Newspaper Page Text
Dec. 19,1917.
Why Colors
Are Carried
Why does a regiment have colors?
This question has been asked time
and again by newly enlisted men.
Why is there so much solemnity
about ceremonies in which the colors
play the leading part?
Authorities tell us that it is most
probable that as soon as men began
to collect for common purposes
“some kind of a conspicuous object
was used as the symbol of the com
mon sentiment for the rallying of the
common forces.” The records that
I we have from the beginning of civili
zation confirm this view. In Egyp
tian, Syrian or Jewish history the
story is the same—the ensign had its
place and its purpose. So with the
Persians, the Greeks and the Romans.
Sometimes the ensign took one form,
sometimes another, but always it was
felt that there was need of a con
spicuous object to rally and inspire.
Colors Not Modern
In the song of Solomon (Chap. 6,
verse 10) there is a reference to regi
i mental colors which is very frequent
ly quoted and is as follows: “Ter
rible as an army with banners,”
showing that the regimental stand
ards served a purpose for they made
for the cohesion of the army.
! There is a service in symbolism.
It is a service that has entered large
ly into the calculations of great mili
tary commanders. Honors that are
bestowed, whose symbols in field
service are little strips of ribbon of
no intrinsic value, are prizes that the
soldier covets. He would brave the
supreme sacrifice for the ribbon that
would tell of his valor, and it is not
all vanity. It has a reflex that en
ters largely into the soldier’s reckon
j ing. The fact that he once dared to
die, as the ribbon proclaimed, would
spur him on to nobler effort; would
transform his weakness into strength
if ever his courage faltered. The
decoration, the ribbon or the medal
•—or both—minister to and reward
the individual.
The symbolism of the colors is
larger by far and its influence is of
the highest importance with regard
to the morale of the troops.
In the olden days of more primitive
warfare, commanding generals often
seized the colors and rallied their
troops about them. The Archduke
Charles, at Aspern in ISO 9, led his
untried troops to their last assault
while carrying the colors in his own
hands. In the first battle of Bull
Run, General Joseph Johnston, with
raw troops that were facing demoral
ization, rallied his men about him by
taking the colors himself. In the
battle of Prague, Marshal Schwerin
went to his death bearing the colors.
American Colors at the Front
The modern practice for a time
was to leave the colors behind so as
to reduce visibility. This dates from
the battle of Isandhlwana in 1879
when two gallant young lieutenants
met their death protecting the colors.
But, in the Russo-Japanese war both
armies often went into action with
their colors because of the influence
of the National emblem on the troops,
and any one who has read closely the
record of the great European conflict
-—in which America is now partici
pating—knows of the frenzy of joy
that swept over Paris when cap
tured standards’ were exhibited. Re
cently an American artillery regi
ment sent its colors to the main ad
vance lines and asked a French of
ficer to certify in pen and ink on
the colors themselves the fact that
they had been at the front. The sig
nature of this French officer and his
certification is a trophy for which
every American expeditionary unit
strove. The influence of the baptized
colors will be tremendous.
In olden times, the regimental col
ors bore the arms of the Knight or
Lord who claimed the devotion of the
individual soldier. No such Knight
or temporal Lord claims the devotion j
of American troops and the regi
mental colors bear the National Coat
of-Arms and the designation of the
regiment.
The Infantry was the first to re
place its standard with the col-rs,
for the Cavalry was much later still
commanded by the nobleman, or the
man of gentle birth, who claimed the
fealty of the individual soldier. The
Infantry was the first to serve the
larger claim—the claim of the whole
people.
BIG PRISON FOR SLACKERS
Work is to be started immediately
upon a prison cantonment at, Leaven
worth, Kan., to accommodate 3,000
persons, in which will be lodged
slackers, spies, alien enemies, and
other war offenders. The building
yU cost J 23 6 t pOQ. —.
TRENCH AND CAMP
GERMANY
CAN
MUST
WILL
BE BEATEN
Bishop Luther B. Wilson, who
recently returned from France,
brought this message from Gen
eral Pershing:
“There is no ground for the
heresy that Germany cannot be
beaten. GERMANY CAN BE
BEATEN. Germany MUST be
beaten. Germany WILL be beaten.
•v
AMERICAN SOLDIER TELLS
HIS MOTHER HE’S HAVING
GRAND TIME IN FRANCE
“I hope you are not worried about
me. I never was having a better time
in my life and am always seeing and
doing new things.”
This is not from the journal of a
school boy’s holiday. It is from a
letter written by an American soldier,
a man in the Rainbow Division. He
is Joseph McKinney, Jr., whose father
is a New York Police-Captain. Orig
inally he was enlisted in the 7th New
York but was transferred to the new
165th, the basis of which is the
Fighting 69th.
His letter also says:
“Dear Mother:—This is the first
opportunity I have had to write to
you. In the first place, I have been
on the go all of the time since I left
you. Everything and everybody is on
the go all of the time.
“There is no stop to anything, but
I nevertheless have suffered very lit
tle in this long journey. I have not
lost a night’s sleep nor one meal, ex
cept when I was seasick. I was sick
twice and, believe me, some sickness.
“I think you will have to come
over here to live when the .war is
over, for I dread that one awful trip
across the ocean back home.
“The only trouble is that I have
money but no cigarettes. The cig
arettes they sell here are terrible.
They are either English or French
make, and nothing like (deleted
by censor).
“I had a safe and speedy journey
across and I will write often, I will
close now as I hear the mess call
blowing.
“Your loving son, Joe.”
That Rookie from the 13th Squad. By p. l. Crosby.
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BEST OF CARE WILL BE
GIVEN U. S. SOLDIERS
BYY.M. C. A. OVER THERE
1£ is well understood now that the
American army abroad will set a new
standard for the care of other armies.
America does not look upon her sol
diers as mere food for cannon. They
are, as President Wilson so aptly put
it, soldiers of freedom. The thought
ful consideration for their welfare
will be projected right into the front
trenches. Never will the man in olive
drab feel that he is out of touch with
the homeland.
The $50,000,000 subscribed for
the Y. M. C. A. is the soldiers’ own
fund. The Y. M. C. A. is merely the
steward of it.
Every week Trench and Camp
hopes to be ejfle to tell of new plans
for spending this money in the inter
est of the soldiers.
Just glance over this list of things
that are even now on their way to
France as well as to the camps and
cantonments:
Chocolate, candy, syrups, writing
paper, motion picture machines, base
balls and bats, so • balls, volley balls
and quoits, portable electric lighting
outfits, ink, pens, pins.
Day after day throngs of salesmen
from all over the United States are
at the Y. M. C. A. purchasing head
quarters. The Y. M. C. A. men 'are
buying at unbelievably low figures.
The whole output of one lemon
drop factory has been contracted for.
It will cost about $l2O a month to
ship them to France, but they will be
shipped. This is but one, and a minor
one, of the problems of transport that
must be arranged. The quarter
master corps of the Y. M. C. A. is
no mean institution. Already hun
dreds of tons of Y. M. C. A. supplies
are ready for shipment. It is ex
pected that a large ship will have to
be placed at the disposal of the as
sociation.
With that self-sacrifice that has
characterized the Y. M. C. A. effort
throughout, the secretaries bound for
France have been giving up their
trunk space to supplies for the men.
Much has been transported in that
way.
Headquarters are rapidly being
multiplied in France and when the
larger units of the new army arrive
they will find the Y. M. C. A. ready
to resume the work so well done in
the home training camps.
French Give High Praise
To U. S. Engineers at Cambrai
Tribute to the gallant conduct
of the American army engineers
overseas was paid by the French
Government in an official com
munication containing the follow
ing paragraph:
“We must remark upon the con
duct of certain American soldiers,
pioneers and workmen on the mili
tary railroad in the sector of the
German attack west of Cambrai on
November 30. They exchanged
their picks and shovels for rifles
and cartridges and fought with the
English. Many died thus bravely,
arms in hand, before the invader.
All helped to repulse the enemy.
There is not a single person who
saw them at work who does not
render warm praise to the cool
ness, discipline, and courage of
these improvised combatants.
All hail to the Engineers!
Engaged in the perilous work of
road building and of projecting new
railroad lines right up to the latest
advances of General Byng’S army
they were threatened by a German
turning movement.
Shovels and picks were dropped
and rifles were seized.
The bravery of our American En
gineers, suddenly become combatant
troops, thrilled even those accustom
ed by years of observation to deeds
of valor.
The American soldier can fight!
He has won the admiration of his
Allies and, by hard-hitting, by play
ing the game according to the rules,
he has shown the people of Potsdam
that he is a tower of strength to the
forces of freedom.
There are regiments of stevedores
over there, too. Strictly speaking
they are not combatant troops. But
let the need arise and they will ac
quit themselves like men, like Ameri
cans.
Berlin papers please copy.
RE-READING BIBLE
General Allenby, commander of the i
British forces in Palestine, is doing
something more than conducting a
successful military campaign against
the Turks. He is driving people to re
read their Bibles to refresh their
memories of Beersheba, Dan and
Gaza. Like another Samson, he has
pulled down the gates of this last
named town.
Page 7
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