'I Vj 



•THt 



mtcm 



RECONSTRUCTION CAMPS 

 IN GREENHOUSES 



Educating the American soldiers wlio -ii'crc maimed in the fighting in 

 France in some work that they are able to do is one of the things the United 

 States government has undertaken. Grooving flowers in greenJiouses is one 

 of the courses taught. Here is how they do it at I'ort McPherson. (ia. 



HEN the maimed ainonjr the 

 mm w w many lliousands of wouiid- 

 %^^ / ed American soldiers roaeli 

 r^^^WgOL homo duriiifjf the next few 

 ™ * ^ montlis tliey will find that 

 Uncle Sam and his neph- 

 ews are j)rej)ared to receive 

 them. Not only will they 

 get the enthusiastic wel- 

 come that is their due, but 

 they will find that preparations have 

 lioen made to take care of tliem until 

 they have regained their strength and 

 that then opportunities will be at hand 

 to re educate them in some useful and 

 profitable occujjations that they can do 

 to become self-su{)i)orting. 



Tlirough the coiijieration of tlie Amer- 

 ican Eed Cross, Federal Board for Vo- 

 lational Education, authorized by an 

 act of congress, and the U. S. War De- 

 partment, aided by many public spirited 

 I'itizens, reconstruction "camps," as 

 they are called, have been and are be- 

 ing established in many parts of the 

 euuntry. 



Here the maimed soldiers, after they 

 tiave been discharged from the hospitals 

 .ind convalescent camjis, will 1)0 wel- 

 "ome and given an opportunity to learn 

 any one of many voca- 

 tions that they j)hysic 

 ■•illy are able to follow. 



Teaching Our Work. 



One of these voca 

 lions that already is 

 I'oiiig taught is that of 

 urowing flowers. So far 

 tow maimed soldiers 

 liave been returned to 

 'liis country, and are 

 ■It tending " the scluxds 

 liat have been estab 

 'isju'ij in greenhouse 

 '■inges near the army 

 ' amps. Tliere are, how- 

 'ver, hundreds of sol- 

 diers who are conv-al- 

 '■scing from sickness 

 and injury in the train- 

 I'lg camps attending 

 'lie classes in floricul- 

 'nro. And to these 

 i'lipils will be added as 

 "oon as they arc able 

 'lie men who have lost 

 an arm or a log, or 

 "tliorwise have become 

 '111 fit ted for the occujia- 

 'ion they followed be- 

 I'nre they entered the 

 niiiv. 



This system of " re ediuatioii ' ' was 

 first adopted in the Eurojiean count li'-s 

 that were at war with one another. 

 Early in the hostilities the i)roblem of 

 caring for the maimed soldiers ongageil 

 the attention of the go\-erninonts and 

 schools of all kinds were established. 

 What the armless, the legless, the blind 

 and the otherwise mutilated men have 

 accom])lisli(>d is one of the many ainaz 

 iiig things the war has produced. The 

 icsults of this plan, however. ha\e justi- 

 fied the Indief that, except in extreme 

 cases, there are things that these men 

 can do to earn their living and some 

 thing beside. It also solved the problem 

 that has followed every war caring for 

 the disabled. 



Profit by Europe's Experience. 



When the T'nited States entered ijic 

 war, far-sighted men, jirofiting by the 

 experience in the Kiiropean countries, 

 set out to establisli similar reconst rue 

 tion schools in the United States. .\nd 

 many of them now are in opeiiition. 



One (if these is located at i'mt .\I<' 

 I'herson, near Atlanta, (la., in connec- 

 tion with r. 8. Army Oeiieral Ilosjiital 

 .Nil. <i. After tile xarioiis ((miiscs of in- 



Teaching the Maimed to Grow Flowers. 



St met ion had been planned, and green- 

 house flow^or and vegetable growing had 

 been included in the curriculum, it was 

 necessary to find a suitable "school- 

 room" for the latter. For this jmrpose 

 the C. A. Dahl Co., Atlanta, offered the 

 use of a range of 60,0(10 s(piare feet 

 of glass. The illustration on this page 

 shows the convalescent soldiers at work 

 in the greenhouse. The illustration on 

 the following jiage shows the Dahl 

 range, where the soldiers daily attend 

 "school." 



The work at the Dahl range is de- 

 s.ribod by Major .John L. Kiley, IT. S. A., 

 chief educational ofTTicer at the hospital, 

 .•IS "for curative purjiosos of convales- 

 cent ])atients of V . S. (ieneral Hospital 

 Xo. 0, Fort Mcl'lierson, Ca." Of the 

 work Mjijor Kiley says: 



••The greenhouse work of V. S. Armv 

 < ieneral Hospital Xo. (! is only one of a 

 lialf dozen courses in agriculture con- 

 ducted by the IJoconstruction Division 

 for the benefit of disabled soldiers. 

 Among the other courses are vegetable 

 gardening, on an 8-acro plot adjoining 

 the hosjiital, cotton growing and for- 

 tili/.ing, conducted chiefly by excur- 

 '-iniis til surrounding farms and plants, 

 f;inii nieelianics, con- 

 diii-te(l within the hos 

 piial, where several 

 ilifiiisand <lo!l;irs' worth 

 "( macliinory is used 

 under .'i temporary tent, 

 .•I III! f;irm tractor opera- 

 t ion, which is taught in 

 the midst of the wards, 

 wliere a small plot of 

 uiound is being used 

 t'nr jiiactico in running 

 1 1 actors. 



Business Men Lend Aid. 



"'riie ninrhines t'or the 

 idiiise in f.nrin inochan- 

 iis and the farm trac 

 tills have been loaned 

 to the Koconslruction 

 l>i\i<ioii by generous 

 business men of .At- 

 lanta, who are deeply 

 intorostoil ii) promoting 

 the welfare of the jia- 

 tients. All the work in 

 agriculture carried on 

 by the Keconst ruction 

 Division is in charge of 

 Sergeant Cioorge M. 

 Darrow. who, before 

 eoming into the service, 

 was einjiloyod in the 

 I'liitod States Dopart- 

 iiKMit of Agriculture as 



