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Page 2
1,600 Enlisted Men
Want To Be Officers
"Pep” Cards Distributed Throughout Division. Seven Col
onels Leave for Texas—Comment on Shortage of
Clothing.
There are llttte posters on the bulletin
board of every company throughout Camp
Hancock as well as on the walls of the
Y. M. C. A. and K. O. C. shack with the
slogan and New Year’s greeting of the
Twenty-eighth Division shouted out in
big black type—“ P E P” —to all whom
it may concern. It is the greeting of
division headquarters to the men, and in
turn the greeting of the men to their
friends and comrades, for the spirit of
the New Year, of big things to be done,
has penetrated the camp and everywhere
is a bustle and bustle with a snap and
precision that bespeaks of an efficient
fighting spirit that will soon take them
'over there” to join the American forces
at the front.
A considerable amount of unfavorable
comment has been going on not only in
Augusta, but in all sections of the coun
try where there are training camps, con
cerning the proper clothing of the sol
diers. In a recent interview with Major
S. O. Fuqua, acting chief of staff at Camp
Hancock, he referred to the vigorous reply
of Colonel S. P. Bond, C. E. U. S. A.,
division engineer of the Thirty-second Di
vision at Camp MacArthur, Waco, Tex.,
to one “Charles C. Brown,” a name which
inquiry revealed to be a pseudonym.
Major Fuqua states that although the
above so-called Mr. Brown lived in Waco,
Tex., yet there are many of his kind in
and around Augusta who should take
particular note of the following story and
profit thereby. The fictitious Mr. Brown
wrote:
I read with interest your appeal
for recruits to the engineer service
as posted in postoffice at Waco, Tex.,
but before you call for any more men,
why don’t you properly clothe the
men you have? I saw some of your
men around town evenrngs who have
no heavy clothes whatsoever and say
they cannot get any. The least you
officers can do is see that your men
are warmly and properly clothed and
many of us would like to join the
engineers.
Colonel Bond wrote in reply:
Your letter concerning the cloth
ing for the soldiers is a good example
of the Jgnorant criticism which helps
not at all towards the end we have in
view, but merely annoys those who
arc trying to do something for the de
fense of the country, bur soldiers
are insufficiently clothed, Mr. Brown,
because you and a majority of your
fellow citizens have for years evaded
your duty to prepare your country
tor war while there was yet time.
Now you are confronted with the
logical results of your neglect of duty,
and instead of turning to and trying
to make amends for your past neg
lect, you waste your own time and
others’ time, trying to shift the blame
for your own shortcomings on some
body else.
Officers of the army have for years
BREEZY CHIN STUFF FROM
AMBULANCE CO. NO. 3
By. “DEMBO."
“Risen from the ranks,” or "from
private to sergeant,” sounds pretty
good to any soldier boy, and Sergeant
Roy Hall has certainly earned his
straps in every detail.
Our own “Ray” is a likable chap and
has the good wishes of every man in
the company. Go to ft, Ray!
Private Paul K. Murphy, our cele
brated “comedian,” and warbler, has
just returned from his native haunts.
He brought back with him a brand
new line of funny stories. All the
boys are glad to see him back again.
Yea, Murphy?
Private Carl Koring is getting to be
a regular “Meal Hound.” The way
that boy makes “food” disappear is
really wonderful. Oh, well, he’s a
wonderful boy.
Our “Boy Hero,” Private Nicholas
Fox, claims that “Hoyle" and he were
great friends. By his winsome ways
it’s very evident that “Nicholas” knows
what lie’s talking about.
GEN. BLISS HOLDS JOB
Washington, D. C.—Dec. 26.—General
Tasker H. Bliss will be retained on active
service as chief of staff of the army af
ter he reaches the retirement age next
Monday, Dec. 31.
Secretary Baker announced late today
that this’ had been decided upon by
President Wilson. It had been believed
generally that General Bliss would con
tinue in active service, but that some
younger officer would assume the bur
dens of the chief of staff.
This despatch was of great interest to
Camp Librarian Robert Bliss, who is a
brother of General Bliss. Mr. Bliss wired
congratulations to his elder brother on
the rare compliment paid him by Presi
dent Wilson.
GENERAL CLEMENT
OUT OF SERVICE
Washington, D. C.—General Clement
formerly commander of the Pennsylva
nia National Guard troops, has been defi
nitely dropped from war service for physi
cal disqualifications. After failinig to
pass a first physical examination ordered
by the army plucking branch he failed the
second time in a test given at his own
request.
General I. A. Haynes, in command at
Camp Beauregard. Alexandria, La., re
quested the mayor of the city and city
commissioners to suppress the liquor
traffic. General Haynes said it made
conditions such that he “could not main
4ain proper discipline and give the sol
diers the training they should have.”
TRENCH AND CAMP
been warning the country of just
what would happen in case of war,
. have been urging their fellow citizens
to follow Washington’s advice and
prepare for defense while there was
yet time. But their warnings fell on
the deaf ears of the Mr. Browns.
The country did nothing to prepare
until war was upon us. I have spent
. years myself, Mr. Brown, preaching
preparedness. What have you done
that you criticise me because I cannot
wave a magic wand and cause the
factories of the country to produce
clothes for my men?
But this? is no time for criticism and
discrimination, Mr. Brown. lam crit
icizing you in this publiq manner only
because I hope it may be good for
you and other ctizens who are of like
mind to yourself. Don’t indulge in
any more useless criticism. Turn to
and try to do your bit, or if you wont’
won’t do that, try to encourage and
not discourage those who are doing
your bit for you. Save up your money
and buy a Liberty Bond.
Concerning the'next Officers’ Training
Camp, candidates for which are now ap
pearing before the Board of Examiners
at Camp Hancock, Major Fuqua gave out
the following facts which give very defin
ate information to tlxse interested. There
are 1,600 candidates from the various or
ganizations in Camp Hancock , who will
appear before the board, from which will
be chosen 180 or a maxitnmu of 500 men.
There will not be any civilians from the
various colleges in the country to attend
this camp. It will be purely and simply
the enlisted man’s training school from
the Twenty-eighth Division.
The men will be. quartered in the site
immediately to the east of the 110th In
fantry on what is now known as Penn
sylvania avenue. There are shacks now'
awaiting them and activities will begin
at once on January sth. Those who suc
cessfully pass the examining board will
be notified of their appointments Janu
ary 2.
After the three months’ training which
will end April sth, 1918, those who prove
themselves capable of being officers will
.be given commissions at once and as
signed to the infantry or artillery as re
serve officers. There have been a num
ber of rumors going about the camp that
those who graduate from the school will
have to return to their old commands in
the same capacity they formerly held as
non-commissioned officers. Such a rumor
was emphatically denied by the major
who stated that they will immediately
receive their commissions.
Today the colonels of the four infantry
and three artillery regiments in Camp
Hancock left for Fort Sam Houston. Tex.,
to take up a course of training for col
onels which has recently been organized
there. They will be gone for at least
four weeks, it is asserted.
SPARKS FROM RADIO CO.
SIGNAL CORPS
Private Hughes has fallen from the
good graces of the company. He is
eating at the Sergeant’s mess table.
Top Sergeant Jones is on the job
again with his little whistle Go to it,
Sergeant.
Although a little late,- we hope Mr.
and Mrs. Jarrett will accept our hearty
wishes for a merry Christmas and a
happy New Year.
Privates Reidenbach and S. ,i
have been seen together quite
quently of late. Keep your eyes open,
fellows, something’s going to happen
when two men like this get together.
Will somebody please challenge Pri
vate Kuhms to a game of chess and
beat him? He might quit crowing
then.
Say, P. G., just how many different
girls do you write to?
Our sympathies, Shockey, old .top.
We thought there were enough girls to
go around.
We hear that some of our sergeants
are going to leave for training camp.
Which shall it be, boys; laugh or
cry ?
“Bill” Cain thought the quartermas
ter issued Christmas presents and was
very much disappointed not to find
anything in his sock in the morning.
We have three understudies of Paul
Revere in this company. Anybody
know them?
Private Fledderpohann very care
fully removes the motor from his mo
torcycle every night and stows it in his
bunk.
The company extends its earnest
thanks to “Doc” for his Christmas tree
which was beautifully decorated with
colored ribbon, paper and one candle.
Our company dance was a big suc
cess with about thirty couples there
and everybody seemed to enjoy them
selves. Come on, Radio Men, and let's
have some more of them.
Everybody seemed to enjoy their
Christmas dinner. We had everything
on the menu from soup to nuts. The
mess hall was very nicely decorated
with Holly and mistletoe.
MARRIED.
Mr. Boyd Roy Gill of Bellefonte, a
member of Company G, 110th Pennsyl
vania Infantry, stationed at Camp’Han
cock, Ga., and Miss Roseanna Christian
Aikens, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael
R. Aikens, of 1310 Fourth avenue, were
united in marriage in Altoona, Pa., De
cember 26th. —Altoona Tribune.
SAND SHOTS FROM
112TH REGIMENT
Dawn of New Year Finds Boys
Ready for What May Come.
Loss of Well-Liked Bunkees
Regretted.
Anther year, more eventful than the
last, has dawned, and the boys of the
112th, refreshed by a three-day vacation
at Christmas time and a two day vacation
which has just come to a conclusion, are
ready for the most rigid kind of drill
schedule and the real thing in war work.
Some were fortunate enough to get home
for the holidays, but among the great
majority who didn’t get back, the spirit
of Yuletide happiness, thanks to the
friends back home, the Red Cross and
Augustans who opened their homes on
that day, prevailed in all sections of the
camp. No one who enjoyed the-big tur
key dinner that the 112th mess sergeants
provided will ever forget the day, either.
Tn many a mess hall of the 112th Regi
ment, holiday decorations lent plenty of
color to the occasion and Companies E
and F had two of the prettiest, the latter
company boasting of two Christmas trees
as well, and presenting a distribution of
gifts that was productive of a’great deal
of amusement.
In the past ten days a number of the
boys have been called upon to say good
bye to comrades who have been with
them thus far in the Great Adventure.
Bill Tobin, popular orderly of the Head
quarters Company and a young fellow
whose jovial Irish wit was always on
tap, left for home shortly after' Christ
mas, having been’ discharged on account
of physical disability. The same com
pany lost two other good men, Supply
Sergeant Clarence Jones and Mess Ser
geant Clyde Perry and, enjoying similar
popularity, they will be missed for a long
time.
Company G has bidden good-bye to
First Sergeant Joseph R. Wimmer, who
has returned to his home in Erie. He
enjoyed a popularity second 'b none
among the enlisted men from the Lake
City and there was indeed a feeling of
regret when it was announced that he
had been given his discharge on account
of physical disability.
Practically every man in the entire
outfit now has two woolen uniforms of
the new issue, and though they were
long in coming, they arrived before
Christmas time and made the fellows
mighty comfortable during the cold spell
that arrived in the holidays. The hob
nail shoes, issued about, three weeks
ago, are already showing signs of ser-'
vice, and arc proving unsurpassable, both
as to weight and wear. The new leg
lins are alsp on hand, and most of the
men are wearing them.
So the New Year finds most of the
fellows in first-class condition as to the
equipment, and they were never in bet
ter health than at. the present time.
The holidays brought scores of visitfors
to Augusta and each mess hail had its
quota of soldiers' wives or soldiers' moth
er:’.
Corporal Bob Jones of Company F has
the distinction of being one of the few
men in the 112th to be called in from
drill field to answer a telephone call more
than a thousand miles away. It was
Bob’s wife. A week later Mrs. Jones
arrived in Augusta and on Christmas she
dined with her husband in the company
mess hall.
Fewer than a dozen In the regiment
were said to be officially AWOL on
Christmas Day and the majority of these
were absent only from reveille and re
treat, reporting on the next day. That
is a record to be proud of, and it shows
that the fellows took the furlough ruling
in good spirit.
The Y. M. C. A. certainly played its
part on Christmas Eve, and the splen
did entertainment given on Monday night
served to drive away any case of the
blues that might have been in embryo.
When the, fellows get over on the other
side, they're hoping that such a Y. M.
C. A. as Building 76 is, with the home
like spirit that always pervades the
structure will be there to keep the fel
lows cheered up.
Companies A. B. C, and D, compris
ing the first battalion of the 112th, were
the first units of the regiment to march
to the rifle range and take target prac
tice. Early Friday morning they were
up and cn their way, and the whole day
was spent on the range. The work of
checking up the other companies of the
regiment is proceeding quickly and the
other units will probably be out on -the
range the latter part of the week.
Warren Brakeman of Oil City and Wal
ter Dippold of Kittanning, both mail
clerks for the regiment, nave the dis
tinction of “bumping into” no less a
celebrity than Ty Cobb. Brakeman and
Dippold went down town last Thursday,
on a still hunt for coal, and stopped at
a refreshment stand to enjoy some hot
dogs. Brakeman ordered throe; Dippold
two, and then they swung around and
started to chat to a well-dressed, dap
per-looking yong man who showed great
interest in them. The dapper young man
not only paid for the sandwiches the
boys had eaten but handed over several
boxes of expensive cigarettes, adding
“With my compliments.” Then thev
asked him his name. "I’m Ty Cobb.”
The fellows are still telling the story up
in clerks’ row and are just wondering
whether it would be wise or not to ac
cept the famous ball player's invitation
to dine with him soon.
Christmas presents, mailed during the
rush hours preceding the big day itself
were still filtering into camp on’ Fr day
and Saturday of last week, delighting
many soldier boys who were beginning
to think, owing to unavoidable delays in
the mail, that they had been forgotten
by their friends back home. The rail
roads were up against the biggest propo
sition of their lives this year and the
postal mail service is certainly in line for
compliments when it comes to saying
something about the splendid manner ir
which they took care of parcels for the
Sammies down here.
Who was the happiest man in camp?
Jan. 2, 1918.
RED GROSS PACKAGES
GLADDEN SOLDIERS
112th Regiment Receives Six
Boxes. Interesting Letter
From Donor.
By James Murrin.
It was a "Merry Christmas and God
bless you, Red Cross,” in the camp of
the 112th Infantry on Christmas of this
year. And here is the explanation:
In every camp throughout the whole
world there are those boys whose friends
are fewer than the more fortunate; there
are those to whom Christmas usually
brings, especially in times such as-these,
only sad thoughts; there are those who,
were it not for the Red Cross, would
have been forgotten this year.
Six big boxes were sent to the 112th
Regiment, and on the average forty-two
packages of their contents were distrib
uted to each lettered company. They had
been packed by those women and girls
w’ho are making the lives of the soldier
boys brighter every day. And each pack
age, while it differed somewhat from the
other, contained three packages of milk
chocolates, a pad of writing paper, en
velopes and pencils, a box of crackers,
several packages of chewing gum, a scrap
book with a personal message, some
Christmas post cards and, in some cases,
there was even a more elaborate assort
ment.
The Message That Hit Home.
While there was a nlement of romance
lingering in the message that was writ
ten in those scrap books, it was entirely
impersonal and in most cases the name
of the cheerful donor was not disclosed.
A typical one read;
“My dear Sammy :You may think this
is only a scrapbook fit for a silly little
schoolgirl, but it really ’is more than that.
While I’ve been making it I’ve been
thinking about you, wondering what you
ars like, and wishing you ’the very best
o’ luck.’ You are ’way over in France,
and I am in America, but even the great
ocean can't keep me from feeling that
I am joined very closely to you all, for
you know we are all proud of you, we
are thinking about you all the time.,
and just, now we are wishing you the
very merriest Christmas possible. If this
little book helps toward that end I am
fully satisfied. Good-bye, good luck, and
God bless you.”
Os course, the boys at Camp Hancock
aren’t in France just yet, but the spirit
of the whole movement, that token of
thoughtfulness, that devotion to a cause
which has happiness as its climax has
won its point—the Red Cross is not only
an agency of mercy to stricken men on
ihe battlefield; it is the light of love that
brings happiness to the boys in such
camps as here in old Camp Hancock.
There's the Reason.
That was the reason for the smile that,
overspread many a soldier boy’s face in
camp oh Christmas Day, despite the in
clement weather. Who wouldn’t feel
happy wTicn he knew that somewhere,
many miles away, were folks who were
thinking of him just as much as he was
thinking of them on that great day.
BREEZY CHAT FROM
MOTOR TRUCK CO. NO. 1
Sergt. Eider thinks of North street.
Yeager likes his trips to the ranges
Ney is popular with his zither.
Sergt. Grobe is enjoying camp life.
Cook is bn the retired list.
Schoffner is the popular boy in the let
ter line.
Boyer will soon be a policeman.
Brown is now studing the cook book.
Barrett is the fresh air kid.
Sergt. Yost saves ail his telegrams.
Gainer has plenty of blankets.
Berkstresser is a pie baker?
Thomas is a sound sleeper.
Sy Hecker is going to join the regulars
after the war.
J.. Cooper will buy any. old tires.
Ruck has his own kitchen.
Wilson misses his Packard car.
Hilton has plenty of cigars.
Gallagher is taking up boxing in his
leisure hours.
Dutch Toomey is going to be made a
messenger boy when he gets back.
Waples has a good line for a Quaker
City boy.
Yowler is fixing motorcycles free of
charge.
Sergt. Earley never sleeps after 4:30,
(ALL OCT.)
J. Handshaw was glad to get back from
Harrisburg, Pa.
Sergt. Armon has received quite a few
pounds of chocolate almonds.
ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN HERE.
Charles F. Cochran of Washington. D.
C., who has been with the Library of
Congress for several years, arrived in
Camp Hancock on Tuesday and reported
to Camp Librarian Robert Bliss as as
sistant. Mr. Cochran is a young man
of fine personality and with Mr. Bliss
and his assistant on the job in the new
building in the next week or so, the
soldiers at Camp Hancock will have the
cream of the world’s literature at their
disposal for the asking. The build ijg is
being rushed to completion and Libra
rian Bliss hopes to be ready for service
in a short time.
The fellow who still had some of his De
cember pay left on New Year’s Day.
Slickers are taking '.he place of pon
chos in the regiment, and the boys are
being supplied as rapidly as the supply
department can issue them.
The presence of many young ladies at
guard mount throughout Christmas week
was indicative of the fact that there are
many heme-town colonies in Augusta for
the holidays and that sweethearts and
wives from “back home " are down South
to spend the few vacation days the boys
are having with the ones they know so
well.
The popularity of Trench and Camp is
second only to the fullest enjoyment of
such holidays as the boys of this regi
ment had during Christmas week. Camp
life has been made all the more enjoyable
for many soldiers through the weekly
v'sit of the clever periodical which the
Y. M. C. A. and the National War Work
Council are getting cut for Camp Han
cock.