Upon his return trip from the Philippines in 1908 he had come by the way of Europe studying always military systems. There was a short stop in Ceylon, in Singapore, in Egypt, in Malta and Gibraltar and a summer spent in Switzerland, ostensibly for health recuperation after the tropical life in Moroland and Manila, At the same time this gave opportunity for a closer study of the Swiss system which with an admixture of the Australian system furnished the basis for the training camps afterwards inaugurated by him here. At the same time he had the opportunity by invitation of seeing the German and French {208} armies mobilized at the time of the Bosnia-Herzegovina episode when all Europe was on the verge of war. The German army of maneuver was at Saarbrücken--ready. Practically the whole of the French army of maneuver was on the Loire--ready. He saw one immediately after the other--less than two days apart. Mr. White, then American Ambassador to France, asked him what he thought of the French army and his answer was that despite the fame of the German military machine France in the next war would surprise the world by the fitting effectiveness of her forces. He based this conclusion on the relation of officers and men and the discipline founded on respect and confidence rather than fear of officers. Then followed the centenary mission to the Argentine and a couple of years as Chief of Staff of the American army before he could effectively begin his campaign. The first gun was a letter sent out by Wood under permission of the Secretary of War which proposed to many presidents of colleges and universities in the United States the establishment of several experimental military training camps {209} for students. These camps were to be placed one on the historic field of Gettysburg and the other at the Presidio of Monterey, California. The former opened on July 7th and closed on August 15th, and the latter extended from July 1st to August 8th. In all 222 students took this training, 159 at Gettysburg and 68 in Monterey. It was the first trial, and it was a very small and insignificant response. Indeed it gives a good idea of the importance in which military preparedness was held in this country at that moment-- 100,000,000 inhabitants; 222 volunteers. Those were the days when the people of this land and many others were hard at work upon commercial pursuits and when for amusement the world and his wife danced tango to ragtime music. So-called alarmists cried "Look out for war!" Major Du Maurier of the British army wrote a play called "An Englishman's Home," which startled and puzzled Englishmen for a while, but could not carry an audience for one week in this country. Nobody took any interest in what his neighbor was doing, to say nothing of what Germany or any other countries were planning. {210}