Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 245, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 October 1918 — Page 3

JUST ROWING DOWN HIS JOB

That’s What Y. M. C. A. Man Says of His Work, but See « How He Does It. ** W .<■• ... \ 5 \ . jF STILL “DELIYERSTHE GOODS” "..St.. ’ ■ ——■" ■ -Xw< J Former Salesman, Now Canteen Worker at Front, Tqtea-Pack With Chocolate, Cigarettes and Candy Through First* Line Trenches. By A. H. GURNEY. . Faria. —Tom Barber says he isn’t doing anything but holding down his , job. He was a salesman for twenty years, back in Utica, N. Y M before he -went into this war game, and he always “delivered the goods.” That’s what he’s doing now. He “delivers the goods” under a Y. M. C. A. sign that is deftted and pierced by shrapneL Sometimes he “delivers the goods” by carrying his stock up and down the crooked line of the trenches, themselves. The shells may whistle over Jris head, but Tom Barber is perfectly matter-of-fact, as he doles out sweet chocolate, and Paris papers, and friendly grins to •the men who are so glad to see him. He’s just holding down his job. The Y. M. C. A. hut that is his job is right up near the line of action. The soldiers in it- wear their gas masks always at alert. Gas alarms are frequent, and shells explode nightly in the ruins of the village. Within an hour’s walk are the trenches that stretch across France. There are many graves, both French and German, along the road that leads to the hut Some of the crosses are already gray and weather-beaten. By ■day you may not pass along the road; for the enemy might see, and then there would only be another grave to dig. .. Village in Ruins. For four years the village has been in ruins, only one family remaining of Its former population. The church spire, once a landmark for miles, fell long ago, and the rain pours in upon the altar. Rats Infest the half-de-stroyed houses. Over Tom Barber’s door Is a notice forbidding entrance by it in the daytime. Across the road in the shadow ■of a sentry box, an armed soldier stands to see that the sign is obeyed. If you want to get into the b ut D®* tween sunup and sunset yob walk through an orchard, go in a small back-'door, and feel your way along « tiny, black corridor. Suddenly there is a turn to the right, and you come Into the sunshine of Tom Barber’s -canteen. , . . It’s as cozy as the home kitchen, ■and as tidy <8 if a New England housewife had It in charge. Next to

YANKEES ARE WELCOMED IN ITALY

When the first American troops appeared in Italy the entire country went .wild with enthusiasm. Here at the railroad station an Italian official and girt i are distributing delicacies' in the form of cigarettes and other dainties to the ■' boys. / ~ - 7

AIR GUNNERS EXCEL

.Allies’ Flyers Outdo Foe With Machine Guns. •kill In Use of Weapons Gives Victory In Combats With ’ Huns. Somewhere in France. Accurate machine-gun fire Is the chief requirement of the successful combat aviator, allied aviation experts agree. Fortunately for the allies, that Is one department in which their aviators excel. ’ . . /’ It is interesting to note the progress .made in the weapons used by aviators. At the opening of hostilities airplanes were used mainly for observation work. Their pilots were armed generally with carbines, and sometimes only with a revolver. Then came the fightilng airplanes and the single and double machine gun. , > But these newer and more deadly

the door is a counter shut In by a frame just large enough for a soldier ,td stick his head and shoulders throngh camfortably. Next to the counter are rows of shelves, divided into compartments, and reaching to the .racers.. Here Tom Barber displays his wares, which, range from canned peaches to the latest masnzlnes that he has been able to get, weeks old, most of them. On the side of the room where the light is best, are empty packing boxes, which serve as chairs, where the boys sit, while they eat their cakes of chocolate, and read the latest news from home. Upstairs is a little room, dim of light, but austerely where the men gather for Sunday services—when there’s a preacher to be had—and for whatever entertainment Tom Barber has been able to get for them. It’s a pa-t of his job 'to keep the soldiers entertained, he thinks. "Delivers the Goods."’ Tom Barber has a striker, Joe, by name, a big upstanding chap, a fine specimen of the draft army, from New York. Sometimes Joe is the whole show in the canteen. For every few days Tom Barber takes his musette (that’s French for haversack) and a stout canvas bag, fills both with chocolate, cigarettes, biscuits, soap, smoking tobacco, and a bundle of papers from Paris, and sets off for the trenches. • He walks across Adds, through the

HOSPITAL MOVES LIKE A BIG CIRCUS

Red Cross Adopts Methods of the Old-Time Traveling Show. HUGE TENTS HOUSE WOUNDED Carry Full Equipment of Modern Hospital—Strike Tents at Hour’s Notice and Move Forward With Precision of Circus. Paris.—The methods of the old-time American circus that enabled hundreds of thousands of young and old to enjoy themselves have been conscripted and put to war service on the western front. But instead of being used for amusement, the circuses are aiding In the saving of human life. The American Red Cross bought the huge tents belonging to Ringling Brothers and .shipped them to France, where they are now with the American army. They no longer shelter a

weapons are useless unless properly aimed, and this is no small task, as the pilot must aim not his gun, but his whole machine. He must use his airplane as a gun mount. It is easy to conjure some of the pilot’s difficulties when the gun mount Is maneuvering and traveling twice as fast as any express train, while its target is in similar action. Nor is that all the difference between aerial and ground gunnery. On the ground ammunition is practically unlimited. In an airplane every ounce of weight counts, and ammunition is therefore strictly limited. The greater, consequently, Is the need for accuracy in shooting. It is Important that no ammunition shall be carried which Is not absolutely reliable, and all Is selected and tested. Guns are rigorously inspected, for a jam at a critical moment might, prove fatal. In training, on the other hand, ammunition is carefully- selected for its badness, the object being, by

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN; RENSSELAER. INI I.

SAYS ONLY GOOD ROCHE ARE THOSE UNDER SOD

Pittsburgh, Pa.—" The only good Boche is a dead one, with an extra bayonet thrust to m«kcsure,” writes home Dr. J. W. McGregor of Wilkinsburg who lost both his legsin France. "I don’t believe in taking them prisoners for some silly man or woman to fuss over. It as great sport to mow the Boches down with a machine gun. If they were good sports and played the game one would not feel so toward them.”

woods, and arrives at the trenches. "Hello, Dad!” call the men when they see him coming, and they jump to help him with his supplies. Who is going to appraise the worth of an orange or of a cake of chocolate when it comes ,in the middle of a long day; in the trenches? Tom Barber grins at the men, and deals out his store* as casually as if he were back In Utica, N. Y. After all, this is only his job. He turns away regretfully when the things are all gone. "Good-by, Dad I” call the men after him. “When you cornin’ again? - Make it soon. Dad!” “Sure!” answers Tom Barber comfortably.. And then —because he has “delivered the goods”—he gets out of the trenches, goes through the wood, across the field, crosses the road that Ht Is not well to travel in the daytime, comes safely at last to the orchard, enters the tiny black corridor, and hurries through to his work in the canteen.

menagerie, acrobats and clowns, but house hundreds of cots, wounded soldiers and Red Cross nurses. All that reminds one of the circus days of old are the methods and organization of the people connected with this tent city. Fbr they, like the circus people at home, are J&ere today and gone tomorrow. Arid every vestige of their equipment is gone with them. On an hour’s notice they strike their tents, and within twenty-four hours they are putting them up again—probably twenty miles away. Carry Complete Equipment. Their equipment and methods are interesting. They carry‘every sort-of sanitary, surgical and electrical pharapherfialia to be found In the most modern of hospitals. They have X-ray outfits, sterilizing outfits, radiators with steam heat, several operating tables with full equipment, electric light plant and accommodations for the care of more than two hundred and fifty'wounded—and all with a personnel of less than one hundred men and women.

But where they have the advantageover the modern circuses is that they supply their own transportation. Three huge motortrucks are the keystone of the outfit. One is used as a sterilizing machine and electric light plant. Another carries an emergency light plant and central system for supplying steam heat in'the operating tents. The third serves as a laundry and surgical, instruments carriage. % The tents, cots, bedclothing and other equipment are stowed in three or four trucks which are requisitioned from the transportation department of the army. Like a regular circus, this mobile hospital organization back of the lines in France operates when the order comes to move. The patients are evacuated first by ambulance. Then the. tents are struck and packed. Each member of the hospital staff has a specified duty to perform. The personnel, nurses, army surgeons and orderlies are the last to leave the ground, riding in ambulances and trucks. When they mount to their places the grounds are cleared of everything, just like the abandoned circus-grounds in America. , The commanding officer, with his staff, jumps into a touring car and moves to the head of the column which has formed in a road near by. The oiy der is given to move and the hospital is gone—where no one knows except the “C. O." who leads the procession.

means of frequent gun jams to- make the clearing of a stoppage automatically simple to the pilot. The successful air fighter must be a good pilot, but even the most bril liant trick flyer, the “stunter” whc can throw his machine about in the air and make it a supremely difficult target for his adversary, is nevertheless incompletely equipped as a fighter unless he can combine brilliant flying with brilliant gunnery. . Foch’s pule that “offense is the best defense* applies even more in the air than on land, and it is by following that rule that the allied fighters have won their ascendancy over the Germans.

Pays Fine to Red Cross.

Hutchinson, Kan.—Fred Burns, general manager of the Consolidated Flour mills here, must pay SI,OOO to the lied Cross because he violated the food laws. The fine, which is the largest assessed as yet in Kansas, was announced by Food Administrator Walter P. Innes. Baltimore policewomen are paid Pr 000 a year; J

PREMIER OF CANADA IS EKTH’JSIASTIC SPECTATOR OF ARMY GAMES IN FRANCE

The photograph shows Sir Robert Borden, premier of Canada, with some of the winners of the athletic meet held recently by a Canadian corps at the front in France! Sir Robert viewed the games with keen interest and processed himself as being satisfied that the Canadian soldiers were getting their share of exercise and recreation.

EVEN TEMPER SWIMMING AID

Claire Galligan Also Tells Mermaid* Not to Be Afraid ot Water and Get Much Sleep. Claire Galligan, the famous girl swimming expert of New Rochelle, N. Y„ discloses some of the secrets of her prowess in the water for the benefit of other girls. She says: "Eight years ago I couldn't swim a stroke, but I never Was afraid of the water. ‘The girl who would become a rival of mine must be a glutton for sleep. rings for me at 10:30 and 1 sleep from eight to ten hour?. “I am always in perfect condition because Tam always in training. “Candy and pastry should be avoided

Claire Galligan.

.-—they make you heavy as lead if eaten to excess. “Don’t be afraid of the water —it’s the best beautlfier in the world. “I am just beginning to know I am in the water at 220 yards. At 440 lam ready to begin, but I don’t hit my stride until I have reached the first half mile. x “In order to-become a gdod swimmer a girl must be in- perfect control of herself. How many could swim 100 yards without weakening? “Be persistent, get plenty of sleep, do not dissipate, and, above all, be cheerful. An even temper will never let you sink.”

KID ELBERFELD HAPPY

Norman (“Kid”) Elberfeld, who played in Detroit and New York before winding up his major league career as a member of the Washington club in 1911, is now ah athletic Instructor at Camp Shelby, at Hattiesburg, Miss., specializing in baseball. “At last I’m happy,” says the “Kid.” “I know blamed well J none of my players can jump the < team.”

LISTER JOINS NAVY SCHOOL

Acting as Boxing Instructor for Officers’ Naval Reserve at Municipal Pier In Chicago. .v -J * J Edwin Uster, Jr., is boxing instructor for the officers’ naval reserve at municipal pier, Chicago, but there probably are a number of fans who will not recognize the instructor by that name. They probably will remember him as “Eddie Retail,” for that is the name he adopted when he boxed professionally in various parts of the country under the management of Harry Gilmore. For a time Uster gave Instructions to the students at Notre Dame university.

UMPS WAS ROTTEN

Gus Axelson, veteran Chicago baseball scribe, tells this one: “In the league there’s an umpire named Harrison. He was having a rotten day of It at the Cubs’ park and, while standing back of third base, heard a fan cry? *Hey, Umps, remember Youngstown?* "Harrison, who comes from Youngstown, was tickled to hear at least one friendly voice, and waved to the fan, nodding that he did remember the dear old place. “ ‘Remember the old Todd house;?’ cried the fan. “With a grin on his face Harrison shouted, ‘Sure do.’ “ ‘Wasn’t it rotten?’ cried the fan. “Tt sure was,’ rejoined Harrison, who was dumfounded 'when the fan fairly roared: “‘Well, you’re worse!’,”

GOLFER KEPT SABBATH HOLY

Alexander McKellar, Enthusiast of Ancient Game, “Collected” Ball in the Plate. Golfers of the old school were very familiar with the name of Alexander McKellar, perhaps the greatest enthusiasts the royal and ancient game ever had. All day and every day he played over the Bruntsfield links, and at night he found it so difficult to relinquish his beloved game that he played the putting course by candlelight. Yet all this devotion to golf notwithstanding, he never became a great player. T.,e Sabbath was strictly observed by him, and on that-day he acted as doorkeeper at a church in Edinburgh. One Sunday morning Douglas Gourley, a wellknown golf ball manufacturer, came to the “kirk” and, instead of his usual donation, he placed a brand new golf ball on the plate which MeKellar extended. It requires but a small flight of imagination to determine what became of that bait

DISTANCE RECORD IS BROKEN

Harold Throckmorton, Now Sergeant in Heavy Coast Artillery, Sets New Tennis Mark. Harold A. Throckmorton, former national interscholastic champion, now a sergeant in the heavy coast artillery, defeated Harold L. Taylor, the Brook*

Harold A. Throckmorton.

Jyn schoolboy, in the first round of the great national tennis tourney at Forest Hills, L. L In winning this gruelling contest at G —B, 6 —2, 11—9, 13 —11, Throckmorton broke the thirty-year-old distance record of 80 games by playing 82 at a stretch.

BASEBALL IS QUITE POPULAR IN FRANCE

Soldiers lum Jo Game Just as Soon as There Is a Lull. Play la Started While Enemy Sheila Are Shrieking Overhead—War la Entirely Forgotten Among 7 American Soya, (By B. A BATCHELOR.) Saturday morning the Germans had held the position. Sunday afternoon American artillerymen were playing ball there. Thus the Yankee national game follows the flag. It might seem strange that soldiers after days and nights of battle, hours of fatigue and danger, should turn to baseball the very first moment there came a lull, but this has been the rule rather than the exception all summer in France. Sometimes the play starts while an occasional enemy shell is still shrieking overhead, though the officers do not encourage that sort of reckless exposure to danger. The explanation for the soldier’s love of play at the extreme front is that his nervous system has been go upset that he needs action. He cannot go from the excitement of battle to the calm of complete repose all at once. He must let himself down gradually, just as men who have been working in com-, pressed air must go through the air lock before it is safe for them to breathe the atmosphere at‘ Its normal pressure. Baseball serves the purpose admirably. It gives them something to do with their bodies while nature is adjusting itself, and something to think about that will enable them to forget the horrors they have just passed through. It Is both a physical and mental tonic.

In the particular case mentioned above a group of artillerymen were firing two big “165” rifles placed beside a road. The two pieces, served with the regularity of clockwork by a part of the battery, were harassing the retreating Huns. The men not actually engaged in shooting sat and lay around with nothing to do but think. They were too tired and excited after the advance to sleep. A. Y. M. C. A. van came along the road and one of the men in it called out to ask whether an indoor baseball could be used there. With one voice the artillerymen answerd “yes.” The “Y” man threw out a new ball and one of the soldiers caught It - ,“** “First hitter!” he yelled. “Second hitter,” yelled another. “Pitcher,” shrieked a third. And so on until all the desirable places were claimed. A pick-handle answered for a bat In a minute the game was in progress. The batter stood between two guns and the fielders were spread out in front, so that they got the full force of the terrible blast when the pieces were fired. They paid no more attention to the ear-splitting crack of the guns than to the buzzing of the flies around the mess tent. War was forgotten and they were just American boys at play, instead of men engaged in the business of slaying. An officer saw the game and smiled. He knew that the morale of that battery would go far over par as a result of the play. It yras just the'thing that they needed, but he feared that some, of the men in the field might suffer harm from having the guns fired right over their heads, and ordered the, scene of action shifted across the road where everyone would be behind the long rifles. This incident is typical of what sport Is doing to keep up the morale of the American army in the combat zone. The Y. IL C. A. has wisely concluded that here the work of the physical department is more important than in the more remote areas, and is putting forth evCry effort to supply the "material.”

Physical directors are not Delng sent into actual fighting because they would be in the way there. While engaged in grappling with the Bocbe, even the most enthusiastic sportsman hasn’t any time for games. But the minute the men are able to think of playing, the Red Triangle is there to look after them. As soon as a unit Is brought back to rest after a few days of hard fighting, the “Y” begins to put on an athletic program. Officers heartily indorse the work and several unit commanders have made formal requests for physical directors in the rest billets. The results have been most gratifying. Units that have come out of the I’nes badly used up have been able to get on their feet in a few days and the men have gone back to the business of killing the Boche with renewed “pep.”

WILLIAMS AGAIN IS WINNER

Washington Player Captures Roque Championship at Recent Annual Tournament. . Charles G. Williams of Washington, D. CL, present and five times southern champion, and twice national champion, w’on the national roque championship for 1918, at the recent annual Roque association at Norwich, Conn.

Cost $2,500, Won $100,000.

The race horse Roamer, which has won SIOO,OOO tor Andre* Miller, coat him