On November 7th the representatives met and adopted the plan. On November 1 4th a meeting of all candidates was held, the constitution was adopted, and the follow^ing officers w^ere elected :
Col. James A. Ryan, President and Director.
Maj. Philip Fox, First Vice-President — Representing Illinois men.
Capt. J. Brooks Nichols, Second Vice-President Representing Michigan
and Wisconsin men. Maj. J. W. E. Taylor, Third Vice-President — Representing Colorado
and Missouri men. Maj. William I. Shuman, Secretary and Director. Lt. John A. Broeksmit, Treasurer.
Capt. Myron E. Adams, Chairman, Board of Directors. Maj. Henry B. Gale, Director. Lt. James C. Hutchins, Jr., Director. Maj. A. A. Sprague, II, Director. Capt. John A. Stevenson, Director.
The follow^ing day the men w^ere called together by Regiments and w^ere addressed by Colonel Ryan on the purposes of the organization. They were given an opportunity to join and to pay their annual membership fee, and practically every man at the camp joined at this time.
The closing days of camp w^ere busy days. Many practical problems pressed upon the men. One of the largest was the high cost of equipment. The newly-commissioned officer had to purchase all of his equipment. Noth- ing could be had from the quartermasters. Each man had to go into the open market and purchase w^hat he needed w^ithin a w^eek after graduation.
Some 1,600 men were commissioned and ordered to foreign service; about 1,500 w^ere assigned to divisions then in training at home. The aver- age cost of complete equipment for foreign service was $500, so that the total purchases of these men would amount to a million and a half dollars.
The Fort Sheridan Association, as its first work, arranged to substitute collective buying for the individual purchasing. Myron E. Adams, Director of Morale, was instructed by Col. James A. Ryan to make such an arrangement for the men. A representation of every company was called together, a com- plete list of all purchases necessary w^as made. Men were selected who were familiar with making such purchases on a big scale. Harry Kimbark, of the Sixteenth Company, was made Chairman of this Committee and they rushed into Chicago to tackle the job. It w^as the first big skirmish of the Fort Sheridan men and they came back with the report that they had made arrange- ments with various Chicago stores whereby a deduction of practically 1 5 per cent would be made on all purchases. In cases where purchases had been made, that part would be returned. In the first three days of its operation, the Association, by mutual co-operation, had saved its members approxi- mately $200,000. That was a good start, and sent many men away to their w^ork wth more heart for the task.
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