Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1917 — Teacher Whose Patriotism Was Questioned Enlists In Navy. [ARTICLE]

Teacher Whose Patriotism Was Questioned Enlists In Navy.

Ralph Sparks, the young Lewiston, Ind., school teacher, whose alleged unpatriotism stirred up quite a sensation in Lewiston school circles some time ago, has settled beyond a doubx his right to be called a true American. Republican readers will probably remember the charges made against Sparks by school patrons and also an article by Sparks denying the alterations. It was alleged at that time that Sparks was guilty of making slurring remarks about the American Hag and the government. Following the alleged remarks Sparks was askec to resign his position, which he did not do and he was finally allowed to remain Spark’s enlistment in the navy recently, following the dosing of his school for the year, was probably taken to vindicate himself in the eyes of the people and to show any aouhters that he was just as good an American as anyone else. The Monticello Journal says: "Among the recent recruits in Chicago to the United States navy is Ralph Sparks, a well known young miar of this city. The Chicago papers yesterday carried an account of Sparks’ enlistment with a group of other young men, several of whom were from Indiana. iSparks has just completed a term as a teacher in the schools near Rensselaer and had gone to Chicago to work for Montgomery Ward. The news of his enlistment was a great surprise to his relatives here, who had not known that he had contemplated such a step.