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” Trench and Camp
Published weekly at the National canton
monts for the soldiers of the United States.
National Headquarters,
Room 504, Pulitzer Buildinc.
New York City
ADVISORY BOARD OF CO-OPERATING
PUBLISHERS
JOHN STEWART BRYAN. Chairman.
II C. Adler, Chattanooga Times.
C. 11. Allen, Montgomery Advertiser.
P. T. Anderson, Macen Telegraph.
F. 8. Baker. Tacoma Tribune.
W. W. Ball, Columbia State.
John Stewart Bryan, Richmond News-
Les der.
Harry Chandler, Les Angeles Times.
Amon C. Carter, Fort Worth Star Tele
gram.
Elmer L. Clarke, Little Rock Arkansas
Democrat.
Gardner Cowles, Des Moines Register.
R. A. Crothers, San Francisco Bulletin.
Charles 8. Dlohl, San Antonio Light.
W, A. Elliott, Jacksonville Times-Union.
E. K. Gaylord, Oklahoma City Oklaho
man.
F. P. Glass, Birmingham News.
Bruce HaJdeman, Louisville Courier-
Journal.
Clark Howell, Atlanta Constitution.
James Kerney, Trenton Times.
Victor F. Lawson, The Chicago Dally
News.
Charles E. Marsh, Waco Morning News.
Frank P. MacLennan, Topeka State Jour
nal.
A. L. Miller, Battle Creek Enquirer-News.
D. D. Moore, New Orleans Times-Picayune.
.Fleming Newbold, Washington Evening
Star.
Gough J Palmer, Houston Tost.
Bowdre Phtnlzy, Augusta Herald.
Don C. Seitz. New York World.
Rudolph C. Siegllng, Charleston News and
Courier.
H: D. S’ater, El Paso Herald.
W. P. Sullivan, Charlotte Observer.
James M. Thomson, New Orleans Item.
Published under the auspices of the Na
tional War Work Council of the Y. M. C. A.
of the United States with the co-operation
of the papers above named.
Distributed free to the soldiers in the
National Camps and Cantonments.
CHRISTMAS, 1917
No sweet-voiced carol will awaken
America on this Christmas morn. In
stead the clarion imperative of the
bugle will sound a more martial
reveille.
For America is at war.
No hymn of peace will rise from
choir loft. Instead the Battle Hymn
of the Republic.
For America is at war.
No giving way to yearnings for men
that are away will mark family re
unions. Instead proud homage will
be paid to service flags that symbolize
duty in the doing.
For America is at war.
No impatient longing for home in
trench, in camp or on transport. In
stead impatience for the fray.
For America is at war.
From pulpit and lyceum on this
Christmas morn rnust go forth this
message the road to peace is
through righteousness; and the ideals
of righteousness must be upheld, even
on the point of the spear.
The thoughts of those at home and
those away must meet in a high re
solve to make home so‘safe that na
tion shall not lift up a sword against
nation; neither shall they learii war
any more.
In the solemn words of the Presi
dent: ‘lt is a fearful thing to lead this
great, peaceful nation into war.” But
also in the solemn words of the Presi
dent when he announced that war
must be the choice, “God helping her
she hid no other.”
Every sacrifice that is demanded
must be cheerfully borne. Every pur
pose must be subordinated to the ulti
mate objective. The world must be
wide safe'for democracy.
I'he men that have given up their
peaceful pursuits and undertaken to
the heat of the conflict have a
heritage of Americanism to steady
them, to inspire them, to lead them to
the victory that must be theirs.
The things in life that they counted
sweetest are in the balance. They are
things worth striving for and those
who once enjoyed them are ready to
strive, even as those at home are
ready to sacrifice.
The things in life that we counted
sweetest were curs for the asking.
Now our title to them must bv proved.
The day will come when the clouds
of battle have rolled away. On that
glad day, with victory achieved, with
■ democracy justified, with rightcous
! ness triumphant, the voice of the
sweet singer of carols will break upon
the Christmas morn; a hymn of peace
will rise to the high heavens; service
flags will be sanctified and those who
weep will not be as those without
hope. Home will be a thing achieved 1
Until that day—
America is at war,
TRENCH AND CAMr
AMERICAN [ ABSY CAMPS NOT PLAGUE SPOTS
The same malicious propaganda which President Wilson once charac
terized as a foe within more to be feared than foes without Las been spread
ing the seeds of anxiety and apprehension among the parents of America’s
mon under arms.
According to the authors of this propaganda every camp is a plague
spot. The men in the camps know to the contrary because they see with
their own eyes. But great distances separate them from their homes.' With
each recurrence of the report new anxieties and new apprehensions arise.
In order to reassure the mothers and fathers who have loaned their
sons to the cause of freedom, Trench and Camp today prints a few cold facts
and figures.
There is nothing speculative about these figures. They are the official
returns from the camps consolidated into a report from the Surgeon-General
of the Army.
THE FIGURES SHOW, FIRST, THAT A SMALLER NUMBER OF OUR
SOLDIERS ARE DYING IN CAMPS AND CANTONMENTS OF DISEASE
THAN DURING ANY WAR IN, THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY.
Analyzed, the figures, which are taken from a weekly report chosen at
haphazard, show:
157 deaths among 801,072 men would mean 8,10-1 deaths a year
This would be a death rate of 10.18 per thousand per year.
In plain English the returns given in the report indicate that, if the
present death rate obtains, 10 soldiers out of every 1,000 in training camps
would die from natural causes in the space of a year.
In peace time the death rate among the men of the draft age, who con
stitute 9.1 per cent of the total population is 7.4 per cent. In a word, more
than seven out of every ten men of the draft age would die from natural
causes in normal times and in peaceful pursuits.
Therefore the deaths from natural causes in camps and cantonments
would be slightly in excess of three more deaths per thousand than in nor
mal times.
Now- look at the other side of the picture. In the war between the
States the Federal Forces had a total of 2,673,567 enlistments. This repre
sented not less than 2,000,000 men. Os this number 67,058 were killed in
action; 43,012 died of wounds and 25,556 died from causes undetermined.
But to be added to this number was the huge total of 224,580 who died from
diseases. It has been stated that a large percentage of the deaths were
among prisoners of war and that the high mortality rate was due to the
deaths among their number. But the truth is that only 30,192 of the deaths
wore among prisoners of war and these represented only 14 per cent of the
total.
The fact is, then, that nearly one man of every ten who enlisted in the
Federal armies died of disease in Federal hospitals or camps. This was 2.4
per cent a year of the total number enlisted during the .war.
The actual mortality among the Federal forces in a given year (1862)
was 53.2 per thousand.
Os this number only 8.6 were battle casualties.
IN A WORD, 44.6 WERE VICTIMS OF DISEASE.
All of which leads to the conclusion that the mortality rate from dis
ease today is less than one-fourth the mortality rate from the same cause
in the war between the States.
We shall have more to say on this subject in a subsequent
issue. It is requested that every man who reads this editorial mail
the issue containing it to his parents. Let him also mark the
editorial plainly so that it cannot escape attention.
The figures we give are absolutely authentic and are taken from official
records.
They tell as no amount of descriptive writing would ever tell the story
of the.elaborate care, with the most modern devices for preventing and
fighting disease, that surrounds the American soldier of today.
"SOLEMN LOOKING BLOKES”
A writer : n the Century Magazine
says “Solemn looking blokes” was the
cockney description of the first Ameri
can troops that marched through Lon
don.
The Anzacs, the Canadians, the
Africans and the Hindoos had caught
something of the hysterical joy of the
populace. They had responded to the
cheers of all these thousands that
lined the streets. But the Americans
went on with the ceaseless tramp,
tramp, tramp of marching feet and
heads that turned neither to the right
nor left. Only when “Old Glory” was
waved directly in an officer’s face was
there any deviation from the straight
line the soldiers trod. The 6fficer
came to attention, saluted the stars
and stripes, smiled at the one who
waved it—evidently a compatriot—
and went on his way.
Stoical as the Englishman is, he was
somewhat upset by the poise of the
American soldiers. He cheered and
there was no response. He cheered
again. But only that steady tramp.
“Hump! Solemn looking blokes,”
he -rid.
And solemn looking blokes we are.
It is no child’s play we have under
taken. It is no festival that we face.
The cheers, the festoons, the delirium
of joy—all that can wait. There is a
job to be done.
That job is the only thing we can
see just now. We are consecrated to
its accomplishment. As “Old Glory”
confronts us we pause for a moment
of reconsecration.
But cheers, music—a carnival? Not
now, Cousin Tommy. All that can
wait.
INTERESTING READING
Nothing the soldiers’ mother could
read would interest her more than
the news about him, hie company, his
regiment and his camp. Send Trench
and Camp home for mother and your
other relatives to read.
| CANTONMENT TYPES J
ft THE TOP SERGEANT g
HE is as necessary to the army as food. That may be a reason why he
is “cussed” so much. Every one considers it an inalienable right—r
kicking at the grub. But the fellow who kicks at him would bo
floored if asked what would be done without him. The only possible reply
would be that the array certainly would be done, without him.
lie’s the Top Sergeant. And since his rewards here on this tro bled
earth are so meager, certainly he’ll be a Top Harpist when the Great > hoir
is mustered in where St. Peter keeps the gate.
Reviled by those below him, uneasy from the orders of those abov ?, he
hangs trembling on the Topmost row of barbed wire in a shell-swep ■ No
Man’s Land. He is-always Top—whether it’s morning or evening, No-2 an’s
land oi' company mess.
An ancient army adage declares that “the back-bone of the army ii tho
non-com.” The T. S. is the top vertebrae link in the important organism.
I<3 would be king of non-coms, if an imperial hierarchy existed in tho
American fighting force.
His contacts are wide. He knows the man power of the company to
its last shoestring, and keeps track of words and deeds. He is mighty as a
reckoner and judge. His words are weighty and his opinions treasured.
He is One Clothed With Authority.
And yet be is a Boy with the Boys when occasion arises. He will sin"
a song, tell a story cr do a dancing fling with the finest grace and gustm
Dignity slips from his mighty shoulders easily, and reveals the essentially
human being, which the T. S. really is, in spite of occasional rookie doubts
as to his connection with the Family of Upright, Two-legged Vertebrates
He is a queer compound of the Democrat and the Demagogue, is this Toi
Sergeant.
SOME MAIL
How highly organized are the de
partments of the United States Army
is best illustrated by a report of one
day’s activity in the office of the
Adjutant General, Major Henry P.
McCain.
On that day, 142,000 separate
pieces of mail were received. This
is believed to represent the high rec
ord of any government office. With
in 48 hours only 200 letters of this
number remained unanswered.
General McCain says: “Our mail
these days is 25 times larger than it
was before the United States entered
the war. The highest daily mail dur
ing the Mexican affair was 3,000 let
ters. Our force today is only twice
that of normal peace times.”
Dec. 24,1917.
GOVERNMENT WILL CANCEL
SOME LIBERTY LOAN BONDS
PURCHASED BY SOLDIERS
In an excess of patriotic enthusl- '
asm many soldiers in the camps and
cantonments subscribed to the second
Liberty Loan more liberally than
they could afford. The result is that
today they find themselves embar
rassed for lack of funds. With war
insurance, compulsory allotments and
the customary expenditures incident
to army life, some of the men in the
ranks have frequently complained
that they had less money now than
in the days of the sls a month basa
pay. i
Major General McCain, the Adju
tant General, has sent the following,
telegram to all concerned, regarding
the cancellation of some of the Lib
erty bonds taken by the soldiers:
“Department commanders, com
manding generals of U. tical divi
sions, and commanding officers of in
dependent stations are authorized to
discontinue Liberty Bond allotments
when a soldier’s obligations under
War Insurance act do not leave him
sufficient balance to pay his bond al
lotment. Only such number of his
bond allotments will be terminated as
will permit the soldier to provide for
his dependents under War Insurants
provisions and take out necessary in
surance and leave him not to exceed
$7.50 for his personal uses. These
allotments for dependents and insur
ance premiums must be made before
Liberty Bond discontinuances are
granted and such Liberty Bond dis
continuances as are granted will ba
effective not earlier than October 31.
Officers will report promptly to Quar
termaster General discontinuances of
bond allotments granted by them,
stating name of soldier, bank in
whose favor such allotments wero
made and amount of allotments.
Amount of pay of soldier deducted
for Liberty Bond allotments before
their discontinuances will be refund
ed by Depot Quartermaster, Wash
ington, D. C., where such allotments
were made in favor of Federal Re
serve Bank, New York, but where
made in favor of other banks refund
ment must be arranged between sol*
dier and such bank. Where discon
tinuances of Liberty Bond allotment
are granted as herein provided re
marks may be omitted from Novem*
bar pay rolls and discontinuances
Form No. 39 will not be required.” ,
f
MEANS LONGER WAR
Three or four years will be added
to the length of the war if Russia as
a fighting force is completely elimi
nated from the sidemf the Allies, ac
cording to Major Stanley Washburn, |
war correspondent and a member of j
the. Root Commission to Russia.
STILL SUBJECT TO CALL
Men who have passed their thirty
first birthday are still subject to the
call of the selective draft. Provisions
of the law make every registered per
son subject to the call to the colors,
unless exempted or discharged.
The law reads as follows:
“Provided further, That persons
shall be subject to registration as
herein provided who shall have at
tained their twenty-first birthday and
who shall net have attained their
thirty-first birthday on or before the
date set xor the registration, and all
persons so registered shall be and
remain subject to draft into the
forces hereby authorized unless ex
empted or excused therefrom as in
this act provided.”