free from dampness. They are covered with rough boards both on the sides and roofs. These are placed with the edges together and the joints are again covered by an outer board, making a shelter nearly waterproof. The height of the buildings on the inside is about 8 feet to the eaves and 15 feet to the ridge pole. They are quite well ventilated by means of windows and doors. The quarters of the men comprise ten buildings of the same dimensions and interior divisions and arrangements of bunks as at Camp Rathbun and are designed for 100 men each, though 150 can readily be accommodated and comfortably. The guard-house is 34 by 17 feet, of but one room, no prison room or cells.

To the right and in rear of the barracks are two buildings, one 100 by 18 feet, of 100 rooms, for the use of officers as quarters, and the other 88 by 18 feet, of 6 rooms, for the accommodation of the field and staff for the same purpose. In rear of the left of the barracks is the mess hall and kitchen under one roof. The former is 150 feet long and the latter 50 feet. The hall is completely furnished with tables and benches and will seat 1,000 men, while the kitchen is abundantly supplied with everything necessary to cook for that number. There is no bake-house and precisely the same arrangement is made for the furnishing of food, cooking utensils and materials and table furniture as at Camp Rathburn. The sinks are wretchedly deficient and in bad order. This camp like Camp Rathburn has no straw ticks, and with this and other exceptions mentioned it is now ready for the reception of 1,000 men, and with some trifling change already referred to might be made to comfortably receive 1,500. Accompanying this description is a ground plan.

Camp Numbers 3, at Elmira: This camp is known as the Post Barracks* and like the others is in charge of Colonel E. F. Shepard, of the volunteers. It contains no troops at present. It is located about one mile to the west of the town, on a plot of ground quite level, not easily drained and considerably lower than the surrounding country. In consequence of this the ground, though commonly hard and firm and composed of gravelly earth covered generally with grass, becomes at wet seasons quite soft and muddy. The area is rectangular, measuring about 400 by 200 yards. There is not in its vicinity either marsh, standing water or dense forest or any special locus of malaria or disease, yet from the situation it would not be regarded as healthful a location as the camps previously mentioned. The water from the wells on the ground and from the junction canal south of it is unfit for use and must be hauled to supply the full garrison at an expense of $2. 50 per day. On the northern and on the western sides are low fences composed of slat boards and posts on one side; on the other is a common rail fence. The southern and eastern sides have no fences and their limits are defined by the public roads to the town. On the southern side and south of the carriage road is a coal railroad terminus which is used for freighting the boats of the junction canal immediately south of it. The grounds are easily accessible from town over a good road. The water of the canal is fit for bathing and washing purposes. The buildings were all built by the Government, and both they and the grounds are exclusively under its control. They are all new, of one story, of wooden frames, with rough board covering, both for the sides and roofs, similar to those already described. The height of the pitched roofs at the ridge pole is about 15 feet and at the eaves about 8 feet. They have firm floors of plank

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*See p. 73.

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