In the army it was not generally felt that gambling or swearing affected the fighting ability of the soldier. As a result of this attitude little was done to influence the men in regard to these evils. Officers occasionally prohibited gambling in their commands, but generally it flourished. Y. M. C. A. secretaries sometimes called the sergeants together and instituted campaigns against gambling, and these did some good, but as long as camp officials were tolerant, little could be accomplished. “Shooting craps” was a popular form of recreation, and some officers encouraged this as long as it was played in the open. Great crowds of men would gather in camp streets or barracks and “roll” their last dime away. With other things affecting the moral welfare of the men we shall deal in a later chapter. One of the strong objections to placing white and colored soldiers in the same camps was that there would be race conflicts. This proved not to be the case, and with few exceptions the relations between the races in every camp were good. Where the exceptions did occur, they were due to the policies of officials rather than to the inclinations of the men themselves. The fact that the war was a common cause made most soldiers tolerant of the “other fellow,” in spite of their prejudices. Even in sections where the idea of separation prevailed white and Negro soldiers often used the same building, played games together, and attended the same picture shows and entertainments. Occasionally they played in the same shows and orchestras; they frequently wrote letters for one another, and had many other points of agreeable contact. Sometimes, if they were from the same city or town and met in camps miles away from home, they acted like brothers. One day two such lads from a town in Louisiana met at Camp Pike, and their joy at meeting was noticeable to all. Grasping each other’s arm, they walked away from the crowd and sat down on a nearby hillside, where they spent the happiest hour they had experienced in camp. This friendly attitude, which made for harmony, was occasionally looked upon with disfavor by the officers and even by “Y” secretaries, and measures intended to prevent such contact sometimes engendered bitterness and frequently caused friction.