fully equipped quartermaster’s office. Capt. Edward Canfield, Jr., West Pointer and Tech man, the construction officer of the cantonment, is established in his private office. His civilian assistants are in theirs. Out where the floor is still slippery from the sliding feet of Ayer’s fair maids, draftsmen, clerks and stenographers are working at top speed. Telegraph instruments click and the private branch exchange telephone board buzzes unceasingly.
In and out of this beehive of industry soldiers and civilians go continuously. Automobiles pant up the hill and stop before the pavilion. A long line of engineers and contractors wait to see Capt. Canfield. His slim and erect figure appears. He smiles courteously and the visitor anticipates a long and pleasant chat with the interesting looking army man. But in surprisingly short order the visitor comes out. Capt. Canfield without the slightest semblance of speeding-up has solved the problem. He has no time for long chats, but his visitors feel they have had a really long one and you hear some big rough and ready contractor saying “Gee! I wish every army man knew my game like that fellow does.”
Down hill to the left, along toward Ayer, you glance and see the only semblance of real military life that marks the camp as yet. There is parked Motor Truck Company 38, Q.M.C., under Capt. Nelson, just up from the border. It is just about as business-like looking an outfit as you would want to look at.
The company has thirty-three trucks all of which were shipped by rail from Arizona direct to the cantonment, to the great despair of Capt. Nelson who was set about bringing a truck over the road as a test. In addition to hauling camp material, the motor truck company is constantly in training. And if you think that there are any of the attractions of soldier life lacking to motor truck service talk with one of the men.
Far off in the distance you can make out a collection of wooden buildings. As the crow flies, they are two miles away. You get a lift aboard one of the trucks and start thither, for it is the most active part of the entire camp. Down through big wide roads that a week ago were only trails, you go. Road machines have been at work and made them passable for three trucks abreast.
Every few minutes you can encounter gangs of men working at top speed. Linemen are stringing wire, woodsmen are felling trees, laborers are digging sand and dirt from hillsides and loading dump carts. More laborers are dumping loads of dirt and stone in roads, while others fill in ruts and smooth the road off. More men are chopping out brush. Here and there you see an engineer with a transit.
Army motor trucks pass you by with a roar and for a minute you cannot see, so enveloping are the huge sand clouds that they raise. Now you come across a green motor truck man who cannot get his car out of a gully. Another green driver comes to the rescue, and he gets stuck, too. Then comes an old-timer who has followed Pershing into Mexico with Capt. Nelson. He is a Southwesterner.
“Reckon you-all ain’t in the main stem of Bawston,” he drawls. “Watch right smart now, how we-uns do it on the border.” To the surprise of the “rookies” he drives his car right into the brush. Wheels grip where they would not on the sandy road and all three machines swing out onto the road again.
Still heading for the far end of the cantonment you pass by what is soon to be the parade ground of the cantonment—a wonderfully level stretch of terrain right in the heart of the camp bowl. Last week there was nothing but wild brush on the spot. Today there are twenty-one wooden buildings complete for the camp laborers. Just now there are 1500 laborers hard at work. In another week there will be 5000.
You swing by the laborers’ buildings and three huge circus-like tents greet you. A week ago everyone had to bring their lunches from Ayer to the camp with the exception of the regular army men. Now Baldwin, of Springfield, has a commissary in these three tents that serves three meals a day for the civilian workers.
Then the contractor’s headquarters are reached. Even with its 500 feet of length and 65 feet of width it barely accommodates the small army of executives, engineers, clerks and stenographers that the Fred T. Ley Company of Springfield have brought up to the cantonment. The building has its own telephone exchange and telegraph office.
Here General Manager Rogers is in charge. The building radiates activity for the work must be completed in contract time, and the government is no light taskmaker [sic]. In its rear, close to the railroad tracks of the Worcester, Nashua and Portland division of the Boston and Maine, receiving storehouses for the cantonment material are already up.
Twelve hundred and thirty-six separate buildings will stand on the camp when the contractor’s work is finished. In another week the first section of the troops’ barracks will be up. This will be the headquarters of the heavy artillery—seven buildings, 200 feet long and two stories high.
Five saw mills are up and ready to cut the 10,000,000 feet of lumber that will be necessary. Thus there will not be a minute’s delay in throwing the buildings up. Every board will be cut out and marked so that it will be only a matter of blue prints and hammer and nails to put them up.
You swing around back toward Capt. Canfield’s headquarters and pass the fire department building with its light, easy-running chemical engines. The road is rougher now as you turn to go up the hill on which the infantry regiments are to be located, for the brush gangs with their scythes and axes have only begun their work on this side.
More groups of busy workers are passed. Some are raising the electric light poles that will illuminate the camp. Others are digging the bed for the railroad that will encircle the entire cantonment. The other fifteen cantonments of the country have given up the idea of the railroad, but the hilly character of the Ayer camp makes one imperative.
“Not much to see yet, is there?” said Capt. Canfield as the reporter returned. “In two weeks, however, you will be surprised to see how well the character of the cantonment will be defined.
“We are congratulating ourselves that our hopes for an ideal water supply have been realized. It will be spring water and our plans are for two big pipes to distribute it. The sanitation problem is most important, of course, and we have determined upon an ideal site for that, too. A pumping station will carry it off into twenty acres of sand filter.”
The army is surely right down on a modern business plane and cutting red tape with a vengeance, otherwise there would be less than on-half the progress that is so astonishingly evident.
It’s all work and no play there, but it is a wonderful place to work and you reluctantly leave its natural beauties and invigorating air.
Camp. The problem of sanitation is now the main task at the camp. The work is in charge of a corps of government engineers and doctors. The director of the work is Capt. Edward Canfield, Jr., with Capt. Glen I. Jones at the head of the medical and sanitary units, assisting.
Rigid cleanliness is required, even to the smallest details. A large brick incinerator is in use into which is dumped all refuse that might tend to create disease. Throwing fruit, refuse or anything of a similar nature about the grounds is strictly forbidden. So efficient has been the work thus far that not a single fly has been seen about the commissary. After the garbage has been burned everything is cleaned every day. The stables where the large number of horses are quartered receive particular attention. The bedding for the animals is changed every day, the used bedding being removed and burned. Whenever the location of a stable is changed the debris is removed and burned.
Seventy-five shower baths have been installed about the grounds for the use of the employees and all are kept in a strictly sanitary condition. Every employee, whether in a high or low position, is required to bathe at least once a week. A great cesspool has been made to hold the water draining from the baths, the cover being germ proof. All the bed clothes of the workmen must be aired every day. Signs printed in Italian and English are place about the grounds calling attention to the strict requirements of those in charge of the work.