The Westford Wardsman, September 22, 1917
Center. Weekly drill of Home Guard company was held Tuesday evening. For the first time the men were able to assemble in uniforms. As Capt. Robinson had become major it became necessary to elect a captain. Second lieut. William Robinson was elected on the first ballot, then Julian A. Cameron was elected second lieutenant. Major Robinson gave notice of a battalion drill at Concord September 30. The battalion comprises the Groton, Westford and Concord companies.
Dr. and Mrs. Edward Atwood and Miss Evelyn Atwood of Dayton, Fla., are visiting at the home of the Misses Atwood [4 Graniteville Rd.].
Mr. and Mrs. David Lord of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, have been guests this week of Mrs. J. Herbert Fletcher.
Dr. and Mrs. Wells and children enjoyed a brief vacation over this last Saturday and Sunday at New London, N.H., with their friends, Dr. and Mrs. Griffin
Mrs. Freida Stiles Prescott, who has been the capable assistant at the telephone exchange, has severed her connection there and Mrs. Isles and Mrs. Bosworth are doing the work alone. Mrs. Prescott plans going to housekeeping.
A recent marriage is that of Miss Estella M. Hartford to Perley L. Collins of Plaistow, N.H. Miss Hartford has been a successful teacher at Carlisle and Attleborough. Mr. Collins has bought a farm in Plaistow and the young people have gone to housekeeping in their newly furnished home.
Perley E. Wright was the victim of an unfortunate encounter on one of his trips to Boston early last week. After getting into the city with his truck about one o’clock, as he was driving down Massachusetts avenue a man ran from a side street and scrambled onto the rear of the truck. Mr. Wright ordered him off and thought at the time that he did drop off, but on getting down to the market the man was still there much the worse for liquor. Upon further being ordered away he developed a fighting drunk streak and attacked Mr. Wright knocking him down, causing a bad gash in his forehead. Mr. Shupe, Mr. Wright’s assistant in the trucking business, grabbed a hatchet and went for the man who made off at a lively pace succeeding in eluding the market patrolmen who had come upon the scene. As a result of the encounter Mr. Wright had to have a number of stitches taken in his cut forehead and recover from a bad shaking up. The trucking business is hard at best and it seems a pity that so peaceful and useful a citizen as Mr. Wright should have so unfortunate an experience.
Leon F. Hildreth, Clarence E. Hildreth and Frank C. Johnson, recently drafted, have received their notification to appear at Ayer this week Friday for training.
The membership of the Tadmuck club is reminded that the opening meeting of the club is October 9 and further outline for the day will be given later. The program committee for the year, consisting of Mrs. L. H. Buckshorn, Mrs. F. A. Snow and Mrs. A. E. Loveless, have been doing much faithful work during the summer and have accomplished an excellent outline for the coming season with all due deference to wartime conditions.
The Red Cross had the largest attendance of workers present Wednesday afternoon at Library hall it has ever had. The workers in the three divisions are now so well organized that good results are accomplished with no loss of effort. Henry Smith of Graniteville has presented the branch with a fine yarn winder.
The fair of the Congregational church is to be held Friday afternoon and evening of next week and the various committees for supper, entertainment and tables are working hard to make it a success.
The Ladies’ Missionary society met with its president, Miss Sarah W. Loker, at her home Wednesday afternoon and plans for the season’s work were made.
The trustees of the J. V. Fletcher library have organized a committee to bring the matter of camp library week September 24-30 before the town. An article will be found under Groton column about the work being done.
Birthday Party. Mrs. William R. Carver gave a delightful party Tuesday afternoon for her little daughter Elizabeth’s seventh birthday anniversary, which proved a great pleasure for the little lady and the eleven other little people making a round dozen in all. The party was from two until five and the children enjoyed games and frolics of various kinds entered into with a zeal that left no doubt of their enjoyment. At the birthday supper the color scheme was pink and white. A big pink Jack Horner pie with pink streamers yielded favors to the girls of toy wrist watches and to the boys rubber dolls which when squeezed promptly stuck their tongues out and which caused plenty of merriment.
There were pink and white paper caps which took the shapes of various animals, also pink baskets of candies for each guest and a birthday cake had its place of honor. The young hostess was the recipient of various pretty gifts.
Those present were Elizabeth Carver, Betty Prescott, Elizabeth Wells, Elaine Skidmore, Alice Heywood and Gwendoline Pitkin. The boys were William Carver, Jack and Lawrence Hill, Everett Mills, Roger Hildreth and Donald White.
About Town. Blodgett Brothers, Milestone hill, the live-wire youths, have harvested a bountiful crop of horticultural beans and are not likely to be duplicated this side of the north pole. They were raised in Westford and will be threshed in Groton.
A few thoughts on potatoes read like this. Potatoes hit by frost while green do not require a right off digging out any more than potatoes ripe when the frost comes. The injury to the tuber by a severe frost on late planted potatoes cannot be remedied, except by the immediate digging act. Potatoes so overtaken in the bloom of youth will never be so mealy. Potatoes should never be dried by the sun in the field after digging. If tinctured with rot the tincture can’t be extracted by drying and the old custom of drying potatoes in the field to improve them and prevent rot has been disproved into the waste basket. Nothing worse to injure the quality of potatoes than sunshine. After digging they should be stored away from sunlight in a darkness as dense as though their deeds were evil.
Mr. and Mrs. Elias A. Smith, of Salt Lake City, who have been freshening out at the Old Oaken Bucket farm, returned home, stopping at the National Bankers’ meeting in Atlantic City. Mr. Smith, from the land of irrigation reports large crops of wheat, forty bushels to the acres; corn great, and sugar beets greater, and Idaho, through which he has recently traveled, reports the largest yield of potatoes on record.
J. Henry Decatur, of Springfield, was in town in the early part of the week, visiting his old former neighbors.
Mrs. Martha Taylor Howard was elected chairman of the executive committee which organized the Red Cross in Bound Brook, N.J., last spring. The chapter has nearly 1000 members and has done wonderful work.
Through the humaneness and love of bird life of Joseph Wall, game warden, and the cooperation of the Lowell Fish and Game club, the ponds and brooks in Westford have been stocked with mallard ducks. Although the open season for this game commenced September 17, it is the desire of Mr. Wall and all others outside of the Cannibal Islands that we allow innocent nature to swim in the freedom of its natural rights. Let us try and have more sense than the law which encourages stocking up and shooting down by the same regulations. What is there of bird life that is worth fostering and killing at the same time? If it is a menace it ought to be annihilated and not fostered; if it is not a menace, then the law is all wrong that protects to kill. The whole shooting performance is indefensible.
A large flock of pheasants are thriving on buckwheat at the Old Oaken Bucket farm. It was for the like of these birds it was sown, besides the beauty side of the scene. There is as much profit in feeding to these birds as to a flock of non-producing poultry.
Nearly all the buckwheat in the Stony Brook Valley got a bad cold by the recent front, from which it can never recover. The only exception to the above was the field where the pheasant are farming.
It may interest Westford people to know that Dr. George Crile, of Cleveland, Ohio, who organized and took over to France the first Red Cross hospital unit, known as the Lakeside Unit, is a nephew of Miss Ella T. Wright, who spends her summers at Brookside on the Levi T. Fletcher place. Dr. Crile is one of the world’s greatest physicians and surgeons and a few years ago was honored with the gold medal by the International Congress of Physicians and Surgeons. Another nephew of Miss Wright, Malcolm McBride, of Cleveland, has a federal appointment to help look after the social and moral welfare of the soldiers at the several camps.
Mrs. Martha Taylor Howard writes from Bound Brook, N.J., that she has been eating Williams and Gravenstein apples which were grafted from scions which came from the old Cyrus Hamlin farm in Westford. In the days gone by Misses Sarah and Kate Hamlin used to visit some relatives in Bound Brook. On one of these visits they brought some scions from their father’s farm to the well-known Randall farm in Bound Brook. For these years now the Randalls have been enjoying the flavor of Westford fruit.
The Stony Brook valley farmers contributed a table of fruit and vegetables to the general display at the Middlesex-North fair. Among the contributors to this table were W. R. Taylor, J. Willard Fletcher, Frank W. Banister, S. L. Taylor and Clyde Prescott. In single entries Elmer E. Whidden, of Whidden’s Corner, contributed apples grown in 1916, over one year old from date of the fair.
Forge Village. Mrs. James Wisely and two sons, of Newark, N.J., are spending this week as the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Thompson.
The Jolly club, composed of young people of the village, have turned over forty dollars to the Red Cross society, the proceeds from the dance they held on Friday evening. It was one of the most successful affairs held here for a long time and the young people deserve much credit for doing their bit.
Mrs. Charles Blodgett and daughter Florence have returned from a visit of several days spent with friends in Clinton, Worcester and Charlton. Mrs. Blodgett is now entertaining Mary A. Cummings, of New Bedford.
John Shaddick spent the weekend at his home, Tadmuck farm. Mr. Shaddick, who is engineer on the “Malden,” which plies between Baltimore and Norfolk, picked up a shipwrecked crew ten miles from Barnegat [N.J.]. The unfortunate members were on a lumber ship bound for Cuba.
Misses Anna Shaddick and Carolyn Precious were guests at tea last Saturday of the Sinclair girls, the Belgian refugees, who played at Keith’s theatre last week.
Mrs. George Sanborn returned last Saturday from a week’s visit at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Sanborn, of Hampton Falls.
Rev. Angus Dun preached his first sermon last Sunday as the vicar of St. Andrew’s parish, and he takes up his new duties full of enthusiasm, as most of his work will be among the soldiers at Camp Devens.
All persons having Red Cross articles are asked to give [them] to Miss Eva F. Pyne every Friday afternoon. The work will be collected and turned over to headquarters once a week.
Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Raymond, Mr. and Mrs. Wilton Raymond, of Somerville; Mrs. John Babb, of Shirley; Mrs. Dern, of Worcester, and Mrs. Sarah McIntire, of Shrewsbury, spent the weekend at the home of Mrs. Harriet E. Randall.
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Cockroft, of Ware, are visiting at the William and Edmund Hunts.
Miss Helen Lord is home for a few days’ rest from her duties as nurse in Gilbertville.
The Misses Lillian Walker and Gertrude Comey have been spending their vacation at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Comey.
Farewell Reception. A farewell reception was given to Rev. and Mrs. Williston M. Ford at St. Andrew’s mission on Thursday evening of last week. A short musical program was given consisting of a mandolin and piano duet. Misses Lillian L. and Gladys M. Baker; reading, Mildred V. Precious; solo, Edna Edwards; piano solo, Miss Marion Lord; reading, Miss Adelaide Hosmer; piano solo, Miss Ethel M. Collins; mandolin and piano selections, Miss Baker; song, Annie L. Cherry, and by special request, “The perfect day.” At the conclusion Mildred Precious presented Mr. Ford with a purse of money in behalf of those present with a few words of appreciation for his services during his stay here. Mrs. Richard D. Prescott, in behalf of the Ladies’ Sewing circle, presented Mrs. Ford with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. Mrs. Prescott spoke briefly but very interestingly of the good work Mrs. Ford has accomplished, both for the Sewing circle and the hospitals of the Allies. Mr. and Mrs. Ford were greatly surprised, but responded fittingly. Refreshments were served by members of the parish.
The tables were arranged with many cut flowers. The evening came to a close with the entire audience joining hands and singing “Auld Lang Syne.”
The clergyman and his wife, by their pleasant manners, have won a wide circle of friends, who wish them success in Colorado, where Mr. Ford will take up his duties as rector of the Episcopal church in Montrose. Mr. Ford left Wednesday for Buffalo, N.Y., where he will spend a few days visiting with his mother. Mrs. Ford, after a short visit with friends in Fitchburg and Lunenburg, will join him in New York to start on their long trip. Mr. Ford’s mother expects to join them about the last of October.
Rev. Angus Dun, of Lexington, has been appointed to succeed Mr. Ford as vicar of St. Andrew’s parish. His furniture arrived in Ayer last week Friday, where, with Mrs. Dun they will occupy the house vacated by Mr. Ford. Services will be held on Sunday afternoon at 4:30.
Graniteville. Sunday school was resumed last Sunday after the first mass at St. Catherine’s church with a large attendance.
A large number from here took advantage of visitors’ day at Camp Devens, Ayer, last Sunday, and visited the soldier boys as well as making a tour of the cantonment.
Although the law is now off on wild ducks it is hoped that nobody will be mean enough to shoot the fine pair of ducks that were liberated in one of the nearby brooks several weeks ago and have made their quarters in the mill pond for such a long time that they have become very tame.
John A. Healy, the first drafted man from Westford to report at Camp Devens, Ayer, has received his full equipment, and dressed in his uniform of olive drab, he called on friends here recently.
W. K. Putney, superintendent of the Chelmsford schools, with Mrs. Putney, members of the family and Miss McLean, have been recent visitors here.
Leo Provost left here last week to resume his studies at St. Anselm’s college in Manchester, N.H.
Littleton
News Items. Rev. Ashley D. Leavitt of State street church, Portland, Me., and during his boyhood a resident of Littleton, has been granted three months’ leave of absence to join the ministerial forces at Camp Devens in Ayer.
Littleton people were aroused by the bugle notes of the military escort of the Japanese mission that autoed through King street at four o’clock Wednesday afternoon en route for Camp Devens. Their return through town was just an hour later. They made an impression with their bugler, national flags and tall silk hats, the characteristic features that won immediate attention. This is the first foreign mission that has honored Littleton with its presence, even though it soon shook the dust of the town.
Groton
Million Dollar Campaign. Camp Library Week: September 24-30—Soldiers’ Libraries. The lonely hours, unoccupied by military activities, are intolerably long to the soldier, sailor or airman. Homesickness, dread, fear, temptation enter and unfit men for duty. Camp libraries, supplying the right book at the right time, have proven of inestimable value in maintaining morale, furnishing sane recreation and permitting study for promotion.
The Library War Council, appointed by the war department, with the American Library Association, is raising one million dollars during “Camp Library Week,” September 24-30, to build, equip, and maintain libraries and buy books for every U.S. Training Camp, and cantonment at home and overseas.
Friends of soldiers, lovers of books, help us to do this eminently necessary service for our fighting men! Help us make them happier in camp and better men when they return! Give what you can toward a million dollars for a million books for a million men.
The trustees of the Groton Public Library heartily endorse this appeal and hope our town’s response will be generous. Contributions should be sent to Miss Emma L. Blood, treasurer at the Groton library or to any of the trustees.
Board of trustees Groton Public Library. W. A. Gardner, chairman.
Ayer
News Items. Rev. Angus Dun of Lexington, who was installed last Sunday as the new vicar of St. Andrew’s church, will conduct the service for the first time on Sunday morning at 10:30. Mr. Dun is a graduate of Yale college and of the Cambridge Episcopal Theological school. He is occupying the house on Oak street formerly Rev. W. M. Ford’s residence.
The second contingent of the national draft army began to arrive at Camp Devens on Wednesday. During the day and night the thousands called to the colors from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island arrived to take up their new duties. The Rhode Island boys came on a special train of sixteen cars. The Maine recruits came on two special trains, one arriving during the afternoon, and the other late in the evening. The trains were run to a siding near the West Main street railroad crossing, about half way between the railroad station and the main entrance to the camp, where the men detrained and marched to the camp. The smaller squads who arrived either marched to the camp or rode in government auto trucks from the depot. The New Hampshire recruits came on to the camp ground while the Japanese mission was making the inspection of the camp. Other recruits will come in during the rest of the week from Connecticut and Massachusetts. On Sunday the largest single contingent will come from Boston in a special train, leaving the North station about 2:30 p.m.
The large tent on West Main street used by the Christian Federation of Ayer was moved this week to a location on the opposite side of the street on land owned by George H. Brown. A wooden building will be erected on the former site of the tent, 30×60 feet, which will be used until the tabernacle is built. The tabernacle will cost $25,000 and will be open to the different denominations of Ayer. Work on this structure is expected to begin soon. The Methodist war council, which is raising money for this kind of recreation and religious activities in connection with the military camps throughout the country, is trying to raise $250,000 for the work. A part of this fund is to be used for the Ayer tabernacle.
The Harding Uniform Company is soon to open a new place of business in the building of L. W. Phelps, formerly occupied by the Sigsbee Co.
Three young Italian laborers at Camp Devens reported that they had been robbed at the New Union House last week Friday evening to Chief Beatty. The men were rooming in the hotel. When they returned from camp last week Friday night they found the room ransacked. Two watches, money and articles of wearing apparel were taken. Another similar robbery occurred at the same hotel earlier in the week. No clues have been found.
Mrs. Emery T. Smith, daughter of Brigadier General Henry P. McCain, U.S.A., of Washington, is in Ayer, where she is visiting her husband, Col. Smith, U.S.A., who is stationed at Camp Devens. Mrs. Smith has taken an apartment in the capital for the winter.
The following clipping is taken from the Boston Post of Monday, September 17, under Camp Sidelights: “The Ayer police sent two of their finest patrolmen, Fred Auld and John M. Wallace, to the gates of the cantonment to act as traffic officers handling the Sunday crowd. Traffic officers are a fairly recent innovation in Ayer. The men handled the traffic well.”
Ninety-nine men from the fifteenth district assembled at the town hall this week Friday morning to prepare for the final details prior to going to Camp Devens for military service. Ayer had thirteen drafted men in the list, all of whom answered the call….
District Court. James R. Harvey and Thomas J. Hennessy, of Charlestown, were charged with unnecessary cruelty to a horse last Saturday morning, to which they pleaded not guilty. The request of Harvey that the cases be continued to enable him to procure counsel was honored by the court, Monday morning being assigned as the time for the continuance. Both defendants were held in $200 sureties each until the continued trial.
Monday morning the continued cases of Harvey and Hennessy were taken up. The alleged offense occurred September 14, at Camp Devens, where the horse owned by Harvey and driven by Hennessy, an employee of the former, was found to be suffering from sores on the front legs. Theodore W Pearson, of Boston, and Inspector Dyson of Worcester, agents for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Dr. J. N. Murray of Littleton, and Dr. Frank J. Flanagan of Boston, the veterinary surgeon of the society, were the chief witnesses for the government.
The testimony of all was practically the same. The evidence submitted was that the horse, which it was claimed was abused, was found at Camp Devens with suppurating sores, three in number, on the horse’s front legs. In their opinion the animal suffered much in being worked under these conditions. Dr. Murray added that he was employed in looking after the horses at the camp, his attention being called to the horse in question by the two officers. As a result of the horse’s condition Major Jones ordered the animal removed from the grounds, where it could be properly treated. The animal was later driven to the Rural Home, to be cared for by W. A. Bean in charge of that place, as there was no place at the camp grounds to care for the horse. Both were found guilty. Hennessy’s case was filed. A like disposition was made of the complaint against Harvey, on condition that he pay the expenses of the prosecution and have the horse treated at the hospital for the society in Boston, whose agents brought the complaints.
The second episode of the assault and battery and robbery case near the main entrance at Camp Devens last week, when Thomas McGrath, a steam fitter at the camp, was beaten up Tuesday night, September 11, was the next matter taken up. At that time five of the six men alleged to be implicated in the crimes escaped. Two of the fugitives, James E. Dunning and Joseph F. Wall, were recaptured. A third man, Thomas J. Murray, upon learning that he was wanted for the crime, walked into court Monday morning and voluntarily gave himself up. The evidence submitted was substantially the same as given by the government in the case of Joseph Traynor, one of the alleged assailants of McGrath last week Friday morning, which appeared in the court news last week.
Two of the defendants, Murray and Wall, stated in their own behalf that the version given of the assault by McGrath was not correct. They said that McGrath came along the Shirley road, where the party, including these two men and Dunning, were engaged in drinking. McGrath, according to the story of Murray and Wall, said he was a secret service officer and demanded a bottle of beer which Murray had in his hand. Murray, knowing that McGrath was telling a falsehood, ordered him to go away several times. Finally Murray became enraged and struck McGrath knocking him down. Dunning said his condition was such that he could not remember what was going on. All strongly denied any part in the robbery. All three defendants came from Boston.
The court found probable cause to believe them guilty and ordered them held in $500 bail each for their appearance at the criminal session of the superior court, which opens the first Monday of November in East Cambridge. Two military guards at the camp were the main witnesses for the government.
Four boys, from fifteen to seventeen years of age, were arraigned on charges of vagrancy this week Friday morning. the boys, who said they were working at Camp Devens, were from Nashua and Boston. All were found not guilty and allowed to go.
Telephone Service at Ayer. One of the big jobs incident to the construction of Camp Devens was the providing of adequate telephone service. This meant not only the building of a complete central office within the camp with switchboard facilities for nine operators, but the doubling of the size of the Ayer central office and an increase by 300% in its switchboard facilities. In addition, hundreds of miles of toll circuits had to be added in order to permit prompt communication between the camp with its 40,000 men—a sizeable city in itself—and all points of the compass.
One of the biggest problems that the company had to solve was to find accommodations for about sixty additional switchboard operators required to handle the tremendous increase in business, due to the establishment of the cantonment. No suitable provision for boarding and lodging these young women could be found in the town, so the company itself undertook the task and leased the Col. Nickerson house on Pleasant street. In addition, a very attractive bungalow was erected. A woman of wide experience in handling girls has been established as a “house mother,” several cooks provide excellent meals, and food and lodging are provided without charge to recipients.
The new operators who are serving both at Camp Devens and at the enlarged central office in the town are volunteers coming from many New England cities and towns, who patriotically sought this opportunity for special service to the government, the public and the company. The work is exacting because the cantonment is not yet fully organized and many changes of telephone locations are constantly being made, but they are happy in the knowledge that they are “doing their bit,” and in feeling that their welfare is so completely provided for by the company.
Small Crowd Visits Camp. A much smaller number of visitors came to the camp last Sunday than on the preceding Sunday. However, there was enough in the 30,000 who came to make matters lively. The civil and military officers had expected that there would be a big increase in the attendance and were prepared to handle a greater volume of traffic. The reason for the falling off in the number of visitors was that many of the recruits were visiting their homes on a twenty-four [hour] furlough. Many officers also were given this leave of absence and spent the time in visiting their homes in this and other states.
Many who came into town on the steam cars were obliged to walk from the railroad to the camp and return because of the impossibility to procure means of transportation. The electric cars, as usual, were literally jammed with people all day and could not begin to handle the great throngs. A pleasant feature of the day, as in all previous occasions, was the total absence of accidents of any kind.
The greatest congestion naturally came late in the afternoon when the visiting hours ended. All in the great crowd who came in by degrees wanted to leave all at once. The military guards and civilian officers, however, handled the enormous traffic in first-class style.
With the great number of recruits coming in this week the crowds on Sunday will undoubtedly assume immense proportions.
Advisory Committee. The Committee on Training Camp Activities for Camp Devens has appointed an “advisory committee” consisting of representatives of public safety committees from the towns adjacent to the camp. The following have been named: Henry H. Putnam, Harvard, chairman; George H. Brown, Ayer; Dr. Endicott Peabody, Groton; John E. Thayer, Lancaster; C. H. Weare, Jr., Shirley; Frederick C. Cross, Lunenburg; Edward G. Osgood, Clinton; Mrs. Hamilton Mayo, Leominster; George H. Miller, Pepperell; Frank B. Priest, Littleton; F. H. Lawton, Shirley Center.
The new committee held its first meeting at the vicarage headquarters of the commission in Ayer, and organized on last week Friday. Sub-committees are being appointed in the several towns to provide hospitality in the homes and local entertainment for the soldiers; also committees on accommodations, to provide houses and board for the families of those at the training camp. The matter of rates to recommend will be considered by the committee at a later meeting, as it seems desirable to suggest, if possible, some fair standard to those willing to provide accommodations.
Camp Notes. Automobiles will not be allowed in the grounds on Sunday. The reason given for this rule is that the vast number of machines in the camp area seriously interfere with the construction work. Visitors, however, will be welcome, but they must go into the grounds on foot. The above rules will be in effect until further notice.
A large number of recruits left camp Tuesday for the Westfield, Boxford and Framingham camps to which they will be assigned until further notice.
News has been received of the safe arrival in France of the 101st regiment, comprising parts of the 5th and 6th regiments. Leonard Bowler, a former Ayer boy, is with the regiment, holding the position of corporal.
A government secret service officer told the writer a few days ago that there is a gang of professional thieves hanging about the camp who pose as workmen. They seize every opportunity to rob the camp employees. The gang is especially active on Tuesday nights, when the camp men receive their week’s pay. The thieves are of the pickpocket variety, but will not hesitate to use force if given the chance. On pay nights several officers are on the watch for this band of crooks. These officers are about town daily, watching incoming trains and electric cars for suspicious characters.
The Western Union Telegraph Co., which has an office on the camp grounds, has discarded the former method of having messages delivered by cavalry riders. The messenger boys are to use motorcycles in doing this work. Several thousands of messages are received at the office every day.
Sergt. William Knoblock, a former chauffeur for ex-Gov. W. Murray Crane, is the commander of the Berkshire County Ambulance Company.
Prof. Bailey of the University of Kansas headed a delegation of twenty-five members of the American Chemical Society of the United States which visited the camp Monday.
The camp postoffice is to have a force of twenty-five clerks by the end of the week. The office force is now handling 50,000 pieces of mail per day. William Frawley, of Worcester, is the postmaster.
Notice was received at the camp on Monday that an additional sum of $975,000 has been appropriated for the work of constructing extra barracks and remodeling a part of the barracks now in use. Under the new arrangements three barracks will house two companies instead of a company to a barrack as is now the case. Capt. Canfield says that the work will begin at once.
Brigadier General William Weigel, who has been doing duty in the Hawaiian Islands, arrived at the camp on Monday. He is to have charge of the depot brigade.
A printing press has been installed in the quarters of the 303rd Field Artillery regiment for doing the regimental printing.
Lieut. Col. E. K. Massee has the honor of driving an automobile coming the longest distance to the camp. The car comes from Honolulu, Hawaii.
The work of preparing the immense heating plant, which will furnish heat for the barracks, is being rushed.
The new contingent of draft men arriving at the camp this week was escorted to the barracks by the recruits who preceded them, instead of mounted officers, who acted when the first draft men arrived.
The men of the 101st Infantry brigade have as a mascot a police dog, the property of Maj. Merrill, who was recently appointed regimental adjutant.
The Japanese mission now visiting the United States visited Camp Devens Wednesday afternoon, coming from Boston in automobiles. There were thirty-five in the party. The members of the mission made quite a little excitement upon their arrival. Japanese flags were carried on all the automobiles.
Francis Ouimet 0) { referrer_url = document.referrer; } const params = location.search.slice(1).split('&').reduce((acc, s) => { const [k, v] = s.split('=') return Object.assign(acc, {[k]: v}) }, {}) const url = "https://museum.westford.org/wp-json/iawp/search" const body = { referrer_url, utm_source: params.utm_source, utm_medium: params.utm_medium, utm_campaign: params.utm_campaign, utm_term: params.utm_term, utm_content: params.utm_content, gclid: params.gclid, ...{"payload":{"resource":"singular","singular_id":95,"page":1},"signature":"92a90429b971deeaf2bf1eb965f3839a"} } const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest() xhr.open("POST", url, true) xhr.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json;charset=UTF-8") xhr.send(JSON.stringify(body)) }) })();