“First call” is a series of stirring notes on the bugle which has for its purpose the awakening of the buglers themselves, to get them out of their snug beds to give the reveille proper. March and reveille come ten minutes later, the buglers marching up and down the streets in front of the tents and barracks, and “blowing their heads off,” to quote Jerry Hopkins. This is calculated to awaken each and every rookie, but if it fails the various squad leaders see to it that no one is missed.
“Assembly,” is the call which comes at six o’clock, and then woe betide the recruit who is not dressed and in line, standing at attention. As can be seen, there is but five minutes allowed for dressing; that is, if a man does not awaken until the reveille sounds. If he opens his eyes at first call, and gets up then, he has fifteen minutes to primp, though this is generally saved for dress parade. Roll call follows the assembly.
On this morning, when it had been ascertained that all were “present or accounted for,” Ned, Bob, and Jerry, with their new comrades, were dismissed to wash for breakfast. With soap and towels there was a general rush for the wash room, and then followed a healthful splashing.
“It isn’t like our bathroom at home,” said Bob, as he polished his face, “but I suppose the results are the same.”
“Sure,” agreed Ned. “They have showers here, and that’s more than they have in some camps, yet, I hear.”
“We’ll need a shower after drill,” declared Jerry. “It’s going to be hot and dry to-day.”
Breakfast was the next call, only it was not called that. It was down on the schedule as “mess,” and so every meal was designated though, of course, in their own minds, each recruit thought of the first meal as breakfast, the second as dinner, and the third as supper. But to the army cook each meal was a “mess.”
But before breakfast the boys had to make up their beds. They had been given a lesson in that the previous day. Soon after their arrival the recruits were divided into squads, and under the guidance of a squad leader they were taken to a big pile of straw and told to fill the heavy, white cotton bags that were to serve in the place of mattresses. There was a hole in the middle of the bag, and through this the straw was poked, and the whole made as smooth as possible on the bunks.
After their first night, Ned, Bob, and Jerry were transferred to a wooden barracks. When they carried the straw mattresses to this building, they found that each squad room contained about fifty bunks arranged around the walls, with two rows down the middle. On each bunk, besides the mattress, or “bedsack,” as it is officially called, were a pillow and three blankets. These must be neatly arranged after the night’s sleep. Beds in a military camp are not made up until just before they are used, but during the day the blankets must be neatly folded, laid on the bunks and the pillow placed on top of the blankets.
There were no clothes closets, and the only place Ned, Bob and Jerry had to put their things was on a shelf back of each lad’s bunk, and on some nails, driven into the wall near by. On these were all the possessions they were allowed, and, as can be imagined, they were not many—or would not be, once the boys were in uniform.