Jefferson County, Indiana - The whole text, 1920 (part 2 of 3)

As stated elsewhere the Home Service was organized in February of 1918 with Mrs. W. 0. McLelland as chairman and Mrs. Elizabeth Rea as secretary. The records show that between April, 1918, and November, 1919, about 964 cases were handled and money relief had been given to the amount of $759.58. The services rendered have been: Helping to adjust allotments and allowance??: Tracing liberty bonds; Rebates from the government; Requests for clothing (uni- forms, equipments, etc.) ; Requests for men's discharge from service; Insurance (collecting and re-insuring); Applications for vocational training; Hospital treatment; Information, investigation and other assistance usually given by Home Service.

The work is still carried on and instead of decreasing it now requires the full time of a trained and paid secretary, Miss Cora Mullen, who since November 18, 1919, has occupied the position. Prior to that Miss Mullen had also served as volunteer corresponding secretary.

This organization also was instrumental in establishing the canteen service and a Red Cross hospital in the Elks' Home in November of 1918, during the influenza epidemic. In this hospital 165 patients were cared for.

Red Cross Canteen

The Red Cross Canteen was organized in September, 1918, by young women of Madison, all members of the Emma Scott Circle of Kings Daughters. The purpose of this group was to "do its bit" by cheerful little services to the home soldiers as opportunity offered. Those boys who entrained after the above date have sunny recollections of the Re I Cross **bunch" in their smart, tidy uniforms, who served them, without money and without price, with chocolate and fruits, and also with stamped postcards and pencils as reminders to drop word back to their folks as soon as they arrived at their destination. When Battery E., after the war, returned in a body, the Red Cross girls were among the flrst to welcome them.

The Canteen continued its work until early 1919, and on its disbandment turned into the Red Cross about twentyfive dollars which it had made by selling paper shopping bags. The girls furnished their own uniforms.

Red Cross Workers

Those who contributed personal volunteer service to the Red Cross were so numerous that to mention all by name is impossible and if in the following lists there are omissions they are unintentional.

The original chapter officers were: Chairman, Rev. J. W. Turner; vice-chairman, Rev. M. L. Guthneck; secretary, Miss Cora Mullen; treasurer, J. W. Cornett; directors, Dr. J, W. Turner, J. W. Cornett, Curtis Marshall, Mrs. W. 0. McLelland, Mrs. E. B. Sheldon, M. C. Garber, W. A. Guthrie, Rev. M. L. Guthneck, Dr. W. A. Millis, Dr. J. M. Milligan, Mrs. Elizabeth Trow, Miss Cora Mullen, Clifford McKay, W. L. Hill, Edward Roberts, Mrs. Ora Fuelling, Charles HorufF, Jas. E. Crozier, Richard Johnson, Miss A. Almond and Mrs. Elizabeth Rea. Subsequent changes in the board of directors included in that body Rev. W. W. Logan, J. L. Schofield, Jesse Salyers, E. E. Scott, Prof. Guy Pender and Miss Carolyn Ford. In January, 1919, Rev. W. W. Logan succeeded Rev. J. W. Turner as chairman of the chapter, and Miss Carolyn Ford was elected secretary succeeding Miss Mullen, resigned. Later Herbert Lyon became treasurer in place of J. W. Cornett, resigned.

The Home Service branch of the chapter was formed in February, 1918, with Mrs. W. 0. McLelland chairman and Mrs. Elizabeth Rea executive secretary. J. W. Cornett, Dr. Geo. E. Denny, H. H. Cope and Joseph Schofield completed the committee.

The committee in charge of shops prior to our entrance into the war consisted of Mrs. Elizabeth Trow, Miss Mary Hill and Mrs. Samuel M. Ford. After June, 1917, Mrs. Trow was chairman with Miss Margaret Harper as secretary and Miss Agnes Cornett treasurer.

Luckett, Mrs. A. W. Glauber, Miss Mary Hill, Miss Carolyn P'ord, Miss Agnes Cornett, Miss Emma Stanley, and Miss Caroline Blankinship, with Mrs. Ora B. Fuelling, instructor for the Kent branch. Chairmen of knitting committees were, Mrs. S. M. Ford and Mrs. M. C. Garber.

Thi'ee drives for old clothing for refugees were conducted by Mrs. Margaret Stapp and Miss Leah Kronenberger, and a ''linen shower" by Mrs. A. M. Graham.

The personnel of the sewing and garment shop was: Chairman, Mrs. Margaret M. Stapp ; vice-chairman, Mrs. Geo. Gabel ; cutting committee, Mrs. Emma Middleton, Mrs. Frank Eckert, Mrs. Clarence Oliver, Miss Barbara Keller and Miss Margaret Mullen. Miss Mary Horuff had charge of the sewing room and Miss Sallie Gallagher was chairman for the snip pillow work.

Mrs. Nicholas Harper was chairman of the committee that took in hand the influenza situation, and Miss Helen Lauer was chairman of the canteen service, with the following co-workers: Miss Bess Davison, Miss Anne Harper, Mrs. M. H. Cochrane, Jr., Miss Gladys Grayson, Mrs. Glen Forry, Mrs. Melvin Blackard, Miss Agnes Donlan, Mrs. Alvin Holsclaw. Miss Antoinette Keller, Miss Lillian Shaughnessy, Miss Gertrude Rousch and Miss Frieda Lotz. Other members of the Emma Scott Circle of the Kings Daughters also aided in the canteen work.

Miss Katherine Mullen, Miss Georgine Yunker, Mrs. Wm. G. Rogers, Mrs. Champ Kahn, Miss Leah Kronenberger, Mrs. H. B. Foster, Miss Mary Pitcher and the Kings Daughters contributed in various ways to the entertainments and other enterprises for the benefit of the Red Cross. Mrs. Charles Hillabold, Miss Mary Hill, Mrs. Frank Eckert, Mrs. John Inglis, Mrs. A. M. Graham, Mrs. Elias J. Scott, Mrs, J. R. Colgate, Mrs. John W. Tevis, and Miss Mabel Housefield conducted a Red Cross booth at the Chautauqua grounds, August 5 to 12, 1917, and in the ''tobacco drive" of February, 1918, previously referred to, were Miss Georgine Yunker, Mrs. W.

In the various Red Cross drives many men and women gave freely of their time as speakers and canvassers and in other capacities. To secure a complete list of them is now impossible, but it would include the following:

Elmer E. Scott, chairman of the various drives; Rev. J. W. Turner, Rev. W. W. Logan, Nicholas Harper, Chas. N. Horuff, L. E. Hitz, Richard Johnson, Geo. Schwab, Geo. A. Monroe, Robt. Yunker, Graham Ross, Howard Graham, W. G. Rogers, R. L. Ireland, Walter Caplinger, Edward Reed, Jas. Wood, Wilbur Bear, Geo. W. Frank, Earl Miller and Geo. Austermuhle, all of Madison.

In the drive of January, 1918, township canvassers were: Graham, Mrs. Hiram Foster ; Hanover, Miss Jennie Lee ; Lancaster, Miss Agnes Wilson; Madison, Howard Douglas and C. G. Boerner; Milton, Albert Rogers and Clifford McKay; Monroe, John Paugh; Republican, Mrs. Ora Fuelling; Saluda, Dr. Robt. A. J. McKeand; Shelby, Jesse Salyers; Smyrna, Mrs. Walter Ritchie.

Business Effects

Not the least interesting phase of the great war was its effects upon the industries and prosperity of the community. These effects were too complex and too far-reaching to be traced with anything like thoroughness, but the obvious, more immediate results may be noted.

Conspicuous among the war industries and of especial interest at the time because the money involved was directly distributed to local workers was the government sewing for the Jeffersonville station. According to a report of the Commercial Club, to Mr. J. E. Crozier, the mayor of Madison, belonged "the credit for the splendid new enterprise." Mr. Crozier secured the work from the depot quartermaster and the material and garments were for some time hauled back and forth by trucks between Jeffersonville and Madison. The advantage offered by this sewing was that women could take it to their own homes and work at their convenience.

There was some trouble at first in getting as many workers as were wanted, especially in the city of Madison and at Milton, across the river, but in time these increased to over two thousand, partly due to Mayor Crozier's soliciting. The headquarters at the city hall became one of the busiest places in the city with its daily throngs receiving material or delivering finished garments. The output of these sewers amounted to many thousands of articles, and the wages paid out averaged, in 1917, $8,512, and in 1918, $13,209.17 per month. The papers have frequent notices of huge truck loads of finished goods shipped to Jeffersonville, and we have an account of the steamboat Catherine, ^'loaded to the guards" with approximately 3,000 bundles of garments.

In March, 1918, through the efforts of Mr. Crozier backed by the Commercial Club a sub-station was established at Madison which facilitated the industry. The report on which we draw for the above affirms that "as a business proposition

The annual reports of the Commercial Club throw further light on the business conditions of the community. Much money found its way into the county and merchants reported trade as active throughout the war period, while factories were running full capacity, a number of them stimulated by war orders. The large demand for food stuffs and the consequent high prices enhanced land values and created a brisk real estate trade in farms. The agricultural propaganda resulted, for one thing, in a banner wheat crop for 1918, and the phenomenal prices for tobacco caused a great expansion in the crop that found its way to the Madison warehouses. An estimated value of the sales for 1918 put it at more than $2,- 000,000, and this was duplicated in 1919. It is stated that in 1917 the aggregate deposits of the local banks and trust companies increased several hundred thousands of dollars, and this evidence of prosperity has continued.

On the other hand there were certain social and industrial detriments arising from the war conditions. Along with the increased business and the removal from the county of approximately 700 young men for military service went a scarcity of labor. From the beginning to the present the cost of living has steadily increased to the hardship of many whose incomes have not correspondingly increased.

The interference with the normal coal trade worked hardships alike on dealers and consumers, and, so far as can be seen, had no compensating features. On account of the high price of materials and the diverting of energy to the ''essential" industries building was virtually suspended and road improvement much retarded.

In the way of industrial stimulus, several businesses secured war orders. The Bear Brothers' Lumber Company received an order for 3,000,000 tent pegs and other orders for tree nails, or locust pins, used in ship building, to the number of eight or ten millions, these war orders affording employ^

The Schofield Woolen mill filled orders aggregating 40,- 000 army blankets. As the pre-war work was discontinued this did not involve an increase of the working force.

The flour mill of the W. Trow Company furnished flour to the United States Food Administration to the amount of 58 car loads, or 21,000 barrels. The Taylor-Hitz Flouring Company supplied 2,850 barrels. The statement of these firms is that while the government restriction of prices was a handicap to business the war period was, on the whole, one of prosperity.

The wholesale groceries of Cofield-Barber and The E. E. Scott Company agree in the statement that on account of the government regulation of prices their business suffered. They were restricted to lOVc margin on the commodities handled; it took 81/2^'' to conduct the business, and this left li^^'' net profit. On sugar the profit was 25 cents per hundredweight.

The Tower Manufacturing tack factory was devoted to the making of hob nails for shoes, first for the French government, then, after April, 1917, for the United States. After the latter date the factory ran thirteen and one-half hours per day, producing each day eighteen to twenty thousand nails, the aggregrate output being about 3,000 tons. The cessation of war activities left them with two carloads of nails on hand and something like 300 tons of hobnail plate - enough to supply their normal demand for sixty years. Fortunately for them the steel strike made a market for this overplus. There was little increase in the number of employes, the normal domestic work being suspended during the war work.

The Columbus Handle and Tool Company supplied the sawed material for tree-nails or ship pins of hickory and locust to the amount of about 60 carloads. The normal work was suspended, and there was little increase of the working force.

for spokes and felloes for artillery carriages and escort wagons to the number of about 29,000 wheels. For 18 months the business was 95'' government work, and the number of employes was practically doubled.

The Geo. J. Hummell and Ben. Schroeder saddle-tree factories both fdled government orders for saddle-trees, both direct and by sub-contracts. The Ilummells made 8,000 or 10,000 altogether during the war, most of which went to Louisville, where they were made up into saddles. The increase of employes over pre-war times was to 25 as against 15. The Schroeder factory made between 4,000 and 5,000 trees, and the working force was increased from 5 to 15 men.

Economic Aftbrmatii

The economic aftermath of the war has been so phenomenal that it calls for comment, although the causes are so intangible that any analysis of the situation must be colored largely by individual opinion with which others might not agree.

Briefly, the facts seem to be that the unprecedented disturbance arising from the withdrawal of such vast numbers of men from industrial pursuits and the substituting of war industries for those that make for the maintenance of life, has disarranged economic laws as never before, and the disturbance has been so profound that now, after the armies of soldiers have returned to the pursuits of peace the economic world seems running in purposeless chaos like a wild sea after the lashing of the tempest.

Everything is in a state of reaction. The sublime heroism to which the nation was keyed up when aroused by the outrages of the unspeakable Hun - the stupendous outpouring of money and of personal service given without stint, is followed by a universal scramble for money in which the thought for others is, apparently, wholly swallowed up by the thought of self. The conspicuous sin of the day is the one known as ^'profiteering'* or the wringing of gain to the

The abnormal conditions created by the war educated people to demands of many kinds that seemed extortionate, until they virtually ceased to protest because to protest was useless. Those whose first business was to make a profit off their fellows were quick to take advantage of this enforced acquiescence and exploit it to the utmost with an ever-increasing pressare t)f the screw. The public to the present day is bled white for the necessities of life, and only those escape the hardship of it who can profiteer in' turn. Hence all along the line, from the unskilled laborer to the expert and specialist the situation is worked for all it will yield. Money comes easy and goes easy, the extravagance of all classes is a matter of common note, and the pendulum has not yet turned for the backward stroke.

In these nation-wide conditions the extremes are not found in a nuiet section like Jefferson County, but the eddies of the swirling waters reach here and one need not go abroad to find, at least in the milder forms, the evils of a society thro\^Ti out of equilibrium.

Additional Matter Victory Celebrations

When the news came of the signing of the armistice, November 11, 1918, a spirit of jubilation took possession of the people. In Madison the Council of Defense chairman, William Ogden, proceeded at once to make arrangements for a big victory parade. Manufacturers and mxcrchants were isked to arrange floats, and fraternal organizations to turn out in full regalia. Company K was called together by Captain Stanton to head the parade, the Elks band supplement- ed by the various drum corps were pressed into service, and the outlying townships were notified to attend the coming event. The program went off as per schedule that evening with everybody in town and much of the countryside present, flying flags innumerable and every kind of noise-making device that could be procured, lending animation to the event.

Dupont, not to be outdone by Madison, staged its own demonstration. All business ceased at noon and the afternoon was given over to hilarious celebration, parading the town to the melody of a "saw-mill band," consisting of two circular saws and four men beating them with hammers. Blending with this in unique orchestration were the intermingled contributions of drums, horns, bells, horse fiddles and sundry other suggestions of Bedlam. Says the newspaper account: "Those who could not play (?) an instrument sang, and those who could not sing made a joyful noise by yelling."

And thus ended in an orgy of joy what the people considered their direct participation in the World War; the joy being the measure of their relief from an incubus that had weighed increasingly upon them for the better part of two years.

The most notable Jefferson County soldier, as measured by his recorded performances, was Capt. Samuel Woodfill, a native of Monroe Township and a regular army veteran. Prior to the World War he served in the far west, on the Mexican border, in Alaska and in the Philippines. In the European war he was several times cited for conspicuous bravery and at least four medals were conferred upon him by the United States and by the French government, the latter bestowing the Croix de Guerre and the Cross of the Legion of Honor. The United States government conferred the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Medal.

*'At Cunel, France, October 12, 1918, while Lieutenant Woodftll was leading his company against the enemy his line came under heavy machine gun fire, which threatened to hold up the advance.

"Followed by two soldiers at twenty-five yards this officer went out ahead of his first line toward a machine gun nest and worked his way around its flank, leaving the two soldiers in front. When he got within ten yards of the gun it ceased firing and four of the enemy appeared, three of whom were shot by Lieutenant Woodfill.

*'The fourth, an officer, rushed at Lieutenant Woodfill, who attempted to club the officer with his rifle. After a hand-to-hand struggle Lieutenant Woodfill killed the officer with his pistol. His company thereupon continued to advance until shortly afterward another machine gun nect was encountered.

"Calling upon his men to follow. Lieutenant Woodffil rushed ahead of his line in the face of heavy fire from the nest, and when several of the enemy appeared above the nest he shot them, capturing three other members of the crew and silencing the gun.

"A few minutes later this officer for a third time demonstrated conspicuous daring by charging another machine gun pit with his rifle. He then drew his revolver and started to jump into the pit when two other gunners only a few yards away turned their gun on him.

"Failing to kill them with his revolver he grabbed a pick lying near by and killed both of them. Inspired by the exceptional courage displayed by this officer his men pressed on to their objective under severe shell and machine gun fire."

When asked by an interviewer how he was able to overcome so many opponents unaided. Captain Woodffil replied: "By markmanship and knowledge of woodcraft. I have been an expert rifleman, since 1006 and have hunted all kinds of big game in Alaska. I used the same tactics upon the Germans I employed in hunting wild animals in Alaska."

George H. Simpson Cited For Bravery

'The division commander takes great pleasure in citin^;> in general orders the courage and devotion to duty, in the face of the enemy, of the following named officers and enlisted men of this division.

"* * * First Lieutenant George H. Simpson, adjutant, first battalion, 140th infantry, for courage and devotion to duty during the six days battle from September 2Gth to October 1st, 1918. On the morning of September 29th, Lieutenant Simpson voluntarily gathered together and took command of a disorganized platdbn and resolutely pushed forward in the attack on Exermont, assisted in its capture and aided in the consolidation of the position west of that town, AvhiVh position v.-a'=^ hold until the order to retire was given. This advance was made under heavy artillery and machine gun fire and required great courage and resolution to cause a forward movement. * * *

Herman Bowman And The Second Division

In a letter from France dated October 17, 1918, Herman Bowman, of the 97th Company, 6th Regular U. S. Marines, A. E. F., inserts this modest and incidental paragraph:

*'I send a copy of the last citation we received. I have nothing else to write and that will help fill the envelope, and you might be interested in reading a military citation."

"It is beyond K^y power of expression to describe fitly my admiration for your heroism. You attacked magnificently and you seized Blanc Mont Ridge, the keystone of the arch constituting the enemy's positions.

"You advanced beyond the ridge breaking the enemy's lines, and you held the ground gained with a tenacity which is unsurpassed in the annals of war.

"As a direct result of your victory, the German armies east and west of Rheims are in full retreat, and by drawing on yourselves several divisions from other parts of the front you greatly assisted the victorious advance of the allied armies between Cambrai and St. Quentin.

"Your heroism, and the heroism of the com,rades who died on the battlefield, will live in history forever and will be imitated by the young men of our country for generations to come.

"To be able to say when this war is finished, *I belong to the second division ; I fought with it at the battle of Blanc Mont Ridge,' will be the highest honor that can come to any man.

Lieutenant John L. Niesse, of Madison, was, it is believed, the first commissioned officer to be sent overseas from the first officers' training camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison. This was in September, 1917.

into the war. Mr. Mundt had enlisted in the navy in 1915 and was home, subject to recall. War was declared April 6 and he was recalled April 8, leaving Madison on thai: date. He was sent to the Philadelphia Navy Yard and was assigned to the battleship Vermont.

Women In The Service

Miss Rachel E. Hoffstadt, of Madison, a graduate from Hanover College and the University of Chicago, was among the first women to enter the U. S. service. At Base Hospital, Camp Sevier, S. C, she was for seven months head bacteriologist in the laboratory, and also taught chemistry and bacteriology to nurses at the Army Nurses' School. She entered the service June 14, 1918, and was 'honorably discharged February 7, 1919.

Miss Mary A. Shipman, one of whose letters from abroad we publish elsewhere, went with Base Hospital No. 25 to France in July, 1918, and served there as a nurse until July 1919. Miss Shipman was a graduate of Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, and first went into Red Cross service on the Mexican border in February of 1917. After that she was chief nurse at Fort Thomas, Ky., then went to Camp Dix, N. J., where she was trained for foreign service. In France she was attached to Base Hospital 25 but also did detached service in hospitals 26 and 91.

The John Paul Chapter of the D. A. R. seems to have been the first organized group in Jefferson County to actively engage in war work. It knitted, sewed and raised money before the Red Cross was in the local field, making surgical supplies as early as January 1917, and after the Red Cross chapter was formed much work done by or in the name of the D. A. R. was merged with it. A report to the national society, covering the period from April 22, 1917, to April 1, 1918, submitted by Miss Caroline Blankinship, regent, presents the following statement:

For the army, through Reel Cross - number of knitted garments, 245 ; comfort bags, 10 ; scrap books, 20 ; "comfort fund," Company I and navy, $39.50; Indiana D. A. R. ambulance, $69.70 ; knitted garments for individual soldiers, 8.

Volunteer Dental Service

A group of men whose services should not be overlooked was the Jefferson County Dental Association. As part of the national organization, "The Preparedness League of American Dentists," our county association was appealed to for free service in "making conscripted men dentally fit." A letter from Dr. C. D. Lucas, director for Indiana, to Dr. J. J. Rapp, district chairman, included these instructions:

"Find out how many dentists in your district will agree to work at least one-half day each week in this service. Divide the number of conscripted men by the number of dentists who have volunteered their services for this worthy cause to find out how many conscripts each dentist will have to take care of. After you find out the number of conscripts each dentist will have to take care of you should address cards to the conscripts ordering them to go directly to the dentists whom you have appointed to make the examination and do the work for them at the time you will indicate upon the card. * * * it will necessarily require some of your time to take care of this work, but I feel sure you will not hesitate to volunteer that time for this cause."

The response to the appeal for this service was more liberal than asked for, work being given freely, and in excess of the half -day per v/eek until the camps were equipped with

"If the fellows all over the State would come across like you fellows did in Madison, I feel sure that the new National army would be physically fit. So far as I can see you have carried your work out to a complete success."

Junior High School Axu Company I.

The making: of writing kits for the men of Company I was a task executed by the pupils of the Junior High School, under the direction of Mrs. Florence Wooten, the public school art instructor. The idea was suggested to Mrs. Wooten when visiting "Camp Madison" by the spectacle of soldiers trying to write letters with almost no facilities for doinrr so; the pupils of the school mentioned took it up with a will nnd the result was a neat portfolio for each man, made by the pupils, ronvpniently equipped with writing material and letfpr-^d with the pr>pip of th^ recipient. These portfolios did service in cnmj) ?ind abroad. This labor of love on the part of the phildren nnved the way for subsequent interest in the

Additional Red Cross Matter

In February 1917, the Madison Lodge B. P. 0. Elks offered their home for a Red Cross shop, and it was continuously used for that purpose until after the end of the war. The Elks donated the use of the second floor. Bv .lune 1917 the ouarters became too confined for all the work and after that the surgical dressing donnrtment occupied the sewing room in the present .Tunior High School building. Aft^r the opening of the city schools, the work in preparing dressings was done at the Eggleston School where a storage room was also donated, still filled with the supplies used by the public health nurse. Mr. Charles Cravens donated the electric cutting machine to the Red Cross.

To the list, on page 10, of those who raised a fund for Company I when that organization left Madison, should be added the Red Cross, which contributed $34.50.

Soldiers' Letters

To some it may seem that this war history of Jetterson Couiuy is a civilian rather than a miUtary history. If so it should be borne in mind that, as stated in the beginning, the civilian contribution to the war was of quite new importance as compared with wars of the past. Again, it is possible to trace the civilian history while to follow the movements and fortunes of those who went into military service with anything like coherence and accuracy is not possible. Of our soldiers only one group - Company I, afterwards Battery E - left here as an organized unit that might be trailed as such. All the others were entrained in squads from day to day, going to various camps, the individuals to be distributed among many units. They were engulfed as in the waters of a mighty ocean, and the only evidences of their individual existence until they returned home are the private letters to their families that found their way into the Madison newspapers from time to time. To the editors of both these papers much credit is due for soliciting personal letters and putting them into print, and also to Mr. John R. Inglis, who stimulated correspondence with the soldiers in camp and field by securing and compiling a list of their addresses which he kept for public reference at his drug store, at the same time urging friends not to be negligent about writing letters. Mr. Inglis himself made it his business to drop friendly greetings to the boys, and some of the letters here quoted from were in response to his interest.

Of the half-thousand or more young men who entered the service directly from. Jefferson County the great majority, it is safe to say, had known at first-hand only the quiet rural or semi-rural life of southern Indiana, and their dispersion to camps throughout the country, to England, to France and to ships in the navy, and their introduction to not only military training and the battle-front but to industries of

It has been affirmed by some observers that this was not a popular war - that the conscription and coercive service, the discipline and the petty tyrannies of small officers left the rank and file more or less embittered and with a decided disrelish for the whole business.

The letters before us, to the number of two hundred or more, do not bear this out. Complaints and criticisms, doubtless, would not have got past the censor, but there is little evidence of dissatisfaction or down-heartedness. On the contrary there is a prevailing cheerfulness and a zestfulness in the great adventure, even in the midst of hardships and dreary camp routine. Read in a mass as a composite record they reveal the spirit of the men and the various educative and stimulating effects wrought by the demands upon them.

It is regrettable that more of them could not be included here and that we are obliged to husband space by presenting only fragmentary excerpts. The aim is to preserve all that are avp'^-^M^ in full, in the archives of the county historical society.

Letters From Camp Harold Morrow

The following from Harold Morrow when at Camp Baker, down on the Mexican border is so typical of the earlier camp letters that we reprint it in full.

"Dear Mother and Father: This is the first time I have had time to write since my last letter. We were in Head Springs for about four weeks and it rained every day we were there and some days it rained all day. We lived in small pup tents, not large enough for one to stand up in. I will send you some pictures that were taken on our hike as soon as I can get some printed.

ed by everybody. The boys were all singing and so happy to get out of the rain, mud and hard work. The first day we traveled to Mouscoulero, a small Indian settlement just at the edge of the Indian reservation there in the mountains. After reaching there we pitched camp, attended to our horses and went up in the town. A lot of boys who had cameras took some pictures of the Indian tents, or tepees as they call them. There was no show there and no place to go so we returned early to our bunks, which consisted of our blankets and the hard ground. This was our bunk for seven days.

'The first call was sounded at 4:30. We had chow and were on the road at six. We traveled 32 miles to a small town, Tularosa. The people there were Mexicans. I stayed up in the town rather late that night getting a hair-cut and shave and I also got an ice cream soda, the first I had had for six weeks. I retired and was awakened rather early the next morning by the sound of the bugle. The trip we made that day was to La Las, forty miles from Tularosa and quite a hike for one day, but we had to make it on account of getting water for the horses. There was nothing there but a store and railroad station. A train went through about 9:45 so we stayed up to talk to the passengers who were awake. Then we went to our pup tents and it rained about two o'clock thai night, one of the hardest rains I have ever been in. All our equipment was soaked and the next morning we had quite a time to get things in place to move out. It was a short hike to Alamozota. This is a place about the size of Madison ani the people there gave a dance for us.

''Monday we pulled out for Alamo and the girl was there to bid us goodbye. She gave me some fine sandwiches and they sure went fine out on the white sand. We traveled to Salt Wells and they are only 38 miles from Alamozota. There was nothing there but a ranch house so we did all the sleeping we could to make up for the night before.

wich for dinner. That day we traveled 42 miles, the longest day's hike of the trip, so you can guess we went for the beans when we got them for supper. We camped at Twin Mills and Wednesday we headed for Toban, 18 miles from Camp Baker. Thursday we rolled into the old camp bright and early and after attending to the horses we were at liberty for the day. -The first thing was to go to my locker and get some clean clothes, take a bath and I sure did sleep some that afternoon. Supper and chow woke me up and supper that night was fine. Today, Sunday, we had turkey, ice cream, corn on the cob and other good things, so you can see we are getting back to real life agoin.

Robert L. King

"Since coming here have been assigned to a machine gun company. We drill here in squads. There are <'ight men to a squad, including the corporal. I have been acting as corporal ever since I landed here. Every corporal has to give the commands for his squad; that is not a very easy thing for me to do but even at that I like it.

"We are being taught now how to kill the Germans and we sure ought to get some of them with these machine guns, for they shoot 600 times a minute. It takes two men to feed in the bullets. We are not supposed to get in the trenches with the infantry but slightly to the rear, for we shoot over the infantry's heads. We are stationed at both ends of the trenches.

"I don't think I could have gotten into any part of the army that I would have liked better than this. We do not have rifles but will have a pistol and large knife to defend ourselves in hand to hand fighting.

to kill jack rabbits. When the boys are off duty they form a large circle and make a drive for jack rabbits. They get as many as forty and fifty at a time, and it sure is lots of fun.

"We are well taken care of in this camp, there is no need to worry about me for I never had such an appetite as I have now, and they sure do feed us well and it all tastes good and plenty of it.

"For supper we had roast beef, sweet potatoes, gravy, rice pudding, prunes, blackberry jam, bread and cocoa. Sometimes we have oyster soup and cranberry sauce and sometimes more than this to eat. No one needs to go hungry. I never expected to get such meals in the army.

Corporal Herman E. Bowman

"Received your letter all O. K. We are still here at the same old place. Expected to leave before this, but something turned up and our departure was delayed, but we expect to leave in a few days.

"You wished to know about my officers. Well, we have several and it would take some time to write about them. We have two captains and four lieutenants. Our senior captain's name is Voeth. He is an old marine captain, and our junior captain's name is Mucleston. He is a new man. My platoon commander's name is Skeldon. They are all fine fellows.

"As for the bomb throwing, I like it very well. Went to Baltimore last week. Had a fine time. You wrote in your letter about the boys overstaying liberty. We have a little trouble with that, but not much. The penalty is very severe.

"We were out hiking several times lately, marching 12 miles, with 68 pounds on our back. It is not what I call play. Had a sham battle after we got out in the country. We won the fight without losing a man. At least that is what the major said.

*'We are practicmg charging trenches in waves. The first wave is composed of bombers and bayonet men in the front, and the machine guns and riflemen following about 30 yards behind. The fun of it is that the movements are all made at double time, and an hour of that kind of drill over brush heaps, logs and trenches, as well, the commander doesn't have to tell us to fall out and rest but once. We hear him the first time.

"Well, I guess that is about all, except we have Swedish exercises every morning. There are about a thousand different moves and we have to go through all of them. John and I are both feeling fine. Will leave here next week if nothing happens.

Charles C. Tandy

"Well, we had our gas lessons last week and are done with it now. A gas mask is a funny looking thing. We had to carry them with us all the time for a week. Some officers from the artillery gave us our lessons and we had to take them out of the bag and put them on in six seconds. They took us over to the gas house and turned the gas on. Some of the boys were pretty badly scared and one fellow fainted before he got inside.

''After that lesson, we were put back in and they turned on what they call the 'tear gas,' that won't kill you but hurts your eyes and we had to take our masks off in that. Believe me, I was not long in getting mine back on. As our company went in company A and B stood out in front and sang 'God Be with You Till We Meet Again," and when they went in our company sang 'Nearer My God to Thee.'

"We have been naving it pretty easy of late as we have been going out to the hills and divide the men up into bunches and send messages by semaphore and wig wag like 1 showed you when I was at home. We stay out most all day, only come in for dinner.

"I received a box of candy from Jesse for my birthday. Haven't eaten it all yet. Will have to wait till a lot of these nuts go to sleep to keep from giving it all away. Had some big birthday. Was 24 years old. Had a letter from Aunt Pink and she sent me a dollar and with the one you sent I am quite flush. We are in quarantine and can't get out to spend it though. It sure pays to have birthdays. Aunt Pink sent me a lot of clippings from The Madison Courier and 1 was tickled to death to get them and found so much news that no one thinks to tell me when they write. I am dolled up today. They gave me a new uniform. Well, write soon.

Ch,Arles Jacobs

Private Jacobs, of the 135th field artillery, Co. D., wa^itmg from Camp Upton, N. Y., tells, among other things, of the gentle art of testing steel helmets when first w^orn into the barracks. "There were," he says, "three fellows behind the door. One had a poker, one an axe, and the other a big club. All hit us on the heads very hard, but we could only feel the jar." V

Ernest Haycox

'1 have been to Wakefield, Mass., at the naval rifle range. Had a great time there and good luck also. I qualified as expert rifleman, that is higher than sharpshooter on the expert team. After I had qualified I made a record of the range of getting 19 straight bulls eyes (a bulls eye counts 5) and 4 out of twenty shots at 500 yards. That gave me a score of 99 out of a possible 100. Then we had to shoot 20 shots in change position fire.

*'In change position you put in a clip of five shells and get ready. Then the target is up five seconds and out of sight five seconds, and in the meantime you have to shoot, throw a new shell into your gun and change position, viz., first shot prone, second kneeling, third squatting, fourth standing, and the fifth prone again, and go over that four times to get the twenty shots. I got 91 out of that, which gave me a score on the match of 190 out of a possible 200. The highest ever made on that range before was 187, by a marine a year ago.

"Altogether I made $8.50 in prizes - $1.00 in the marksman course, $2.00 on sharpshooters course, $3.00 on expert rifleman course, $1.00 on expert team match, $1.50 getting the highest score on machine gun."

David G. Kahn

Pvt. Kahn, of the Marine Corps, writing from Paris Island, S. C, thus describes the rigid drilling practiced in that famous arm of the service: *'Dear Mother: -

"I am now going on three months in the marine corps and the longer I stay the better I like it. I have just about what they call boat training and am now on the rifle range. I will try to give you a description of training as far as I have gone.

*Tirst we have the drill movements, such as squads right, and left, squads right about and left about to the rear, column left and right, column left and right about, or right in the line, right front in the line. Platoon movements, company movements and numerous others.

'Then we start drilling with light marching order which weighs about twenty pounds. Next we draw our drill rifles and bayonets Rifle weighs nine pounds, three ounces, and bayonet weighs one pound two ounces.

"We had two to three weeks like that at the maneuver grounds. Then we packed up and came to the main training camp, carrying a heavy marching order, weighing about fifty pounds, which consists of bacon can, econdamon can, mess gear, toilet kit, poncho, shelter half, one heavy blanket, pair shoes, pair trousers, shirt, suit of underwear, three pair sox, shelter half pole, and five stakes.

''After reaching the main training camp we drill from seven until eleven thirty. Then come in for dinner or chow as we call it. After dinner we have bayonet practice, which is very interesting. To know the offensive and defensive thrusts with the cold steel will help out over there.

"Then we go in the trenches and practice going around the corners, making a thrust at a dummy just as if it were a real Hun. Then pass on as quick ^s lightning to get another.

"Coming out of the trenches and going over the top is also very interesting, and I don't believe all Germany could stop a regiment of marines in hand to hand fighting.

"Then we have supper. After supper we drill again for one hour and a half. Then we come in and wash clothes and believe me you have every piece inspected and if its not clean you wash it over.

"Our chow is well cooked and very seldom you hear any one say he doesn't get enough. Breakfast consists of bacon and eggs or bacon and potatoes, or hash and jam v/ith plenty bread and coffee. Dinner roast beef, potatoes, navy beans or butter beans, hash, peas, gravy, soup, and bread and water or the equivalent. Supper salmon, tomatoes, gravy, rice or pudding, bread and iced tea. No cake, pie, ice cream or pastries of any kind.

"Now we come to the time when we change our Enfield rifles for a Springfield, the one we carry over there and the und that will kill many a Hun if they are only seen by a marine.

"Then we go on the rifle range where we learn an altogether new way to shoot. The only way after you get the position, which is very hard to get, and you swear the coach is going to break your arm, but he don't, and you laugh at j^ourself after you get it.

"I will soon finish my range and let you know if I go to France or stay here, .for if you are not a good shot in the marine corps you are out of luck for going to France. I will let you know in two weeks if I go to France or stay here on the island but it's the desire of every marine to go across, so that's my whole desire, and if hard working would get you there I will not be left behind.

Tom Luckett

"My first flight, about a month ago, was a very interesting experience. We went up about four o'clock in the evening, Lieut. Forbes driving. We glided along the water for about two hundred feet, when we began to rise. My first feeling was that of being in an elevator, that same sinking feeling. That soon left me, and I enjoyed the rest of the ride immensely. We were not up very long, probably 35 minutes in all.

**You would imagine that flying is the very smoothest kind of riding. Such is not the case. You receive some bumps equal to those you receive in an old Tord,' due to the pockets in the air. When the pilot hits one of these pockets, the machine sometimes drops from five to fifteen feet, before the wings catch the heavy air again.

*We both wore helmets with telephones attached. It is impossible to talk without these phones, because of the great noise of the motor. Flying is very fascinating and I enjoyed my air journey very much."

Raymond Francisco

"We have crossed the swamp since we've been here. In some places you can poke a stick down in the mud or muck four or five feet. Have seen some wild turkey. Quail are very plentiful. I went hunting with another fellow one day for squirrel. There were seven or eight in one tree but as the pine trees were so high with the gun he had he could not shoot them out.

"I find the people down here still use oxen to work with. There's a plantation in a half mile of camp that uses the old way of grinding their cane and corn, which is two large rock with holes in for a pole, and then they hitch the oxen to this pole and do the grinding that way.

**I go quite often to a little town by the name of McLauren. It reminds me of some of the western scenes in the movies, as the stores are frame with porches in front and a place for horses to be hitched and the men ride into town in bunches of twenty or thirty. I often see bucking bronchoes. The postoffice looks like Champ Kahn's old slaughter house

"Life at Camp Shelby is sure a busy one. Things never get a chance to stand still for the program is changed every week. Monday, this week, we got up at six a. m., took our exercise by running about a mile, breakfast at seven, drill from seven-thirty to eight, skirmish drill from 8:30 to 10:15, and sighting drill from 10:30 to 11:45.

"Then dinner. At one we go over to a large cleared ring back of the hospital and take lessons in riding. We are taught to ride bare back, then with saddles and then with the harness on. This lasts until about 3 o'clock and the rest of the time is taken up until 5:30 by signal and artillery drill. This schedule is changed every week, with Wednesday r^r\ Sa^iirrlfiv afternoons and all day Sunday off."

Otis E. Nay

Private Nay recites with gusto the list of good things - "turkey, mashed spuds, oyster dressing, olives, oranges, mince and pumpkin pies, fruit cake and good old black coffee," served as a feast to the boys of Camp Shelby on Thanksgiving day, 1917 ; the mess hall being decorated "with all the glorious beauty of the southern woods."

Wilbur F. Graham

"We are planning a great big good time for Christmas day. The chief mechanic has been decorating the mess hall for several days now and has it about complete. It is a beautiful place, has crepe paper decorations along sides and streamers from the center down the sides. At regular intervals along the wall are big rosettes. At one end of the mess hall is an imitation of a big fireplace and holly and mistletoe and evergreens, hung around a plenty, All the men are to be given a small Christmas tree by Santa Claus, who will come down the chimney in regulation style. We have a splendid dinner planned including plum pudding and all the trimmings. Immediately following the dinner a program will be rendered by members of the battery. According to the Indianapolis .Star I'm on for a lecture! I haven't had time to get anything ready yet, but will do something. We have piano rented for Christmas week and a jazz band to play any time. We will have it pretty lively, I think."

Chaplain Wm. Heilman

As before said, most of these letters show our solders to have been cheerful and zestful, and inspired with the determination to do their part, though it can not be denied that we get occasional glimpses of despondency and homesickness, and here is where the Y. M. C. A., and those other agencies that concerned themselves with the morale of the snlHiers proved their right to exist. Chaplain Wm. Heilman, of Camp Custer, Mich., sallied forth one rainy, dismal night on a cheering-up expedition among the men in the barracks.

"The first man visited," he says, *'was lying on his bunk, the picture of dejection. Tied to the iron leg of the cot was a playful bull pup, whose antics could not provoke a smile from his owner. The good humor in the quarters was monopolized by the company mascot.

" Too busy to go to church,' the boy said, and as he moved languidly he let one hand dangle over a side of the cot, and the playful pup nibbled at his fingers. 'I have to work all the time,' he continued, 'and I want to see something different.'

" *You don't need church at this time,' I said to him. 'What you should do is to spend an afternoon with us at the club house in Battle Creek.'

"After a description of a few of the parties at the club house the bull pup was formally introduced. His pedigree was repeated. When I left a cheerful voice called after me,

Elmer Marshall

''Without the Y. army life would be a lot more dreary, unpleasant, lonesome. After supper (mess) you can go down there to the movie at the Y. if there are movies on. If no movies are on you can write either to home or to your dear ones.

''Most of the time if nothing else is doing they have speaking at the Y. You get all of your paper and envelopes for helping yourself. To make a long story short you can go there and make yourself at home.

"I want to say who ever refuses to donate for the Y. M. C. A. or any other thing that will help to comfort the boys in the army and navy ought to be put down as a slacker.

"Good American boys are giving up their lives every day and bearing hardships while some tight wad at home is making and saving all he can. There should be something done to make him come across.

"Remember we are going (over there) to make the world safe for democracy and we all expect you folks back home to do your part, which I think most of you will."

Mark Hamer

The spirit of real patriotism that prevailed among our boys, and which crops out in casual sentences in many of the letters, is reflected more at length in one from Mark Hamer, written from Camp Taylor, September 16, 1917, which we reprint in full.

"Through all your unhappiness over seeing your boys going to war you must remember that the great possibility is that all of them will come back, and that although people may not realize it now, the fellow who could possibly join in this war and doesn't, had better beyond a doubt die upon a battlefield. It is my own opinion there never was a more just war waged. None ever was more necessary if homes like the one that equipped me for life are not to vanish from the earth. I have no interest in pfoing to war. I would rather not go; but while men exist who believe it is given to them to dominate other men, some men must fight, not because they want to, but exactly because they do not want to.

'*If America responds greatly enough to the demands made on her by this war it will be the last great war of the world's history. I have little hope that America's part will be so well done as that. Probably in another seventy-five or one hundred years it will all have to be done over again simply because it was not done quite honestly this time.

''But it is possible and even probable that with the spirit which as yet dominates American purpose this war will be fought out to the finish and the peace that shall come will be so justly arranged that never again will a nation be able to believe that it has a right to and can better direct the affairs of another nation than that other itself. And men may then rapidly come to see that they create their own greatest happiness by creating the most happiness about them.

"But even if the war is not so great a thing as it coulrl be, it will still be a great contribution, and that man who fails to do his part now must live among men who will be at least somewhat advanced in their understanding of other men, and they will have little use - I mean they will find it possible to use very little - the man who shirks now.

Letters From Overseas

The larger part of the letters from overseas did not begin to arrive until the war was nearing its end, but some were written in the earlier part of 191S. Lieutenant E. H.

Phillips, Carroll Eaglin and Wm. Ramsey Heberhart were the first to be heard from. Mr. Heberhart tells of his first taste of war when he witnessed an air raid on Paris. He writes:

*1 guess I told you of the air raid we had the last of January. It was quite exciting and I haven't forgotten it in a hurry. The *alert' was given at eleven-thirty p. m. and all the lights of Paris went out. The sirens screamed and the guns boomed forth their warnings. The sky was full of the colored lights of moving airplanes and the star rockets fell. The sky was one mass of colors. You could hear the guns roar and roar but couldn't see them fire.

"I dined at the Hotel Ritz that evening with friends who were leaving for America the next day, so I went out to Place Vendome and watched it for a long time. Later I went to the garden of the Tuilleries. I went later to Place de la Concorde, where two French machines fell and the men were taken to the Hotel Crillion. President Poincare arrived the same time I did with his staff. All the guests were in pajamas and dressing gowns as most every one goes to bed at eleven o'clock these days.

"This afternoon a boche machine was shot down within sight. We watched the shells bursting around it for over a half hour. It is pretty hard to get a plane up 5,000 or 10,- 000 feet with shells. The shrapnel must hit the gasoline tank or the driver.

"The machine got over our lines through a cloud. It was sure interesting to watch the machine circling, changing height, etc., to keep us from getting the range. He made several attempts to beat it back to the German lines and safety. But always our guns shot ahead of him and turned him back.

"I knew where one 3-inch was hid that was taking part in the conversation. Occasionally a machine gun would get the range and let off ten or a dozen shots in quick succession, faster than you could count. Through it all the boche flew unharmed. But at last an allied plane got above him, the guns ceased, and it was 'finished boche," as the French say to us.

"I recall an incident of the first air fight I saw. (They are all alike, only sometimes the Hun gets away.) We were at work, doing a job in a, hurry. Some French soldiers were working next to us. We heard a gun and a few seconds later heard the shell explode. Then we saw the white smoke and near it a plane.

"Several French were carrying a big stone, but at the sound of the first vshell they all ripped out a stream of French about as long as your arm, dropped the stone, and made double time for a dugout. I noticed the Americans did almost the opposite. ' " " ~

"Not minding the shrapnel falling from the shells, everybody, oven the sick, rush out to see the battle. But when the shells explode overhead, then we curb our curiosity

Earl Snyder

"Since we have been having beautiful weather air battles are an every day sight overhead. Just a few minutes ago I witnessed a battle with an enemy plane which the American aviators brought down. It was an interesting sight to see the plane catch fire and the tanks explode and fall to the earth burning."

Clarence Sehrt

"We were in a large woods a short time ago and our artillery was all around us. The boches shelled the woods night and day. We dug in, every man had his own dugout, protection against shrapnel. You could scarcely take two steps for fear of falling head first into a dugout.

"I am sitting out in- frout of my dugout writing this letter and old Fritz is sending five inch shells over in front of us about fifty yards from here. If he lowers his elevation I will do the ground-hog stunt.

*'You read in the newspapers how the French people are driven from their homes on short notice. Well, as we were moving up to this front we passed family after family running from the danger zone, and believe me it was simply awful to see them go by. Not only forty or fifty but hundreds of them. Some in motor trucks, some in wagons with their children, with probably only enough clothing and food to last them a few days.

*The less fortunate ones were pulling their wagons, carrying stuff on their backs and on wheelbarrows. I saw one old woman have a wheelbarrow loaded with some provisions lying by the roadside. The poor soul had given out. It m.ade my heart ache. Another case, an old man and a dog were pulling a spring wagon and an old woman pushing it. I don't know how they made it up grades. They left their homes and all they had. They will probably come ba^k p^T--^ dav b^^^ o^.^- fo qqq their homes all destroyed."

Carroll D. Eaglin

" * * * The other day a little French soldier wandered into our camp and told us what had happened to his family. He is fifteen years old, very small, and hasi been in the trenches for thirty months. The Huns killed his mother and a little five-year old brother, and he was with his lather who was a lieutenant, until he was killed. He went *'over the top" with his dad, and w^as wounded at the same time his dad was killed. We are going to keep him and now have him dressed in an American uniform. He sure is living the life of Raleigh. All he can say in English is 'under your bunk,' and 'good morning.' 'Under the bunk' is a saying the boys here use when there are German airplanes about, ready to drop shells on us. This is done mostly at night and sure makes you a little nervous.'*

"Just had a letter from Grandma Vail and Aunt Fanny, wiiicn puts me in mind that I ought to write. We're having kmd 01 an easy time now, back on 'repos,' but take it from me wherever there is a scrap of any kind, we are right in the worst of it.

"You can't miagine how awful it is. We thought we knew about war when we were in that other sector, but as we took in different parts of the front, our first few months seemed more of a picnic than anything else. It is no fun traveling around with an attacking division.

"We are back in a place where we can get hold of baths again. My, that was good news! And we've gotten very good quarters, too. It's a little better than sleeping in an old, rickety barn, on mouldy straw, with lice, mice, and rats running over you, bombs, shells, bullets bursting within ten to fifty feet from you, and waking up in the middle of the night to put on your gas mask. We have been through all that and the memories aren't very pleasant."

Charles Wainscott

July, 1918, plus some other things, including sarcastic opinion of the Hun, as expressed by an American doughboy, Charles Wainscott, of Co. C, Hq. Bn.

"I suppose you will be reading in a day or two about the battle that is now raging along sixty miles of the western front. All last night we could hear the big guns and see the flash, sometimes lighting up the sky like a great flash of lightning ; and sometimes it would be a pencil of flame shooting up into the sky.

'These were from, the 'heavies' placed farther back and nearer us, and all the time the continuous rumble like far off thunder on a summer evening.

'There were plenty of other fireworks, too, rockets, and star shells - and the Germans didn't accomplish a thing except to give us an opportunity of ridding the world of several thousand more squareheads.

"We had an air raid, too, but nothing came of it. I mean no damage was done and no one was hurt. As an air raider Fritzie is the most successful joke that could be imposed upon a scrap-seeking Yank. Why, he has gotten so nervous since we came over that he can't even hit a cathedral any more."

And this from the same writer, under date of August 14 : "It doesn't seem possible that a nation that professes to be civilized could act in the manner of these retreating Germans are acting. Such unnecessary destruction of property that could in no way be of any use to the advancing troops! I could understand the destruction of grain or anything that could be of use to us, but they do not stop at that. I have seen houses which they had used in their brief stay and there wasn't a thing that remained uninjured. Curtains and hangings were slashed, pictures smashed, furniture hacked with bayonets, floors torn up, windows broken and everything that could be done to show their contempt for all laws of decency was done, - and I must say most thoroughly.

**Nor do they stop at the aestruction of property. The inhabitants of this reconquered territory who were unable to escape the rush of the Huns are in much the same condition as their property ; battered and maimed but a living proof of the barbarism with which the HohenzoUerns hoped to rule the world.

**I tell you, dear parents there can be no peace until this menace to civilization is so utterly destroyed that it can never endanger the peace of the world again, and any man who fails to do his part in bringing this about can only be classed with the advocates of Kultur."

Jacob Thenes

"The reason I didn't write sooner was because we have been chasing the Huns for the last two weeks. We took part in the big drive. I know you heard about it before now. We took part in two of the largest battles the Americans have fought yet.. I was sure lucky and came out without a scratch. It is real interesting at the front. Something doing all the time. When we got the Dutch started it was some job to keep up with them. The boches sure can travel some. We are taking a rest now and having a good time. We have plenty to eat, lots of cigarettes and more money than I can find a place id spend. We are close to a little town and can buy eggs and fruit. I am learning to talk French a little. I would like to tell you more about the war if I could. If I could tell you where we fought you could tell by the papers that we sure made them get a move on. They are not so much on the fight as they say they are. I know one thing they won't let the dough boys get very close to them and they are very careful about coming out in the open, for if they do

Graphic, also, is this description of the battle front from behind the batteries by Sergeant Maj., R. C. Hufford, of the F. A., written to Dr. W. A. Millis, of Hanover College September 25, 1918:

'Tor instance one can stand beside a convenient hole (for safety's sake) and watch the various operations and get an impression of how wonderful, and at the same time how devilish, are the forces at play. Olf to the front are flares and search lights with darting stars beneath and between."

"There are the infantry and close up organizations ; back of them around and behind are the intermingled flashes and roars of the various sized heavier pieces, mixed with these are the whispers of the shells sent Hun-ward and the growing tone of the arrivals that are bursting everywhere.

"Over all of this one hears the various types of planes, with their machine guns cutting and slashing a" each other or darting slivers of death at the crowded trenches below.

"A growler comes over, someone yells gas, you adjust your mask, and have not missed a bit of the great activity. Messengers are darting hither and thither, linemen are going out, ambulances are pushing forward, trucks are crowding forward and to the guns with the needed supplies, for communication must be kept, the wounded cared for, the fighters fed, and supplies kept up all the time that the Master Dealer is shuffling the deck and dealing each man his card - and to many of each side he deals the marked card, death.

"Gradually the noise dies down and only the distant intermittent spatof the rifle or pistol is heard. The battle is over, day breaks, and the work of repair and burial follows."

Samuel Vaughn

According to Private Vaughn * * * * "its wonderful the way the American soldier fights. The minute he smells powder or hears a gun, why, each and every man is just a fighting demon. They dont give a damn for anything - just up and at them, and away goes the Germans."

To show, however, that the American soldier is not all raw beef and gunpowder he tells of "one poor little kid," a French lad, whose mother and father were dead and his brother a prisoner.

''When we first came here," says the letter, ''he was selling papers for his meals and sleeping wherever he could, but now my comrades and myself are taking care of him. We bought him shoes and a whole new outfit and keep him in eats and got him a room with some French lady to sleep in. He is the happiest kid in France now and will do anything for us. We call him Humpy, for he is a little hunch back and 15 years old.

"He stays in at nights and reads and is learning to speak English real good and understands a lot more than he can speak. My comrade says he is going to take him back to the States and put him on his father's ranch. My buddy lives in the west and is the best hearted fellow I ever knew. He has been in the army for five or six years."

John W. Buchanan

"I have been through four campaigns and in three of the fiercest battles fought. The Huns have always beat it though. Its surely hell, but we enjoy it just the same .1 haven't gotten a scratch but a fellow don't know when his time is coming.

"One letter I wrote you was while on Hill No. 20J. I suppose you remember something about it. There surely had been some fierce battles on it. Every inch of dirt seem-

Thomas Luckett

*'0n the road to the city of St. Julian the other day, I saw an old lady who lost her mind. Her home is between the camp and Pauillac and she roams around the country all the day long. She lost her two sons in the war and was taken prisioner by the Germans. As a punishment to her they cut off her breast and turned her away to suffer. Is it any wonder her mind is gone?

Guy Hoagland

"Well I just got v/ord that the war is over. I am still in hospital but I am well enough to come home and that kind of news is, enough to make anybody well. They keep us in the hospital until we get good and well since the war is over.

"I will tell you things that will make you feel proud of me. I wouldn't tell you before. Ever since July I have been exposed to shell fire and have been in the battle, over the top, and seen some hot times. I have hiked all over France with my heavy pack and have sure suffered .

"I will be proud of my wound stripe. The kind of gas I got was mustard gas. It burns on the inside and outside. I was blind for four days but my eyes are perfectly well now. As soon as my lungs get a little better I will be all 0. K. It is just like a cold works, but I am well enough to come home any time.

*1 have lost lots of my friends over here but with the help of God I have had good luck, living through it all, and now I expect to meet you soon .

''I don't know yet whether I will get back to my company or not. It is according to how long I remain in the hospital. Don't worry about me being in the hospital. I am better off here, good and warm and not exposed to any bad weather .

-'You know how father used to tell how he had to do in the civil war. We have hiked from eight o'clock p. m. till six a. m. in a down pour of rain. Then laid down on the wet ground and went to sleep. Some life. Then next morning hiked further and dug a hole in the ground to keep from getting hit with shrapnel. At night, looked up in the sky, expecting a big shell to hit you and wondering if it will tear you up. I thought about my feather-bed at home and it almost made tears roll down my cheeks".

Lester T. Lee

**We laid a barrage of mines qff the Norway coast to Scotland with from five to eight ships abreast, each dropping a mine from every five to twelve seconds so you see a sub would have but little chance of getting through. Also after the main barrage we laid two wings reaching out into the North sea.

"At first it was excitement but soon became real work; loading mines, steaming, watch, then coal ship each time putting on from 300 to 550 tons of coal, and in the bunkers the dust so thick you had to put a handkerchief over your mouth to get your breath; you could not tell your mate working by your side nor see an electric light ten feet away.

''One trip we kept the after searchlight burning in daylight to keep the ship back of us from ramming us.. One trip the Roanoke, the senior ship of one division, ran on a rock and two boys were killed by falling timber, some ships not making port that night, but the Dizzy Quinne as our ship was called always made good.

"We also had rough windy weather, for which the North sea is noted and cruised about for two days and nights for calmer weather to drop our mines.

*'It seemed Providence was with us and never failed us. On one occasion coming through a channel at the Orkney islands in the roughest weather we encountered, our steaming apparatus broke and for a short time old Quinne was in fair shape to be dashed against the rocks, but we made to a nook of calm water, and was left behind to our own self with one destroyer as convoy, but we were only four hours repairing and made Inverness without a halt.

Miss Mary A. Shipman

Here we have an interesting glimpse of hospital experience at the front as told by Miss Mary A. Shipman, a nurse in Base Hospital No 25, France. Says Miss Shipman writing under date of August 17, 1918:

"And last night, the biggest drive of all was started, so an officer told us today. That means more work for us but we don't mind a little extra work. I'm glad to do for the boys, they are splendid. I love to hear them talk to each other of their work at the front, their trips out into No Man's Land, or of how some brave lad risked all, to go back for his 'Buddy' (chum) and have him cared for, and of how they went *over the top.' The more serious their condition, the more cheerful they seem to be and they love a joke.

"My first day in the ward, I was fixing them up for the night, rubbing their backs and making the beds up, brushing out crumbs and smoothing the sheets. I came to one boy down near the end of the ward where we usually have up patients, and I asked him if he could sit up in bed to have his back rubbed.

"He smiled and said, *0h yes, I'm about all right, now, can do most anything but play golf.' I rubbed his back but when I went to straighten the sheets, I found his left leg was in splints and he had been in the hospital but two days.

"When our last hospital train came in one patient received in our ward was a sergeant with both arms broken, a piece of shrapnel in one side of his head and a bullet hole through his right side. In caring for him I asked the ward master to help lift the patient. The sergeant looked up, laughed and said, *0h, I can sit up alone,' and he would have tried it, too had I let him.

"All the boys seem to get on so well. We have the best surgeons and doctors and they do wonders saving the boys' legs and arms and getting them well in much less time than we o-^^^r did bark in the states.

"I am well, happy and busy. Two weeks ago today, I ate my first meal in camp. I've been shopping in Allery. With an English-French dictionary and many gesticulations I made myself understood and it was lots of fun."

Boyce R. Morrow

Several letters describing the close of hostilities are of interest. Says Lieut. Boyce R. Morrow, of the Q. M. Corps, writing a few days after the memorable 11th of November:

"Of course you have read the glad and welcome news long ago. You can't imagine the celebration such as the French are putting on. I say 'are putting on' for they have just one fete after another. No one knows how long they are going to celebrate and I don't think anyone cares. They surely have a right to all their gladness for there is hardly a family that has not been in some way affected by the war. They were greatly excited and glad when the big news arrived. I went in a store on the afternoon of the big day and the madam said that was very necessary that she be embraced on the occasion of our allied victory. She was pretty good looking and not very old so naturally a fellow could not refuse."

Gus Howard Hyatt

''Today is Sunday and a very pretty day. I have been sleeping most all morning. Read a little while after dinner and just happened to think of writing a letter to you, as there is f:uch good news to tell you, and that is that the war is all over. They quit fighting Monday.

''I had a fine time when we heard that the war was over. I was on pass that day in a little town near our camp. I and three more soldier boys were the first to ring the church bells in the town and the French people nearly went wild.

''We rang the bells till we got so tired we couldn't ring them. Everybody was in the streets by that time and we paraded all over the town, men, women, kids and everything else that could follow.

"That night they gave a big dance. Of course I and the three other soldiers went and of all the good times of my life I never had any to beat that one. There was nothing too good for us boys. We danced with the French 'demozelles' till we were dizzy.

"Well, I don't think there is any one that didn't enjoy such good news as that unless it' was old Bill. I would have liked to see them celebrating in the States. I guess they had a time also, didn't they?"

Harry F. Shadday

*'0n the morning of the 11th we were in the front lines at a town called Saul, ready to go over the top with the infantry, when we received the message of the signing of the armistice.

*'At 11 a. m. every gun ceased firing and we were out of danger once again. Some boys and myself went over that night and talked with the Dutchmen, ate bread and drank coffee with them. They seemed very glad the war was over.

Before closing this chapter it should be said that many of the over-seas letters contain animated descriptions of England and France and of life on the ocean, full of keen interest, and revealing the educational side of the ''great adventure." Some are so well written that it is regrettable they can not all be reproduced here, but lack of space forbids.

TOM LUCKETT t^lls of Brest, France, ''certainly a beautiful place, * * * built on a high hill overlooking the water, which is dotted for miles with ships of all kinds and shapes - sailboats, battle ships, schooners, transports and many other kinds." "I am," he adds," seeing a great deal of the country, and it is all very, very interesting."

JAY SIPE is enamored of England, which he affirms to be "the most beautiful country I ever expect to see,"with its hedge fences and stone walls, its green lawns and spacious parks.

CHARLES WAINSCOTT wields an eloquent pen in appreciation of the wonders and inspirations of Paris and the scenic beauties of southern France, where the blue Mediterranean and the French Alps vied in their fascinations.

ROBERT E. WILLIAMS gives an account of his trip up the Mediterranean to a beautiful, quaint old town "somewhere in Italy," and of the ovation that awaited them there. When the troops debarked several Americans met them, their children bearing baskets of red, white and blue button-hole bou- quets for the visitors, and Italian troops were drawn up at "present arms" as guard of honor, and between these the American troops marched.

"The streets were narrow and crooked," says the writer, "so we only had room to march four abreast and the crowding people sometimes made that impossible. Every balcony and housetop was crowded and we were simply showered with flowers. We literally walked on roses. Cries of Viva V America,' 'viva Wilson' and Viva Tsoldati' rang out on every side and one woman cried as she thrust out a rose. Viva V Yankee". And these people didn't know we were coming until we arrived.

"I have seen parades in the States where enthusiasm ran high, but our reception here was the most spontaneous expression of good will and welcome that I have ever seen."

RICHARD C. HECK'S account of a Fourth of July demonstration in London (which certainly seems rather anomalous) makes such sprightly reading that we copy the most of it as a finishing feature to this series of letters.

This particular Fourth, 1918, says Mr. Heck, "the sun rose in a clear blue sky, and everything gave promise of a perfect day. Reveille at 5:15, mess at 6:15, then we all dolled up and beat it to town. That is most of us went. About thirty of the boys had C. B. on the fourth and were out of luck.

"Reached the Eagle Hut which was the center of activity about 8 o'clock and events followed in quick succession. First there was a band concert followed by a "flag raising" during which the band played the national anthem and we all stood at attention and saluted.

"Burton Holmes himself took movies of the event and if you watch the Holmes Travelogues closely, you will see my shining face (talcum is scarce in England) just in back of the flag staff.

forty of the busses all filled with yelling Yanks. A battery of Fritz's forty-two centimeter guns in full action could not make half the noise that we Yanks made as we passed through the principal parts of town. Passed through Charing Cross, the Strand, Aldwich, Kingsway, Mark Lane, Mansion House, Cheapside, Holborn, in fact, through all the principal parts of London, even taking in Petticoat Lane.

''During the entire trip we yelled, cheered and sang in true Yankee style and we were told that London had seldom, if ever seen such a noisy, enthusiastic crowd. Each of us would try to out yell his partner, and to say that we made some' noise is putting it rather mildly.

"Twelve o'clock saw us at the Baltic Y. M. in High Holborn, where we enjoyed a delightful luncheon, after which we assembled in the busses and resumed our tour. Went through St. James and Hyde Parks. Buckingham Palace is in the former, and as we passed the palace the king and queen stood out on the balcony and greeted us, while we made the air ring with our cheers.

"At three-fifteen we arrived at Chelsea athletic grounds, where a great army-navy ball game was scheduled to start at three-thirty. This park has a seating capacity of sixtythousand, and it was crowded at that. It is a very nice stadium, where all the great English cricket and foot ball matches are played.

"Promptly at three-thirty the king walked out into the field amid a battery of movie machines and handed the ball to the umpire. Amid the cheers of the vast crowd, the game began, and I may add that it was the best game I have ever seen. And it all ended too soon, with the score two to one in favor of the navy. During the game I yelled and cheered so much that I lost my voice entirely and could not speak above a whisper.

"The game over, we all fell in the busses again, and were driven to Kensington Gardens, where we were to be entertained at tea by the lord mayor of Kensington. On arriving here we started a snake dance, led by an old man dressed as Uncle Sam ; this snake dance furnished amusement to the thousands of people who were watching the performance. They had never seen anything as utterly foolish and amusing as the spectacle of hundreds of fellows in single file writhing and twisting their way over the field.

"We had just finished this when Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise, was seen coming across the park, in company of the lord mayor of Kensington, and several dukes and lords. The band played *God save the King' and we all stood at attention as the royal party approached. As the Princess drew nearer, we all saluted, and just as she was passing me, she stopped and walking over to me, said: *How do you do, I suppose you played in the ball game this afternoon.'

**It was quite embarrassing to me as I could only answer her in a whisper. Happily one of the fellows explained that although I had not played in the game, I had yelled so much that I had lost my voice, and could only speak in a whisper. She expressed her sympathy for me, and trusted I would recover my> voice in a few days ; which was very kind of her. She is very interesting and democratic and is a daughter of her royal highness, the late Queen Victoria.

"Well we had tea, during which the princess and lord mayor made short speeches, and after we had finished an all round good time, we marched to Kensington town hall where we were booked for an entertainment.

"In the hike over the 372nd led all the other squadrons and I was No. one in the first squad. The No. one rear rank man and I carried a large flag stretched between us and we made quite an appearance as we hiked along. At Kensington hall we were royally entertained for several hours by artists from the different London theatres.

"The programme ended about eleven o'clock and after three cheers for the lord mayor, we beat it, and came straggling into camp about twelve-thirty or one o'clock. This ended the happiest fourth I have ever spent,"

Military Honor Roll

Author's Note - In compiling this "Honor Roll" I have been guided by the official record of the "Committee on Enrollment" - a body authorized by the Council of Defense and consisting of Messrs A. D. Vanosdol, Edward M. Prenatt and Walter Caplinger. I am informed that it was not possible to make the roster complete because a number of men who belonged to Jefferson county entered the service from other places or were already in the regular army and could not be traced. The total number of names in the record mentioned, together with some I have added, is about 560. It is estimated that the county furnished! something like 700 men in addition to the Home Guard units, but this does not pretend to accuracy. The record in typewritten form and substantially bound In a book includes additional data with each name and the whole is given into the permanent custody of the county historical society and is available to any one who desires fuller information. The separate roster of Company I is according to arrangement of the record. Company K and the Liberty Guards are not in the record and were secured separately. The m«m_ bers of Hanovei* S. A. T. C. who are residents of Jefferson County are included in the general roster. The Gold Star list was completed only after diligent inquiry, and the accompanying sketches were, for the most part, secured by personal interviews with the families of the meu.

The Cold Star List Harrison B. Buckner. '

Of the 804th Pioneer Infantry. Took sick on shipboard going over and died in France, of pneumonia, October 3, 1918, ten days after landing. On board ship Harrison made friends with another man, Charles Browdie, and each agreed that if the other died the survivor would write to his friend's people. Browdie kept this promise.

William Buckner

WILLIAM BUCKNER. Died of pneumonia on shipboard when on his way to France, and was buried at sea. His brother, Harrison Buckner, died of the same disease, also contracted on shipboard, on another vessel, and| their deaths were three days apart. A letter from Private Buckner before shipping gave his address as Co. E, 809th Pioneer Infantry, Camp Dodge, Iowa. His mother had no further information about him. The Buckner brothers were residents of Madison.

Carl J. Coots

Born in CarroU county, Ky. Was a resident of Madison, Ind., for three or four years before entering the service, living with his grandfather, James Coots. He managed to get mto the service when but seventeen years old, contrary to the wishes of his grandfather, and left his home without warning never to be seen alive again by his family. His letters from camp breathe of patriotic ardor, and in his last one he wrote that the camp life was '^making a man'* of him. After six weeks of this life he died of pneumonia, on April 15, 1919, in the hospital at Douglass, Arizona.

George Crank

Lived for some years near Dupont. Died at Base Hospital, Camp Taylor, of influenza, Oct. 11, 1918. He was in the 12th Battalion, 159th Regiment, Depot Brigade, afterwards Battery B, 17th Battalion, F. A. R. D.

Earl Glover

Born and reared in Madison, Ind. Was in Company M, 334th regiment of infantry. He died October 5, 1918, of pneumonia, in France, though the exact place of death is unknown to his family. A picture of his grave was sent through the Red Cross. The marker is designated *'K- 1268" and by the figures 3531329, but his family does not know where it is.

Alfred Housefield

Private Housefield, a resident of Monroe township, and a volunteer from that locality, was killed in battle at Chateau- Thierry August 9, 1918. The particulars were never known to the family. His mother states that up to the time of his death he was a faithful member of the Liberty Christian church, at Belleview, Jefferson County.

Christopher M. Herbig

Private Herbig was born, reared and educated in Madison. He was a graduate of the Madison high school and is said to be the only boy from that school to die, on the field of battle. His mother died three days before he entered the service. He was a member of Co. E, 47th Infantry. The only record we have of his death is that he was killed in action August 9, 1918. At the time of his enlistment he was a resident of Indianapolis.

Raymond D. Herner

RAYMOND D. HERNER. Private Herner, volunteer, was so anxious to join the colors that he managed to do so when 18 years old, contrary to the wishes of his parents. He was a member of Battery C,

17th Field Artillery; was sent to France in December, 1918, and saw considerable service on the front, as gathered from his letters, but his parents have little information as to his battles other than that he was at Chateau-Thierry. He died of pneumonia at Coblenz, Germany, February 13, 1919. Subsequently his body was brought home and on August 1, 1920, was buried in Springdale cemetery, Madison, with military honors.

Fredrick J. Hall

Was born and reared in Jefferson County and considered Kent as his home. At the time of his enlistment he was fitting himself at Taylor University, Grant Co., for teaching. Though past the age limit set by the first draft he volunteered and went into the ambulance service. He had passed the examination and, expected to shortly enter the officer's training camp at Camp Taylor. He died July 17, 1918, at Camp Shelby, from accident, being thrown from an ambulance.

Paul Stanley Jackson

PAUL STANLEY JACKSON. Died of pneumonia at Hattiesburg, Miss., February 14, 1918. His home was North Madison, from which place he volunteered July 28, 1917, and went into the 4th Infantry. Afterwards he was transferred to the 139th Field Artillery. He was a staunch member of the Baptist church, and is described by his pastor as "sl young man who could be trusted with anything."

Elzie Lewis

ELZIE LEWIS. Killed in action May 23, 1918. Soon after the breaking out of the war he volunteered, but failed to pass the physical examination. Subsequently he volunteered at Elk City, Okla., and was put into the 9th regiment of infantry, Co. L. In February, 1918, he shipped for France. The ship (name not remembered by our informant) was torpedoed off the Irish coast. He wrote his mother afterward that he was in the water three hours before being rescued. Further inf or-

Of Lancaster Township. Enlisted December 1, 1917 and died January 31, 1918, of pneumonia, at Great Lakes camp. He was buried in the college cemetery at Lancaster.

Louis Littrell Frank Morgan

Died of pneumonia at Columbus Barracks, March 26, 1918, two weeks after entering the service. He was in the coast artillery. He spent most of his life in Jefferson County.

William S. Nichols

Lieutenant William S. Nichols lost his life by accident at Ft. Oglethorpe, June 21, 1918. He was riding horseback, with one of the nurses of the camp when the animal she rode took fright and ran aw^ay. In the endeavor to stop her horse his own slipped and threw him against a tree, breaking his neck. He was a graduate of Hanover College and of a medical school at Cleveland, O. Graduating from the latter with the highest honors, he remained there in service for several years. By his associates he was spoken of as unusually thorough and reliable. He was in the medical branch of the service.

Ulys E. Ricketts

A Switzerland County boy, but also identified ^^ith Jefferson County. Soon after the declaration of war he endeavored to get, first into the military, then the naval service, but was not accepted. A later attempt to volunteer was successful. He was mortally wounded at Soissons, July 21,