Newspaper Page Text
Oct. 31, 1917.
RAISING GEORGIA’S
WAR WORK FUND
Six Y. M. C. A. Men at Han
cock Help by Touring Towns
by Automobile.
(By Probyn.)
.When the call came for helpers to pro
mote the Army Y. M. C. A. Fund Cam
paign six Camp Hancock Association men
were released from their duties and sent
forth on a tour of Georgia—two men to a
earn in automobile provided for their use.
The towns of Georgia are being organized
for a share of the $35,000,000, which the
Army Y. M. C. A. must raise to continue
its work up to July Ist, 1818. These men
were Messrs. Tracy and Berg, Messrs.
Brdndon and Lunt, Messrs. Curry and
Probyn. This article deals with the ad
ventures of the east team, recruited from
Building 79.
The Tour Begins.
Ford cars are at a premium in Georgia
and it was with great difficulty the teams
were supplied with cars. Through the
kindness of Mr. Lombard, of the Lombard
Iron Works, Team 79 is now on tour in
a. Ford runabout, with a box on behind,
announcing the merits of the Lombard
Iron Works.
The combination of two Army Y. M. C.
A. men in uniform chasing about the
country in a Lombard Iron Works car is
too much for the natives and we have
been under more or less suspicion from
the time the tour began. In fact, the cu
riosity aroused by our presence in the
small towns is pitiful, and whenever we
engage in conversation with a citizen, a
crowd invites itself to listen to the re
marks.
Some of the natives undoubtedly class
us As deserters, and in one hotel, a keen,
alert traveling man, with a scent for the
sensational like Sherlock Holmes, said
abruptly, and in stern tone: "What are
you doing up here?” Naturally, we were
cornered and we had to confess we were
Just ordinary Y. M. C. A. mortals, at
which his frigid and searching gaze re
laxed into a gentle smile—and we were
safe from the clutches of the law.
Hearty Co-operation.
Wherever we have gone, we have found
the heartiest co-operation. Our first
move is to locate the local ministers and
inasmuch as the religious welfare of mid
dle Georgia seems to be ip the hands of
the Methodists and Baptists, we invari
ably inquire for the’ home of these domies.
These men of God have gone out of their
way to assist the cause. They have set
aside their own services, even though in
the case of the Methodists the annual
conference is only a few days off, and
have done everything possible to assist us
in securing the most representative lay
man to act as chairman of the campaign
in their town.
Fine Men Enlisted.
Sometimes, the man desired was too
busy. In fact, that has been the plea
of every man approached, but upon list
ening to the needs\of the soldier bovs in
the camps and hearing our plan of cam
paign, many of them have consented. It
has been our good fortune to enlist the
services of the finest men in each com
munity—men like Mr. Lazenby, president
of a bank in Harlem; Col. Burwell, ex
speaker of the house and one of Spar
ta’s busiest men; E. D. Borders, manager
of the cotton mill in Thomson, Tom Wat
son’s town: H. T. Shaw, cashier of the
Bank of Madison; A. B. Mobley, insur
ance live wire and ex-mayor of Monroe:
‘ Dr. Rice, town booster and superintend
ent of the Bell Telephone Co., at Greens
boro; Prof. Swain, county school super
intendent, of Warrenton: J. Ci. More, of
Culverton, one of the biggest anr bus
iest farmers, fruit growers and agricul
tural experts in the state.
Pasters Yield Services.
At Monroe, Pastor Edmondson, of the
Methodist church, gave his entire morning
service to Curry, where the work of the
Army Y. M| C. A. was presented to a
large congregation. Dr. Key, of the Bap
tist church, gave the writer permission to
speak twice at the morning, service and
three times in the Sunday school.
Both Monroe and Madison were visited
late on Saturday, but. despite this fact,
the ministers at Madison—a beautiful
owtn—decided to hold a union service
Sunday night in the handsome Methodist
church, and the church was filled. Cur
ry and the writer addressed the congre
gation, telling of the work at Camp Han
cock and the needs of the War Wark
Council, for its work among our own boys
and abroad. Corporal Ruff, of the regu
lar army, who is recruiting officer in
Madison, and Private Boughton, of Camp
Wheeler, were present and spoke of the
helpfulness of the Y. M. C. A. So im
pressive were the appeals, that Cashier
Shaw, of the Bank of Madison, and Ben
Thompson,- a leading business man, in
sisted on raising money the next day.
Mr. Shaw said to the .writer: “I can get
you $2,000 if we go after it tomorrow,”
proving the earnestness and willingness
of the citizens to co-operate.
130 Miles From Camp.
At Monroe, the two pathfinders were 130
miles from camp, with Athens as the
objective. When this issue appears, we
shall be in Athens and we shall join in
the refrain of "Where Do We Go From
Here, Boys?” As, a result of our visit
to these towns of Middle Georgia, we are
certain that Georgia's quota of $500,000
will be exceeded, for people are keenly
interested in the life-saving work of the
Y. M. C. A. All along the way we have
experienced the most strenuous, organiz
ing four and five towns every'day, we are
glad of the opportunity to see Georgia
and serve the men in the camps.
BUSitJESS vs7 PLEASURE.
On a recent visit to Camp Hancock,
Fred S. Goodman of International Com
mittee recalled the following incident of
the Boer War:
It is said that during the South African
war, in its earlier stages, a number of
officers of the English army gathered at
Natal were neglecting the real business
of military leadership for social functions
and personal enjoyment. One morning
the following notice appeared on the bul
letin boards:
“First steamer for England tomor
row. First train for the Front this
evening. Every officer in Natal will
take the one or the other.”
The reason was Kitchener had arrived.
TRENCH AND CAMP
CANNONEERS PRAISE
ARMY Y. M. C. A. WORK
You ask if we want the Y. M. C. A.?
Yes; a thousand times, yes. No one
but the man in uniform can ever really
appreciate the wonderful work of this
association. People in civil life do
not imagine how lonesome a soldier
can get. They think that such a thing
is impossible, but let me say right
here that at times the continuous as
sociation with fellows dressed in the
same O. D. and to go through the same
routine day after day,, is at times
enough to give a fellow the blues of
the worst sort. He doesn’t know what
to do with himself. Then through the
night air he hears the sound of a piano
and singing. He wanders over to the
Y. M. C. A. and before long he is
around the piano with the rest of the
bunch.
A good many of the fellows in both
the army and navy have enlisted in
the service of humanity and civiliza
tion, some of them who were never
away from the tender influence of their
mothers, and only the fellow who has
gone through it knows of the many
temptations that beset the fellow in
uniform, were it not for the work of
the Y. M. C. A., a good many of us
would surely forget our teachings at
home and start to slide, but with the
entertainments in these buildings, in
termingled with the religious services,
we don’t have to go anywhere else for
fun and instruction.
I, for one, hope and pray that this
great work will never be forced to
stop because it lacked the support of
the men at home, who were too old to
enlist in the service of their country,
or had home ties which prevented their
doing so. We hope that they will see
their duty to the boys in the service
and contribute freely to the 'world’s
greatest organization—the Army and
Navy Y. M. C. A.
Sincerely yours,
The Fourth Section Cannoneers, Bat
tery B, 108th Field Artillery, Form
erly the 3rd Pa.
CHEERFUL LETTER FOR
FOLKS BACK HOME
Camp Hancock, Ga., Oct. 30, 1917.
Dear Friend Harold:
You ask about my impressions cn
Army Y. M. C. A. work. To tell you
the truth, I have been so busy I have
not had time to take the advantage of
the good things the Y. M. C. A. offers
except when an unusually good number
comes along. They certainly have some
exceptionally fine entertainments, lec
tures, concerts and movie shows, the
only drawback being lack of room on
account of the regiment being greatly
enlarged. The Y. M. C. A. shacks are
much larger and better than the ones
used on the border.
If the ones at home could only Ibok in
some evening and see the boys writing
letters, playing phonographs, piano,
games or reading, 1 am sure they would
feel amply repaid for anything they
had done to contribute toward making
this work a success. If there was no
Y. M. C. A. to carry on this work the
army authorities would be confronted
with a problem of no mean proportion.
There is no department in the army
which could take its place and I am
sure no men picked at random could
replace the highly competent and con
genial gentlemen who direct the work
and place their entire faculties at the
disposal of the men. It is wonderful
how much patience they show in
handling the many requests and in
quiries of the boys, sometimes they
are answering questions from two or
three at the same time. Mr. Timmons,
of New York City, is in charge of the
shack at the 112th Infantry. He sure
is the right man in the right place and
no less can be said of his co-workers,
who are always willing to do anything
for anybody. One of the Y. M. C. A.
Army men here recently returned from
the western battle front, where he was
engaged in social work at the German
prison camps until he was incapacitat
ed from duty through getting a few
whiffs of “German Gas.” So you see,
even Y. M. C. A. men are riot immune
to casualties.
At Division Headquarters the Army
Y. M. C. A. runs what is known as the
Red Triangle Tent, where first-class
attractions are produced at the low
cost of 15 cents. These shows are the
same as are shown in the cities at any
where from 50 cents to $2. The first
three nights this week the original cast
presenting “The Old Homestead,” holds
the “boards.”
I feel assured the work the Y. M. C.
A. is doing to the soldiers will-greatly
redound to the benefit of all local Y.
M. C, A.’s when the war is over, for
many will be impressed indelibly with
this great institution and its wonderful
work as they never were before. At
Augusta the Y. M. C. A. Building greets
the soldiers with the kindly sign:
“Your Uniform Is Your Ticket,” which
is in great contrast to conditions pre
vailing some years ago when the uni
form was a barrier to certain places
of amusement, especially first-class ho
tels.
Let the good work go on. It’s just
as necessary as ammunition for the
guns. It surely goes a long way in
keeping up the high moral of our army
which is necessary first of all for suo»
cess*
Sincerely yours.
SERGEANT FOWLER
WRITES OF “Y” WORK
Camp Hancock, Augusta, Ga., Oct. 22.
Dear Brother:
Knowing of your interest in Y. M.
C. A. work, I have been able, through
the kindness of several of the earnest
workers in this efficient organization,
to procure a little information as to
their many and.varied activities.
The immense task of organizing Y.
M. C. A.”s at the various contonments
has been carried out in a remarkably
successful manner, and it coudd only be
accomplished by men whose hearts are
in the work. The work done here at
Camp Hancock is a miniature of what
is being done in every camp in the
country, and not only here in the Unit
ed States, but even on the shell-scarred
fields of France. Almost the first thing
one strikes on entering the camp is
the Y. M. C. A. administration build
ing. In this building are located the
headquarters of the General Secretary,
Educational Secretary, Secretary of
Religious Work, Physical Director and
two business secretaries. This building
is the mainspring of the local organiza
tion, and from it the activities of the
five other buildings, each one similar
to the other, are governed. Each of
these buildings has a Building Secre
tary, and also directors having charge
of religious work, physical training and
educational work.
However, the thing of most interest
in connection with the Army Y. M. C.
A.’s is the great number of activities
in which they are engaged with the
greatest enthusiasm and the success
they attain with the various classes of
men that are gathered together in a
concentration. Athletic leagues are
conducted in baseball and football, and
the necessary articles are in a majority
of cases provided by the Y. M. C. A.
Setting up exercises are given, and
everything that tends to increase the
vigor and health of the men is foster
ed. .
Not only the body trained, but the
mind is stimulated in an educational
way by means of French classes for
both officers and enlisted men, circulat
ing libraries, lectures and entertain
ments for which the best speakers and
musicians available are procured. To
many a man who has not had the ad
vantage of an education, these features
of the Y. M. C. A. work are a great
boon, for they may, while serving their
country, help prepare themselves to re
sume their place in civil life. For the
benefit of those who find it impossible
or inconvenient to attend church in
the city, the Y. M. C. A. conducts Bible
classes, Sunday schools, distributes
Testaments and holds semi-weekly
meetings.
The men are given the means for
amusement and recreation through mo
tion pictures, numerous entertainments,
games, pianos, Victrolas, magazines,
etc. Each building is open daily until
taps, for the use of the men, for read
ing and letter-writing. Stationery, ink
and pens are provided for the conven
ience of the men. A practical help is
also afforded the men in the sending of
money orders. On one occasion, during
the three days following pay day, over
$40,000 was transmitted through, this
agency.
Eery evening is taken up with some
thing or other to aid the men in ban
ishing whatever lonesomeness they
may feel, and in making them stronger
physically, morally and more efficient
mentally, to the end that they may
be better men and better soldiers, and
may more nearly approach the high
ideals and traditions to which our army
is devoted. Each building is meant to
serve 6,000 men, and this number is
closely approximated in actual prac
tice, so you may easily judge of the
success of the organization.
Everything done to make life more
enjoyable for the soldier is sure to be
appreciated, and I am sure all the men
at Camp Hancock are united in their
gratitude to the Y. M. C. A. and to the
men engaged in that work for all they
have done to make our tasks lighter.
Hoping this has been of interest to
you, I beg to remain,
Your brother,
HARRY W. FOWLER,
First Sergeant, Ambulance Co. 112.
THE RED TRIA NGLE~T ENT.
Dr. Ussher and the Berkley Sextette.
These attractions are to appear at
the big Triangle Tent, on a Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
Dr. Ussher has been in the war zone
since the war began, and knows the
situation as well as any man in Ameri
ca. He has experienced its inspira
tions, and also its horrors as he was
a prisoner for some time. Dr. Ussher
relates what he saw and experienced.
More interesting is this than fiction be
cause it is true to fife. His subject
is “The Siege of Van.”
The Berkley Sextette is composed of
a group of talented young ladies, each
one a finished musician. This com
bination has attracted large crowds in
other camps and the boys of Camp
Hancock will surely want to hear them.
Girard College Men Attention.
On Friday evening next at Building
79, at 8 p. m., there will be a meeting
of all boys who ever attended Girard
College. The following are known to
be in this division: Lieutenants Ehlers,
Pfander, Long, Boyes; Sergeants Hil
ler. Kimes, Kreisner: also, Butch Rorer,
Billknap, Chick Frazier, Sam Nichols,
Max Schaffer, Abe Martin. Don’t
forget, Friday, November 2nd, at the
Y. M. C. A. building 79, at the.end of
the Wrightsboro Road at Bp. m. All
out for Girard!
KAISER USES BREWERS
And Slanders Citizens of Ger
man Descent —Can This
Be True?
All that the brewers have done to
build up the German-American Alli
ance has been in the furtherance of the
most sinister and diabolical plot of
modern times, and the brewers could
not create it, finance it and run it, and
not know just where it was to fit into
the world-scheme if William Hohen
zollern, and through the Prussian yoke.
The archives of the British govern
ment have yielded up the evidence con
tained in a secret report of a speech
of the Kaiser at a war council in Pots
da min 1908. This document was given
to the world last year in a book on
“German Spies in England” by Wil
liam Lee Quex. This report of the
Kaiser’s speech had been long in the
British archives but not made public.
“The speech was made by the Kaiser
to a secret council of high German
military, naval, and other officials in
Potsdam Palace in June, 1908. The
Kaiser spoke of how seas would not be
barriers, and of how he had arranged
what we in America have come recent
ly to understand as the abiding impe
rial citizenship of German subjects
whether naturalized in other lands or
not. z On this point he said:
" ‘I have pledged my word that ev
ery German outside of the Fatherland
in whatever part of the globe he might
live, has a just claim to my imperial
protection.’
Then, swinging to the climax of his
speech, this alien autocrat brazenly
said:
“ ‘Of course, it is too early yet to fix
the exact date when the blow shall be
struck . . .
“ ’Even now I rule supreme in the
United States, where almost one-half
of the population is of either German
birth or German descent, and -where
3,000,000 voters do my bidding at the
presidential election. No American ad
ministration could remain in power
against the will of the German voters
who, through that admirable organiza
tion, the German-American National
League, control the destinies of the
vast republic beyond the sea. If a man
was ever worthy of a high decoration
at my hands it was Herr Dr. Hexamer,
the president of the league, who may
be justly termed to be, by my grace,
the acting ruler of all the Germans in
the United States.’
“This is what the brewers of Amer
ica have been taxing the consumer
of beer to promote. This was the ul
timate purpose of the German politi
cal machine into which they have been
pouring money for years.”
REV. e.TmTllTrln camp
Rev. E. G. Miller, of Columbia, Pa., a
brother of W. J. Miller, a Religious Work
Secretary, of Building No. 75, is spending
a week in camp under the direction of the
National War Council of the Y. M. C. A.
He has already spoken at Building No.
79, conducted chaplains’ service at the
Ambulance Corps, made addresses at the
Field Hospital and Field Bakery, and
preached the Sunday .sermon al No. 78.
On Monday he addressed the boys at
No. 76, and Tuesday at the Ammunition
Train. Wednesday evening at 7:30 lie will
lead the religious exercises at Building
No. 77, and on Thursday- at Building No.
75. It is possible that the Rev. Mr. Mil
ler will return to us during November.
THE 110TH REVIEW.
Up the road in the 110th regiment a
live bunch are getting out a regimental
newspaper. Puolished every Friday.
The paper has already made a host of
new friends besides tnose it had for
merly won as the “Tenth Review,”
down on the Mexican border. It had
been in the minds of the publishers to
issue the paper again at Camp Han-
but this was deferred until after
the re-organization, so thta the Re
view might be a paper for the consoli
dated regiment—the 110th.
The second number, which appeared
last Friday, does its editors credit.
General news of Camp Hancock, to
gether with some fine company notes
make up the chief contents. The men
responsible for this enterprise are John
L. Becktel, managing editor; R. B. Rut
etr, associate editor; Walter Adams,
advertising manager; James Lewis,
secretary and treasurer.
Every success to them —and long life
and to the “100 Tenth Re
view.”
QUARTERMASTER STORES
THREATENED.
Fire in Camp.
While on guard at headquarters on
Tuesday evening a fire was discovered
by Paul Stroud who was the sentry on
No. 4 post. His quickness and heroic
actions probably averted a serious dis
aster. Too much praise cannot be given
him for the way he fought and directed
the fighting of the other men who were
present.
Although burned and almost uncon
scious from the dense smoke, he stuck
to his post and proved himself to be
the kind of a man that Uncle Sam
needs for the fight that is to come.
The boys also wish to thank the fire
men of the city for the prompt way in
which they answered the alarm and the
wonderful way they fought to save the
three milloin pounds of hay that were
there at the time.
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