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TRENCH AND CAMP
CAMP HANCOCK, Augusta, Ga,
EDITION, 12,000.
GEO. B. LANDIS~and J. EDGAR
PROBYN, Editors.
Published gratis bv~ THE HERALD
PUBLISHING CO., Augusta, Ga.
ISSUED EVERY V IDNESDAY.
Vol. I—Dec7l2Ti9l7—No. 10.
Application has been made for
TRENCH and CAMP for entry as I il
Matter of the Second Class st the Au
gusta, Ga., Postoffice.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
Trench and Camp will be mailed to
any address in the United States
(limited to 1,000 copies) at the follow
ing rates:
Three months 15c
Six months 25c
One year .. 50c
NOTICE?
This edition of Trench and Camp
is limited to 120 CO copies. An
effort will be made to place one or
more copies in every tent.
If parties are desirous of other
copies, application should be made
to the nearest Y. M. C. A. building,
where they will be gladly furnished
as long as they last.
As the edition is limited to 12,000
copies, please do not throw your
copy away, when you are through
with it. Pass it on to some other
fellow. *
News items, personals, programs,
meetings, announcements, etc.,
from all the units in the camp will
be welcomed by Trench and Camp
and printed as far as space per
mits. These communications can
be left with secretaries at any of
the Y. M. C. A. buildings and will
be turned over to the editors. All
copy should be turned in as early
as possible. No copy can be hand
led later than Monday noon, pre
ceding date of issue. Trench and
Camp will be issued every Wed
nesday by
THE AUGUSTA HERALD,
Publishers of the Camp Hancock
Edition of Trench and Camp.
Charles E. Hughes has endorsed the
proposed amendment to the draft law,
lowering the registration age from 21
to 19.
A GOOD RECORD.
Elsewhere we print a summary, as
well as the detailed figures, of what
the Army Y. M. C. A. at Camp Hancock
has done during the past month. It is
a record of achievement and the fig
ures are set down so that all may know
th exact amount of effort being put
forth.
There have been many disconcerting
features hampering intensive work
educationally and religiously. Chief
among these is the religious schedule
of activities and the time off, when
men are permitted to leave camp dur
ing th eday—Wednesday and Saturday
afetrnoons and Sunday. It takes an
exceptional man to hunger and thirst
for educational and religious matters
after he has been drilling hard all day,
with all sorts of extra duty thrown in,
as well as a weekly night hike or a
period of two or more days spent out
on the rifle and artillery ranges- To
meet all these conditions, the work
must b.e. highly adaptable and we are
glad to state that the men in charge
of these activities are not one bit dis
couraged or lacking in resolution to be
of the utmost service.
The fact that almost 200,000 men
crowded into the “Y” building during
the month proves the need of social re
laxation for the men. The fact that
158,000 pieces of mail were dispatched,
evidences the heart yearnings of the
men who congregate at the buildings
nightly and keep in touch with the
home folks by means of Y. M. C. A.
stationery and other facilities. The
thrift campaign has keen hampered by
the fact that with Liberty bond in
stallments, allotments and other ex
penses coming first, there has been as
much to send home as formerly. How
ever, the gratifying total of $27,128 is
a goodly sum to handle, when it is con
sidered that the amounts come in small
sums for the most part.
Despite the busy activities of the
secretaries, time was found to have
personal conversations with 869 men
concerning their soul’s welfare, and 350
men made definite decisions. In com
parison with the results in the churches
of any single community, it will be
seen that although conditions are ab
normal, there is much earnest work
being dime. All in all. Camp Secretary
Tomlinson and his associates have rea
son to feel proud of their achievement.
TRENCH AND CAMP
SPARE THE HOLLY.
Once again Trench and Camp re
quests the soldiers at Camp Hancock
to spare the holly growing in this sec
tion. This is the urgent request of
many southern women who are doing
all in their power to make it pleasant
for the men in camp.
Os all nature’s handiwork, —and the
south litis ben lavished with it—the
holly holds first place in the affections
of the people, because of its beauty
and scarcity. There is so much of
sentiment associated with the green
leaves and red berries of the holly tree
that H has become a valued possession
among southerners. Tn real estate de
velopment, many southerners have se
lected a site for a home because of the
presence of perhaps one holly tree on
the land.
In view of the wealth of associations
attached to the tree and the many
manifestations of good will towards
the men in camp by the kind-hearted
southern people, we believe the men
of the Twenty eighth division will for
go their natural impulse and spare the
holly growing in the vicinity of the
camp.
The conservation committee of the
Augusta Woman's Club makes the ap
peal, and we are sure that the chival
ry of the men from the north will re
spond to it.
WHY WE ARE AT WAR.
Trench and Camp would like to see
more entries in the literary competition
on “Why We Are at War.’’
The editor asked one yot|ng man to
write an article on the subject and met
with the rejoinder: “I’ve been trying
to find out myslf why we are at war.”
That answer sums up the reason for
Trench and Camp offering prizes of
$5, $3 and $1 for the best three articles
on the subject. We want every soldier
in Camp Hancock to understand thi
great issue at stake.
The time will be extended to Satur
day night, to permit you to take ad
vantage of the offer.
Get busy!
Trench and Camp is the recipient of
much poetry, for which we are grate
ful. Some of it is good, some of it is
bad and quite a bit indifferent, but
we are glad to look it over and use
what we feel is Just to our readers.
The muse has been working overtime
and is but another evidence of the
psychic inflhenc.es that have been de
veloped through the war spirit of the
nation. There are many outpourings
of the heart in the effusions we receive
and it is a good thing, for if a young
man or young woman was obliged to
bottle up those yearnings, sometimes
possionate sentiments, the result would
be disastrous and might lead to dis
traction. Let Trench and Camp be
your safety valve. Send in your
prose or poetry and if it passes the
censor, you may have the joy of seeing
Os all the camp papers which come
to the sanctum of Trench and Camp,
the finest in appearance is the Wads
worth Gas Attack and Rio Grande
R: J tier, published by the Y. M. C. A.
at Camp Wadsworth, Spartanburg, S.
C. It is in magazine form, 9x12, and is
printed in the national colors on fine
book paper, and is very much on the
magazine order. The Spartannburg
Herald is responsible for the mechan
ical work and it is a credit to the print
er’s art. There are many interesting
features in the paper and we congrat
ulate the editorial staff and all con
nected with the publication. There
is but one criticism we have to offer—
and that is in the name, but we pre
sume there is a world of past history
associated with the cognomen which
we cannot appreciate because of our
ignorance. However, here’s a toast to
The Gas Attack and may it never
asphyxiate.
BITS OF SHRAPNEL
Since July the United Stqtes has or
dered for the use of the allied armies 3,-
000,000 pairs of rubber boots and 1,000,000
pairs of “arctics.”
Girl students of the University of Cali
fornia have signed a pledge to deprive
themselves of sweets, except chewing
guin, for the period of the war.
General Castleman a famous Kentucky
Confederate, has solved the dispute as to
whether white soldiers should salute ne
gro officers, sayipg it is only right to
salute the country’s uniform.
Sixteen hundred. German firms of Lat •
in America have been placed on the
“black list” by the War Trade Board or
the United States government ana nr
trade with them will be discouraged, if
not toally prohibited.
| ARMY YARNS
“I went into a restaurant on the boule
vard with a girl,” said a soldier. 'Ticked
her up on the street—l know, I was a fool
—but she talked English and I was fran
tic to look at a pretty woman and hear of
something besides war. We had an ome
let and two bottles of beer. What do you
think they charged me?”
The answer might have been anything.
“Two hundred francs/’ said the boy.
“It took all my money except a few
francs. I’ve cabled home to my father in
Canada. If he doesn’t come through I’ve
got to go back to the trenches before my
leave is up.”
His was not an isolated experience.
The men come here unwarned and as
trustful as children. They so want to
have a good time —a clean time, free of
mud and Boche shells and the fear of
death. They do not know the language
and they do not ask the prices, and they
listen to plausible strangers. One Eng
lish woman tries to protect them. She
stations herself at the railway station
and talks to them when they come out.
She is the only one that I know of. No
one else seems to care.
"Do you want to go to a quiet and
clean hotel?” they are asked when they
walk out of the railway station on ar
rival. x
That is what they want above every
thing else. They want quiet and clean
liness and rest. Most of them go tc
bed at 9 o’clock at night and do not get
up until 9 o’clock in the morning. Be
cause the tout who addresses them is
seemingly respectable and can talk En
glish they go with him. The hotel is
clean and quiet—and they wake up in the
morning without a sou.
Only the man who has gone through
this experience can realize what a trag
edy it is. It may mean that he must
cut short the cherished leave to which
he had been looking forward with such
sick anticipation through so many weary
months. To rob a soldier on leave is the
cruelest thing in war.
“He came to me in the midst of a
storm off Vera-CruZ,” said the Marine
Corns major whose name everyone knows
anyhow, sn.tlM* the censorship rules do
not irritate. “His eyes were rolling and
his blubber lips were trembling.
“ ‘Ah want to go home,’ said he. ‘Ah’s
sick.’
“‘Sick?’
“ ‘Yes. sah. sick,’ said he. ‘Ah’m home
sick and Ah’m seasick and Ah’m lovesick
—and dat shuhly is some sick.’”
A party of Australians went out to
see the town. They insisted on deck
ing their taxis with British flags.
“Won’t go unless we get the flags,”
was the ultimatum. “Tired of being
taken for Americans.”
That is a sore subject.
“Who’s been doing the fighting in this
war.” they asked, “we or the Amer
icans? All right, then. But there isn't
a British flag to be seen in Paris and
the town is perfectly covered with Am
erican flags. Wherever we go some fool
Frenchman throws up his hat:
“ ‘Ooray ’ he says, ‘for the brave Am
ericans. Vive I'Amerique.’ ”
Find a Canadian in town on permis
sion and the chances are you will find
him jingling with souvenirs. The men
of Canada have almost a mania for
gathering mementos of war. It was a
Canadian who is responsible for the fol
lowing witticism:
"The English,” said he. “fight for hon
or the French for g’ory, and the Can
adians for souvenirs.”
A little Canadian came to town the
other day to eninv bis leave, granted
because of a particularly gallant action.
But he wasn’t happy.
"I f<mght for twenty-four cussed hours
straight on end,” said he, “and then e
Boche shell put me out. When T woke
un the battle was all o ver—and I had
n’t got a single souvenir.”
"OLDIERS, COME BACK CLEAN.
T’is the song for the soldier
To sing as he rides from home
To the fields afar where the battles are
Or over the ocean’s foam.
Whatever the dangers waiting
Tn lands I have not seen,
If T do not fall—if I come back at all —
Then I will come back clean.
I may lay in the mud of the trenches,
I may reek with blood and mire.
But I will control, by the God in my soul,
The might of my man’s desire.
I will fight my foe in the open.
But my sword will be sharp and keen
For the foe within would lure me to sin
And I will come back clean.
1 may not leave for mv children
Brave medals that I have won.
But the blood in my veins shall have no
stains
On bride or on babes unborn.
Ard the sears that my body may carry
Shall not be from deeds' obscene
For my will shall say to the beast obev'
And I will come back clean.
Oh. not on the fields of slaughter,
And i’ot in the prison cell"
Or in the hunger and cold is the story
told
By war of its darkest hell.
But the old. old sin of the senses
Can tell what that word may mean
To the soldiers’ wives and to innocent
lives.
And I will come bock
—By Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
A Damnable Foe
Here is one of the strongest indict
ments against Germany we have seen.
It was published by the Aviation Sec
tion of the United Etates:
Democracy is being assailed by
the most damnab'e foe that ever
fired a cannon, that ever drove
home a bayonet, that ever ravaged
a neutral state, that ever sunk a
hospital ship, that ever shelled
women and children in lifeboats,
that ever crusified and castrated x
captured enemy soldiers, that ever
cut the right hands off boy chil
dren in captured territory, that
ever raped women by the thous
ands, that ever lived to fasten it*-
demon clutches on the throat of
civilization.”
Dec. 12, 1917.
THE OBSERVER
What an inspiration the division re
view was last Tuesday! No man or
woman who witnessed the long lines of
khaki-coated men, stretching across the
immense drill eld as far as one could
see distinctly, could fail to be impressed
with the tremendous power stored up in
the various units of the division —infan-
try, artillery, machine gunners, ammuni
tion train and sanitary train.
The Observer looked upon the scene
from the window of Building 76, which
is the best vantage in the camp, unless
we except the high tower directly bacs
of the Y. M. C. A. We shall never for.
get the scene as the Major General’s
car passed by slowly through solid lines
of men, all alert and appearing at their
best
Major General Clement has seen some
wonderful sights abroad, but we doubt
if anything gave him quite the tarill
that his own Twenty-eighth Livision fur
nished.
As we witnessed the artillery brigade
forming into position, there came to out
mind a hint of what is transpiring across
the seas, where the men who man the
guns have done so much by their expert
fire, to make possible the advance of the
men with th erifle and bayonet. Power,
power, power was suggested in the move
ment of every horse and driver as they
turned and wheeled into Hne and then
drew up in alignment across the broad
field. Their guidons gave a touch of color
and life to the motionless mass of men,
horses and guns. One could not look
upon such a scene without being stirred
to the. depths of his emotions, and we
experienced the same sensation we. have
had before in the presence of a column
of marching infantrymen—that of mist
before the eyes and a swelling in the
throat. , it ...
And far to the right stood the solid
ranks of infantry—the thousands of men
who will precede the artillerymen across
No Man’s Land and push the banner of
Freedom into the enemy’s territory. Once
before, as we stood at ths side of the
road and noted these men pass by si
lentlv. with measured tread, their rifles
aslant, toward the sky, we were moved
to express our emotions in the follow
ing verses:
O the ominous tread of the tramping feet
As the men in khaki go by;
Swinging along with sound of drum,
Their rifles aslant toward the sky;
With measured beat they march down the
street
And the sight fills our souls with joy.
For these are the boys who without fuss
and noise
Are ready to do and die.
They march for Old Glory and Freedom’s
cause
To make humanity free;
To force the Hun from his murderous
throne
And safeguard democracy;
Some will rush 'mid the roar of the guns
And their faces will blanch in the sky,
But their souls will live in the ages to
come
Immortals of Liberty!
» • »
We were at the Grand theatre on Sun
day afternoon for the first time to hear
the community singing—and spent a de
lightful ninety minutes. This il^ 'part or
the program of the Fosdick Commission
ton entertain t heso’diers while they are
in the city. And it is a great success.
The theatre was filled from top to bot
tom, the lower floor being occupied by
the soldiers and their ladies, while the
upper floors contain civilians. Hundreds
of sold ers were and if all the
men at Camp Hancock understood the
character of the program and how well
it is arranged, the entire building would
be jammed with soldiers, so that civilians
would have no room. With a splendid
band on the stage—the old Thirteenth —
and a number of soloists to intersperse
the community singing, the program was
delightful.
A.s an innovation, the audience sang the
words of the song from a screen and the
idea proved a great success, for every
body was able to participate. Prof. Tebbs
of the Army Y. M. C. A. conducts the
singing with grace and dignity and from
the many comments we have heard, Mr.
Tebbs has endeared himself-to the peo
ple of Augus.a, as well as the singers
from Camp Hancock.
» * •
Camp. Hancock is full of talent and al
though the personnel of the units has
been recorded, so far as their economic
and industrial value is concerned, no
body has compiled the artistic resources
of the division. On Sunday afternoon
we heard a bass soloist from the 103rd
Engineers—a real basso, with a full, sor
day evening, we enjoyed dinner with
several soldiers in the home of a promi
nent New York woman, who spends the
winters in Augusta. There were eight
men present in uniform and ve of them
possessed musical ability of high order.
Everybody knows of John Surra, whose
magnificent tenor voice and operatic
singing have thrilled soldiers in the camp
a swell as the people of Augusta. John
was there, and' never in better voice. He
sang “Celeste Aida” with a beauty or
tone and ardor of expression, reminding
one of Caruso. We doubt if any camp
in the country has a finer vrice than
is possessed by’ Mr. Surra. Real artists
were uncovered in Messrs. See’ey and
Gibbs, of the medical corps at the base
hospital. Mr. Gibbs had his 'cello wit*,
him and although it had been untouched
for five months, he revealer! his skill anr.
“rtistry on this beautiful instrument. Mr.
See’ev was organist at Christ church.
: rov denee. R. 1., and his pin -.o number*
I and accompaniments were rs unusually
high erd’r. These two men w"Td gmek
any prnfessmnal Program. Then Mr.
Vanw e. of the 11?th lom-l and Mr.
I Humphr’e" nf the base hn’-rtat m"dicai
corns cr»- v ’U’ed piano numbers and ac
comparrimerds—ard we were nr>"d of th<-
men in un’ferm who entertainer! so we - ’
rmrm the most exclusive residents of
Augusta.
r ♦ •
Wh'ob r’--"’nds us that Mr. ’’’ebbs w’riv
••s ail e nirirs to rener: nt +be nM Red
Tr’nng'o ter" re”r the o-'mn nnr.toffipo
n*tnr>x»on "t 21' tn s : ng the
CfoM-W c” rels. J , e » ~s ~„v „ pr| f)U .
pourirg <:f bn vnra] rfo f ,< arn r.
Paneeck cn «.,e(Jn v . Ever- m q „ w :‘ ir
n-hn thinks he can sing cor
d’mly invited.
Pieric acid as a high explos vc was
first hex rd of in general wav during
the Boer war, and m connection with the
I lyrldlto shells used by the British.