Trench and camp. (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, October 17, 1917, Image 8

Trench and camp., October 17, 1917, Page Page 8, Image 8

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Newspaper Page Texts V ki V v \ 1 t \ v ■ < £333 l II ! ARMY Y.M.C.A. SERVINS 1,500,000 SOLDIERS R. H. King, of Atlanta, and Dr. Weber, of Camp Jackson, Confer With Camp Hancock Y. M. C. A. Secretaries, An important conference of Army Y. M. C. A. secretaries was held last Friday at the administration building, the principal speakers being R. H. King, associate executive secretary of the Southeastern Department of the War Work Council of the Y. M. C. A., and Rev. Dr. John Langdown Weber, acting camp secretary at Camp Jack son, Columbia, S. C. Prior to the conference at camp headquarters, the two gentlemen con ferred with the ministerium of Au gusta in the Board of Commerce room, Augusta, where the ploblems of camp life and the work in general was pre sented and discussed. At this confer ence, Mr. James M. Hull, Jr., presi dent of the Augusta Y. M. C. A., pre sided. Mr. King, in presenting briefly the work of the Army Y. M. C. A., said that the War Work Council was now serv ing 1,500,000 soldiers in France and the United States. The work of the War Work Council for the American sol diers was entirely apart from the won derful work being done by the British Y. M. C. A. To show the tremendous demands upon the War Work Council, Mr. King said that by next July fully 6,000 men would be needed to carry on the work in this country, and in France, Russia and Italy. One of the first recommendations made by General Pershing was that 500 Y. M. C. A. secretaries and equip ment be sent to work among the French army, where the need of such an organization was very great. Hun dreds of men have gone already but the need for aditional men is very presing. Referring to the specific work being done in the southeast, Mr. King said that 100 buildings had been opened in the past six weeks, with 500 secre taries. These men serve 400,000 soldiers in the southeast alone. The work being done at Camp Hancock is also carried on at Camp Jackson, Port Roy al, where the marines are traineed; Charleston, Oglethorpe, Atlanta, Jack sonville and other places. Will Raise $35,000,000. When $4,000,000 was raised last spring, it was thought that such a vast amount would be sufficient, but no body foresaw the needs of Pershing’s expeditionary force and the demands from Russia, France and Italy. All work being done abroad is far costlier than in this country. The huts in this country cost about $6,000, whereas the same hut in France costs $15,000 plus. A Ford machine in this country may be had for $365, but in France the price has soared to more than $2,000. To meet these new conditions and supply the necessary force of men, the War Work Council will inaugurate a campaign for $35,000,000 on the 10th of November. Earnest Speech by Dr. Weber. Dr. Weber, who in addition to being acting camp secretary at Camp Jack son, is also religious work director, gave a most earnest speech at both gatherings, his remarks to the minis ters being particularly significant. Said he: “The Y. M. C. A. stands for the revelation of God in Christ. It stands for the divinity of Christ. It believes that Christ is the expression of God’s love towards men. The Y. M. C. A. represents all the Protestant churches and has a right to ask support in men and means from the churches.’’ A profound impression was created by Dr. Weber’s account of the activi ties at Camp Jackson. NEW WAR MOTOR TRUCK Next to the Liverty Aviation Motor, the government’s new war motor truck is the greatest achievement of the war preparation. Two trucks have been completed—one at Lima, O„ and the other at Rochester, N. Y. The first or der calls for 10,000 and later, it is ex pected that 8,000 a month can be deliv ered if necessary. The new truck has less parts than the allied motor ve hicles and the standardization will save the government the necessity of main taining the immens supply stations similar to th Allies, who ar eobliged to keep more than two million parts on hand for their various kinds of motor vehicles. M A Y~SPENiTSI ON ROADS Drivers of motor vehicles and men who patronize same will be interested in the fact that there is a strong pos sibility of SIOO,OOO being spent on the roads in Camp Hancock. Congress man Carl Vinson was in conference with the constructing quartermaster last week and the latter has prepared a report for the war department. There is a fund of SIOO,OOO available for this much-needed improvement. NEW ADJUTANT Major H. Z. Sorensen has succeeded Captain A. B. Austin as adjutant to Major G. B. Strickler, constructing quartermaster. Page 8 TRENCH ..ND CAMP SOLDIER APPRECIATES Y. M. C. A. Thousands of soldiers are being served by the Y. M. C. A. at Camp Hancock every day and it is gratifying to re ceive an expression of appreciation from the men. The- following letter explains itself: Army Y. M. C .A., Camp Hancock. Dear Sir: Just a few words of praise and appreciation for you and your fellow workers who have shown the Pennsylva nia boys at Camp Hancock the utmost patience in the laborious work you have clone. I am one of the boys who feels in debted to you and I take the liberty of writing this little letter of praise. Your soldier friend, PRIVATE CHARLES F. KEMEERER, Co. D, 4th Infantry, Camp Hancok. MARRIED MEN NOT WANTED Enlistment of married men for the infantry, field artillery and cavalry will not be considered for the present at least’. This information was received at he Augusta recruiting station last week. Married men will be accepted for the quartermaster corps, engineers, ordnance corps, and medical depart ment provided the enlistment is made with the knowledge and consent of the Wife and the applicant signs an agree ment that no aid will be expected from the government for the support of his family during the period of his enlist ment. Men of family will be accepted for the signal corps, including the aviation, only when they possess qual ifications of special value to the corps and can submit proper evidence of non dependence of their families, together with waivers of dependency signed by their wives. The war department is stressing the fact that it is not desirable for married men having dependents to volunteer their services to the government at this time. John Oellig and Charles W. Duff, of Pittsburg, have been spending several days in Camp Hancock and are delighted with it. Mr. Oellig has a brother, Edwin J. Oellig. in the sanitary detachment of the 111th Infantry, formerly the Eight teenth. They also have friends in the Ambulance Corps and Motor Supply Co. As a result of their visit, several of the boys have been having the time of their lives. Charles Baird, of Altoona, Pa., dropped into camp yesterday, to see his brother, a member of Co. I, Eighth regiment. Mr. Baird is a city official of Altoona. His visit was a complete surprise to his brother. MACHINE GUN Lieut. S. H. Ellson, machine gun ex pert, has arrived in Camp Hancock and will give the officers an intensive course in machine gun practice. The formation of several machine gun battalions and the bringing up to war strength has given greater importance to this arm of the service and the officers of the 28th Di vision will be shown the intricacies of this vitally important branch of modern warfare, so they may in turn instruct the men. ' rogersTcores Fa hit W. A. Rogers, physical director of the Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Y. M. C. A., has been touring the camps and canton ments for several weeks, giving a pro gram of impersonations, club swing ing, readings, sing-songs, etc., and has made a great hit with the men. He has been at Camp Hancock for several days and has delighted the men at the Y. M. C. A. buildings. Rogers was with the old Ninth Infantry for six years, now the One Hundred and Ninth Field Artillery and received a warm welcome from Colonel Miner, who is a member of the Wilkes-Barre association. Rog ers puts plenty of pep into his work and his club swinging and sing-songs are very popular. CITY Y. M. C. A. OPEN FOR~ GAMES ON SATURDAY. Physical Director E, F. White, of the Augusta Y. M. C. A., wishes to an nounce to the soldiers at Camp Han cock that the gymnasium is being kept open on Saturday nights for the use of the soldiers who may wish to have company or regimental basketball games. Any team or teams wishing to use the gymnasium for this purpose should notify Mr. White. BUY A LIBRETY LOAN BOND. While we all realize that the soldier is making real sacrifices for his country, and as a rule he does not have as much money as some people not in the ser vice, he is deeply interested in the Lib erty loan. By this means, the great undertaking upon which he has entered is financed. The purchase of Liberty bonds by the soldier is not to be urged as a patriotic duty, but rhther as an excel lent opportunity for saving. After the war is over many of the enlisted men will enter business and a little capital will give him immense advantage. The Liberty loan bonds are perfectly safe, carry a fair rate of interest—4%—and it is possible that after the war they will sell above par. The Civil War bonds, at a lower rate of interest, sold for years at much above the original cost. See your commanding officer who will tell you the easy terms on which sol diers may procure these gilt-edged bonds. A PRAYER Oh, Jesus Christ, my Master, I come to Thee today. I ask Thee to direct me, In all I do or say. I want to keep my promise, To be Thy servant, true. I come to-Thee for orders— Dear Lord, what shall I do? Y. M. C. A. IN FRANCE “WONDERFUL THING” Altoona Soldier Praises Work of Association. Can’t Under stand Language, An Altoona, Pa., lad is with the American Expeditionary Force “some where in France.” and in a letter to J. Edgar Probyn, educational secre tary at Building No. 79, Camp Hancock, he speaks of the “wonderful Y. M. C. A. work” being done in France. He went across with the Nineteenth Engineers and is stationed at some railroad shops in France. The letters follows: Somewhere in France, Sept. 7, 1917. Dear Friend Ed.: I will drop you a few lines to let you know how I am doing. We have traveled quite a bit since I saw you and have seen some very pretty country. I was also quite sea sick coming over, but had lots of com pany. This country surely is beauti ful. Everything is green and you can see some very quaint sights. No one could treat you any better than the French people. The only trouble is, you cannot talk to them, but I guess we will learn. I know how a poor Italian feels when he lands in the “Good Old U. S. A.” We are quartered in four barracks, each one has two wishstands. They accommodate about— (deleted by censor) men each. We sleep in beds that are about six inches off the floor and very comfortable. We also have four shower baths. We have a Y. M. C. A. where we can get candy and sigarettes, but the American cigarettes surely would go good now. We are accommodated with writing paper and envelopes. There is a Victrola here, which is fine. So you see the Y. M. C. A. surely is a wonderful thing. We can get the Paris edition of the New York Herald, so we can keep post ed in baseball. We have a soccer ball, a football and plenty of baseball gloves so we are perfectly contented. They are playing “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” on the “vic-” now. The shops we are going to work in are the very best and are equipped 'with the very best of machinery. Well, that is about my limit, except that the slogan, “Join the army and see the world,” surely is true. The boys are enjoying the best of health. Your Friend, E. P. FLUKE. 19th Engineers( Railway) American Expeditionary Forces. DIVIsiOhToFNEGROES General Bliss, chief of staff, has is sued the following explanation of the readjustmnet of the forces at fifteen of the sixteen cantonments: “The selected men that are now be ing gathered into the sixteen national army cantonments will be used to form the first force of 590,000 men author ized in the act of congress approved May 18, 1917, and to fill up the na tional guard division '.o practically the maximum strength of the new organi zation. The balance of the 687,000 se lected men will be used to supplement the voluntary enlistments for the spe cial and technical troops that are such an important part of the organization of a modern army. It is expected that the voluntary enlistments for the reg ular army will be enough to keep that branch of the nation’s forces filled up to strength without transferring men to it from this first selection for the national army. “The force of 500,900 men will be organized into sixteen white divisions, and one colored division- One white division will be organized at each of the sixteen national army cantonments, and the units of the colored division will be organized at the various can tonments where the number of colored troops is sufficient to organize a di visional unit. “Instead of concentrating All of the colored men in the few cantonments of the southern states, the policy of the war department will be to distribute them more or less evenly throughout all of the sixteen national army canton ments. aerTcluTvotes SIO,OOO To promote the efficiency and per sonal welfare of the American aviators In France, the Aero Club of America has voted $10,099. A medal of merit and honorable distinction in gold, silver and bronze will be created to be award ed to American and allied aviators for acts of heroism and for meritorious achievements in the field of aeronau tics. A service information office for American aviators in France will also be created. 250,00 SHELLS DAILY. When the war broke out, France pro duced daily only 12,090 shells for the famous “75” guns. Today, the French government is making 250,000 shells daily. At the present time, 12,009,000 men are mobilized in France for the army or the factories. Oct. 17,1917. PROMOTIONS MUST BE MERITED Brigadier-General Wm. G. Price is given as authority for the statement that political pull will not count with him in making recommendations to the war department for the promotion of enough non-commissioned men to fill the necessary complement of junior lieutenants for the two 28th division brigades. Said he: "I don’t intend that worthy boys shall be kept in the ranks holding down non-commissioned jobs while some f.I low walks into a Commission through a political pull.” NOW GENERAL PERSHING President Wilson has signed com missions as generals for Major Gen eral Tasker H. Bliss and Major Gen eral John J. Pershing, commander of the American forces in France. Gen eral Bliss takes precedence. The new grade carries with it a salary of $19,- 009 a year and was created by Con gress so that General Pershing would not be embarrassed in dealing with of ficers of higher rank in the allien armies. The grade of lieutenant-genr eral was also reviewed by Congress, but nobody has been named, inasmuch as there is no intention of creating an army corps. The only other generals of the United States armies were Washington, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan. FINE REGIMENTAL PAPER The Regimental Reveille, a journal published in the interests of the per sonnel of the 107th Field Artillery, made its appearance iast Thursday. It is a highly commendable publication, consisting of eight pages of newsy reading matter and advertisements, and is unusually neat in appearance and make-up. We congratulate the editors. Harry G. Buckley, Herbert D. Brauff and Robert L. Girvin, all mem bers of the 107th on their initial ef fort. CAMP FUNSTOTS PAPER The Topeka State Journal's edition of Trench and Camp, for the soldiers at Camp Funston, Fort Riley, Kansas, was the first exchange to arrive in Camp Hancock. It is in usual eight column newspaper form and is replete with timely articles and excellent il lustrations. The first page contains cuts of President Wilson, the late Gen eral Funston, for whom the camp Is named, and Major General Leonard Wood, in command at Camp Funs ton. 787 WAR VESSELS BEINGJJUILT Secretary Daniels says that the total cost of the 787 vessels built or to be built in the navy’s war construction program, will be $1,159,400,090. These vessels include all styles, from super dreadnaughts to submarine chasers. Many of these vessels are to be de stroyers, but there is also a $300,000,009 supplemental destroyer program which the navy expects to be completed in 18 months. They will be unsurpassed by any destroyers in the world and when they are ready, the men will be ready for them. regimenTofjndians A regiment of Oklahoma Indians may be one of the American fighting units in France. Some 350 or more drafted non-English speaking Indians are to be transferred to the First Oklahoma National Guard, which also has a con siderable number of Indians in its ranks, and it now is proposed that enough additional Indians from the Oklahoma quota, of 800 be assigned to the same regiment to fill it to war strength. If this is done an order con solidating the First Oklahoma and the First Texas Guard regiments will be revoked. HINDENBURG INSULTED Replying to a congratulatory tele gram from the Catholic People’s Union of Essen, Field Marshal Hindenburg said: “We, too, desire what the pope de sires, namely, the termination of the war which was forced upon us- Our enemies, however, are not willing. President Wilson’s note was not only an insult to the German people, but also an insult to the pope’s good will. Our enemies, however, will gradually come to their senses.” genTbaileyTn COMMAND Major General Charles J. Bailey has arived at Camp Jackson, Columbia, S. C., and assumed command of the 81st Division. General Bailey is from New York but was formerly in command of the Philippine Department. Brigadier General Barth, who has been in com mand at Camp Jackson since the camp opened, will be in charge of the depot brigade.