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KT"/,|l I 1 PUBLISHED BY THE U fi
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WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE
gwwf | THE AUGUSTA HERALD ftp NATIONAL VAR WORK COUNCIL
' ' AUGUSTA, GA. .OF THE Y. M. C. A. OF THE U. S.
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VOL. 1.
DIVISION PARADE AND
REVIEW BY GEN. MUIR
Twenty-Eighth Division Passes
Through Augusta Streets
In Formal Parade.
Thirty thousand strong, the khaki
uniformed sons of Pennsylvania, the
Twenty-eighth Division of the Army
of the United States passed upon pa
rade through the streets of Augusta in
formal celebration of the anniversary
of Washington’s birthday on Feb
ruary 22 amid the resounding cheers
of men, women and children. The
most staid and practical observer, daily
accustomed to restraining his feelings,
could not but be thrilled through and
through as the stirring bands with
their martial music and the trampling
thousands, guns at even angle, swept
by.
The sight will never be forgotten by
anyone who saw it—those thirty thou
sand Pennsylvanians marching through
the streets of a southern city to the
tune of Dixie and Onward Christian
Soldier—thrilling all who saw it with
the knowledge that there before them
was unfaltering loyalty to the great
American heart that embraces the
east and the west and the north and
the south, that there before them was
consecration to the great American
principles of liberty, justice and de
mocracy.
The parade of the division was or
dered by General Chas. H. Muir in re
sponse to the request of the citizens of
Augusta.
Promptly at 8:30 the parade left
Camp Hancock and proceeded down
the Wrightsboro Road out Glenn Ave
nue to Walton Way, across Fifteenth
street to Broad, down Broad to Sixth in
the following order:
First came the Military Police fol
lowed by the men of the Officers’
Training Camp. Then came the 55th
and 56th Brigade of Infantry, with the
108th and 109th Machine Gun Battal
ion and then the 53rd Field Artillery
Brigade.
They were followed by the 103rd En
gineers, the 103rd Field Signal Battal
ion, 103rd Munition train, the 103rd
Supply Train, 103rd Engineer Train
and the 103rd Sanitary Trai. .
General Muir and staff headed the
parade and on the return he reviewed
the division from a stand at the corner
of Greene and Thirteenth street.
Passing a Given Point.
The parade took about two hours to
pass any given point. All along the
line of march men, women and children
from Augusta and the surronding
country, gazed with absorbed interest
upon the soldiers. All of the school
children were allowed to come out to
view the parade, and many carried
flags.
There was enthusiasm everywhere,
but especially among the crowds on
the sidewalks, and in the windows of
the 700 block of Broad street, and
above all as the review passed the
Confederate Monument with the bands
playing “Dixie” “Onward Christian
Soldier” was another thrilling sound,
as the martial strains were played by
the bands. This is proposed as the
battle hymn of the Twenty-eighth Div
ision.
It is said that General Lee reviewed
the Confederate army in 1863 when
60,000 soldiers passed in review. Yes
terday half that number marched
through the streets, and this is but one
of the thirty-two divisions now in
training in this country, which will
give some idea of the size of the army
being trained by Uncle Sam in the var
ious cantonments of the country to
day.
It was a wonderful sight and the
tramp of 30,000 khaki-uniformed boys
of the Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania
Division was a sound that will linger
long in the ears of those who heard it.
while the sight of thousands of enlisted
men—many of them mere boys—and
officers, all ready to give their lives in
defense of their country, and for the
cause of humanity, was a sight to
arouse the patriotism, and thrill the
hearts of every man, woman and child
in Augusta yesterday.
The men got back about noon and
were allowed a holiday for the rest of
the day in honor of the birthday of
the Father of His Country.
REVERIES
PISTOL SHOTS.
Before the War Americans shot the pistol so well that they killed
the dueling habit before it was legislated out of existence. In a large
proportion of the duels both men were hit. Let us get back the
knack—Get your pistol and get ready to get your Boche before he |
gets you in the trench.
SLOW BUT SHOW.
The snapping turtle walks slowly but he gets there! Thanr.s to
the heavy shell he carries, he lives to a ripe old age. In our hikes we
must carry a heavy load, but remember that like the turtle’s shell it
is all life-saving apparatus. Even the weapon that gets the danger
ous Boche in front of you is a life-saver. Learn to carry the load
easier and get your Boche in a snappy way.
BAD ACTORS.
If you wish to hurt your comrades, as well as yourself, just do
something underhanded or be absent without leave. You will impair
the efficiency of your organization and help delay our going “over
there.” Inspectors report unfavorably all organizations with long
AWOL lists. It is up to the good soldiers, who are the vast majority,
to keep these bad actors in shape and under control for their own
sakes.
CAPABILITY TESTS.
It will make you live longer to train moderately. Get yourself in
shape to make a showing at the physical capability test : 'the faster
you can run (towards the enemy) the shorter time you will be a tar
get. Jumping is sometimes the quickest and safest way to get
around a four-foot obstacle.
The reputation of the Fortune-Teller reading palms in the 28th
Division is improved when she says, “You are about to take a long
voyage over-seas.” It is the callous spots from the shovel and the
pick in the palms of vour hands and the strong muscles that pull
the trigger slowly that will hurry on this day, and the wise palmist
notes them.
HIKES.
A divisional hike is a big undertaking but a few days’ walking
around over Georgia and a few nights under a “pup” tent will bring
the division back with more confidence in itself and in better form.
I - - - — —. ———
CURRENT EVENTS
> .in .
Russia Signs German Peace-Ration
Cards—Drafts
By Frederick B. Heitkamp
THE SECOND DRAFT will be called in June. The number of men to
be called at that time is as yet undecided. Word from Washington states
that “unless some great emergency arises no nation-wide calls for men will
be made under the second draft. The present plan calls for a continuous
stream of men moving from civilian life to army camps and from the camps
to France’’ and from France, let us hope, to the last line of German defense.
RUSSIA is suffering the effects of her recent revolution. The present
government is apparently unable to cope with the difficulties which have pre
sented themselves during the last few months. Fox awhile after Lenine and
Trotsky assumed control of the Bolshevik! government there was a bit of
quiet; then came the unrest, the counter revolutions, which were put down.
Then came the cry for a cessation of the war—Russia declared that she had
stopped her war with Germany and her allied nations. But Germany did not
recognize Russia’s action, for no peace treaty had been signed nor any agree
ment reached. So this past week has seen a compulsory signing of a peace
treaty by Russia —but still the Germans came into the country—farther and
farther they went, gathering supplies and provisions, meeting no opposition,
on into the very heart of the Russian territory.
No nation could stand such treatment. Russia came forward with a call
for defense. With the country disorganized as it was little opposition could
be given; but the spirit of defense was there and Russia tried to rally her dis
organized and discouraged forces to withstand this latest of Hun invasions.
But it was in vain. With the advancing German armies sweeping down on
the country, with power to withstand the advance exhausted, there was but
one alternative left —Russia signed the dictated peace terms of Germany.
POWER TO RUN the nation’s railroads for eighteen months after the
cessation of hostilities was given the President by Congress this past week.
Power is now given President Wilson, through Director General McAdoo to
set aside laws, initiate rates, lend money, buy securities —in fact do anything
he deems necessary to make the government control of the railroads a suc
cess.
AS AN EMERGENCY ACTION to increase the planting of wheat by our
farmers, President Wilson has fixed the price of the 1918 crop. It was found
necessary to do this to stimulate production and to prevent’ speculation. The
price guaranteed varies in different parts of the country.
In this proclamation President Wilson praised the farmers highly. They,
just as surely as the men in the ranks, are doing the country a real service.
Many have been called for the draft, causing a serious shortage of labor. In
the drawing of men in the June draft care is to be exercised in not taking
essential labor from the farms. Both the Department of Agriculture and the
Food Administration will continue to give ail possible aid to the farmers of
the country.
RATION CARDS are now being used in London for the purchasing of
meat and oleomargerine. The plan of volunteer rationing was not successful.
This plan extends to all subjects of Britain; even the King having his meat
card. As yet it has not been thought necessary to adopt any such system
in America; rather our people are expected to recognize the many ’less days
which are proclaimed, without having to resort to the card system.
A DRAFT TREATY with Great Britain provides for the drafting of Brit
ish subjects between the ages of twenty and forty years. In return the citi
zens of the United States may bo subject to the draft law in England the
age limit being from twenty-one- to thirty-one.
BROWNING GUN
ON EXHIBITION
Washington.—The Browning machine
rifle, adopted for the American army in
France, and declared by ordnance experts
to be the greatest weapon of its kind yet
developed, is now being turned out in
three factories, Secretary Baker an
nounced today and more than 100 already
have been delivered. The gun will be put
to an exhibition demonstration on a range
here tomorrow.
FEBRUARY 27, 1918.
CRANE'S OPINION
OF BOLSHEVIKI
Washington.—Charles R. Crane, of Chi
cago, member of the American mission to
Russia, a White House caller today,
characterized the collapse of Russia as a
catastrophe, but pronounced the peace
agreement with Germany as wholly inef
fective.
“Trotsky and Lenine,” said Mr. Crane,
“have shown the world that six months’
practice on a soap box on the east side
of New York does not fit one to govern an
empire. The peace agreement might as
well have been signed in New York in so
far as its effectiveness is concerned.”
WHAT THE WAR MEANS
TO ARMENIA
By George Magarian
Day after day as I come in touch with
hundreds of soldiers in Camp Hancock, I
am asked this question: “Where is Ar
menia and what kind of people are the
Armenians?”
And so I have been asked to give you
an idea as to what that nation is doing
has done and may do in the future.
We all know the simple law of nature,
that every creature is born to live and
die, that the length of every person’s life
depends upon how clean he keeps, both
morally and physically, that holy temple
of GOd, which is the best gift nature ever
presented to any person. As it is with
individuals so it is with nations. They are
dependent upon clean living, upon right
eousness, and honor.
It is because of her splendid record,
her national spirit, and her steadfast de
votion to ideals that Armen/ is recorded
as one of the oldest nations, having ex
isted from before the time of the Romans
and the time of Babylon and Assyria to
the present day. These nations have
•meant nothing to us—tljey are matters of
history only—but Armenia is both a mat
ter of history and a live and still existing
nation. She ahd her church still exist.
With regard to the location of the coun
try a few words might not be amiss. Ar
menia on the modern map is located geo
graphically by the Black sea and Rus
sian-Caucasia on the north, Caspian sea
and Persia on the east, Mesopotamia, Sy
ria and Mediterranean sea from the south,
and Natolia Turkey from the west. The
country has been the highway between
Asia and Europe for centuries and has
frequently served as a barrier wall for
Europe, protecting her civilization from
the inroads of Asiatic barbarism. The
Garden of Eden is in Armenia, and she is
also the Mother of the two rich rivers,
Tigris and Euphrates.
Before the present war her population
was considered as about four millions, but
in the Golden Age of her history her
population has run as high as forty-five
millions.
Armenia is the first nation that ever ac
cepted Christianity as a national religion.
Many times has she painted the battle
fields with her rich red blood for the pro
tection of the cross. She even lost het
kingdom, about four hundred years ago,
for the same cross. She has suffered,
she has been tortured, and she has seen
many a massacre, but none of them has
devastated her more than the cruelties
forced upon her by this great war.
When Turkey declared war in the au
tumn of 1914, it seems that she did not
only want the world to know that a state
of war existed between Turkey and the
Allies, but she openly meant to declare to
the whole Christian world that while
Christian nations of Europe were busy
slaughtering each other she would be
busy exterminating the Christians —the
Armenians—in Turkey.
The drafting of every able-bodied man
of Armenia between the ages of twenty
and forty-five followed the declaration of
war, and soon the final signal for the ex
termination of the Armenian nation by
deportation was telegraphed throughout
the entire Ottoman Empire.
This order was carried out very system
atically and with remarkable exactitude
by all local authorities. In some places
the Armenians were given immediate no
tice of the deportation within a fixe/
time —five days or perhaps a week—but in
many cases people were literally dragged
from their beds at midnight and carried
off.
Women were compelled to leave their
occupations dressed as they were and
take to the road under severe hardships.
Mothers did not have time to get word to
children at school; husbands and fathers
were torn from their wives and children;
and children were taken to the outskirts
of the town and butchered. The prettiest
of the girls were taken into harems; the
rest were exiled to an unknown destiny.
They had to travel days and weeks un
der the burning sun, spending the nights
on the hillside without shelter or food.
They did not spend two nights in the
same place and wdierever they went the
surrounding Turks, Kurds and Arabs of
the vicinity attacked them. The govern
ment had given the Moslems free . hand.
They killed the men and robbed th’em of
everything that this unfortunate people
had managed to bring along with them.
They outraged the women and took the
young girls away with them. Those who
had passed safely through the terror of
the night did no t consider themselves
fortunate; they knew that they had to
take the road early in the morning and
journey on foot until sunset —and they
knew that the night to come would be
similar to the one just passed.
From one district four to five thousand
were gathered by the Gendarmes and or
dered to take the road to find their graves
in Mesopotamia or Anatolia deserts.
When but a few hours’ distant from the
town the caravans were surroounded by
bands of- Turkish criminals who were
just released from the jails by official
orders for that purpose. Turkish peasants
also came at them with axes and clubs.
Plundering was first in order, then the
searching of the young children. After
Continued on page fourteen
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