Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 259, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 November 1918 — Page 2

Perfect Red Cross Star on Yank’s Back

Odd Mark Made by Two Pieces of Shrapnel From “Whizz Bang.” ■ SERGEANT REFUSES TO DIE ' Put on Liquid Diet Because of Dangerous Wound, He, Steals Food Front "Joy Cart” —His Good Cheer Keeps Patients in Best of Humor. Paris.—All life long Private Jean Fournan of New York city will carry a cross on his back as a souvenir of the great war. The wound that has marked him is so unusual that he is known at American Military Hospital No. 1, where he is now convalescing, as the “Red Cross Man," and doctors, nurses and patients have watched his case with unusual interest. , Fournan is a member of one of the American regiments recently engaged in the fighting near Soissons and Fismes. He has been in France since last October and went through “several kinds of hell” on several fronts without a scratch. And then, one morning a short time ago, just as his company went over the top headed for a Boche machine gun nest, a “whizz bang” knocked him out. He had a momentary stinging sensation and then awoke to find himself on an American sanitary train, from which he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. When he was carried to the operating room the surgeon looked him over and then called the other doctors to come and look. The boy had been hit by two pieces of shrapnel, one of which had gone do.wn his back so close to his spine that only a miracle saved him from paralysis. The other had crossed at right angles, leaving the mark of a perfect cross on his back. Fournan has those pieces of shrapnel in his Red Cross treasure bag. He says they’re “lucky pieces” because they “only left a scar.” Thoroughly Americanized. When Private Fournan is well enough to he discharged from the hospital he means to spend several days in the south of France, where he was born. But after the war is over he is going back to New York city to his adopted country, where he has lived for 15 years. He is so thoroughly Americanized that he prefers fighting with American troops, with whom he trained at Camp Syracuse. Just by chance the American in the next bed to Fournan is of German parentage. “Frank Heill, Columbus, 0.,” reads the card at the head of his bed,, and the corporal admits that his name is as German as It sounds. An uncle who lives in Texas was so pro-German that he disowned Heill when he enlisted for service. Heill felt that he had to live down his name, and so it was that he earned his corporal’s chevrons shortly after he had gone into training. He wears two service stripes now, and he boasts that it took three machine gun bullets to knock him out the day he was wounded. He was fighting near Soissons when he “got his.” His company had been entrenched on a hill slope that overlooked a valley of wheat fields beyond which the Germans were hiding in the woods of another slope. Heill and his men had managed to cross the valley -by running short distances at top speed and then dropping for a breathing space into the wheat. Just a£ he started up the slope two bullets hit him, one in the thigh, the other below the knee of his left leg, and as he fell a third struck the big muscle in his right forearm, so completely paralyzing It that he bad to jerk his rifle loose with his left hand. Interested in “Eats.” Heill remembers rolling over into a shell hole, where he lay for hours be-

YANK ENGINEERS GREETED IN SIBERIA

A vvoi'Uerliu ovatwu was esieitUeU »•< <i«- American troops and other allies upon their arrival in Siberia. Here is shown the railroad station in Harbin profusely .decorated upon the occasion of the arrival of the American engineer

fore a patrol of Boche prisoners, guarded by an American sergeant, came by and found him lying there. He was carried into a field hospital and later sent into Hospital No. 1. The leg wounds are healing rapidly, but the right forearm is still partially paralyzed. “But what’s an arm as long as I'm getting plenty to eat,” says Corporal Heill. “There were three days during the fighting up at the front when I missed out on rations, and another 24 hours that I was lying out on the field. Guess I never will get enough to make up for missing all those meals. But they do sure treat us fine here. Plenty of,good food, a good looking nurse and a Red Cross chaplain that comes around every day with cigarettes.” “All right son you to talk,”, grumbles Webb La Pointe of Sheboygan, Wis„ from another bed, “but what do you think about me? Laid up here like an invalid and I’ve never gotten a crack at a Boche.” La Pointe is in a machine gun company of one of the divisions that distinguished itself in the fighting near Compeigne. He had just started over the top early one morning carrying the tripod of a gun when a “soup wagon” came along and knocked him down. He was hit in the knee and elbow and now he is in the hospital grumbling, not because" he is done up in yards of bandages and painful apparatus that holds his injured leg straight, but because it will be some time before he gets back front again for a “crack at a Boche.” David Rittow of New York city is another convalescent of No. 1 who enjoys the food and the Red Cross cigarettes. He had several days on tinned rations when he was brought in from the field and was losing his strength because he refused to eat. In the bed next him was a sergeant of the regular army who had been brought in to die because a piece of shrapnel had lodged so close beneath his heart that an operation to remove it was impossible. „ Steals Food From “Joy Cart.” The sergeant, rejoicing in the name of Kelly and coming from the town of St. Joseph, Mich., refused to accept the verdict that he must die and dine on liquid rations. Whenever the “joy wagon” . (as the boys call the food

Titled Persons Yield to Yanks

Princes Have to Get Off Dancing Floor. Reserved for Our Soldiers. FAMOUS CASINO RESERVED Alx is Rest and Recreation Center for American Expeditionary Forces and American Soldiers Come First There. By WALTER KELLOGG TOWERS. Aix-les-Bains, France. Princes, dukes, counts and other titled personages have to yield place to the American soldier in the famous casino of Alx. Even a king seeking accommodations there would be discarded in favor of an American “ace.” N'p prejudice against the nobility exists. Any duke or count can have certain accommodations, that is, if any remain after the American soldiers have been served. As for the dancing floor and softdrink “bar,” none but Yankees need apply. Aix was designated as the rest and recreation center for the American expeditionary force and there is no qualification on the priority of that Counts/ Don’t Count. In tfte billiard room of the milliondollar casino, formerly a famous gambling place and haunt of the titled

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

cart) appeared, the ■ sergeant wouF arise from his “death bed” and stea food while the backs of the nurseswere turned. After a- while the doctors listened to his urgent request for “regular meals,” and cancelled the order that he was to have liquid diet pending his stay in the hospital. Sergeant Kelly is still at the hospital, where he is now working as a hospital orderly. He is eating as much as they will give him and whenever possible sneaking “extras,” which he hides beneath his pillow.. Rittow and -the other men in ward 238 have developed real appetites from watching him eat and listening to his jokes. They know as well as does the sergeant that any chance accident may dislodge the bit of shrap nel that lies beneath his heart, but as long as he can shake his fist at death and laugh at his troubles, t|ey laugh with him. He spins yarns hou’of his experiences in the Philippines, On the Mexican border and in France, where he has served 12 months now. And when he runs out of breath, Rittow catches the ball and tells his story of service as “liaison” messenger between French and American troops who took Fere-en-Tardenois. Took Wrong Turn.

He trained at Camp Mills with another group of men from New York city, coming to France last October. His company was sent to several different fronts in France, and by odd coincidence every time that they were relieved the company which replaced them suffered heavy casualties from attacks, raids or bombardments. Finally came the day when they were recalled from the Champagne front and sent in to support the division that had pressed on beyond Chateau Thierry in the early days of the July offensive. The day he was wounded he had gone back and forth for 12 hours between French and American field headquarters, carrying important messages. He had just started off on another trip when a chance turn to the right Instead of to the left, as he had been going, put him in the path of flying shrapnel that wounded him in the left thigh and below the knee. “Oh, the leg’s all right,” he sings out cheerfully. “But I sure would have been gone if it hadn’t been for the sergeant there. I couldn’t make myself eat when they brought me here —nerves, the doctor said. Then I used to watch the sergeant sneaking out of bed when he was supposed to be dying and swiping food from the joy cart. It tickled me'so to watch him that I began to get hungry—and now I’m getting fat.”

wealthy of Europe, bur now conducted by the American Y. M. C. A. for our soldiers, a tall, distinguished man in civilian garb wistfully watched the doughboys caroming the ivory balls. He would have liked to play a little billiards himself, but the doughboys from overseas had priority and he was only a count. He was allowed the use of the casino, but only insofar as it did not interfere with the soldiers* entertainment. Over on the dance floor a well-dress-ed man and woman tried to participate in the merry maze where two hundred Yankees were jostling one another cheerfully in an effort not to miss their chance to dance with the thirty attractive girls wearing the Y. M. C. A. unt> form. The couple not in uniform were told tactfully but firmly that, the dancing floor was reserved for those in the uniform of the A. E. F., although the civilian dancers were known to be a prince and his consort. Passing through the swinging doors marked “Bar” one finds more brightfaced American girls serving lemonade, hot chocolate, cakes and cookies to the throng of enlisted men who line the rail. Here, too, the titled and distinguished men in “cits” are denied service. * Soak the Dukes. The movies in the big hall are free to all and well attended. In the casino’s big theater vaudeville is purveyed at two scales of prices. In the front row recently a duke sat next to an American sergeant. The duke paid ten francs for his seat, the sergeant paid two francs. It was five times as advantageous to be an American soldier a$ to be a duke. The Y. M. C. A. arranged th%t. A.t the Hotel de I’Europe the boniface “Paddy” Leder, who has wel-. corned royalty in other years, recently assigned three Yankee doughboys to the room once used by Queen Victoria. He had turned away a titled Englishman and his lady 'Who doubtless would have given much for the queen’s room, or any room. But the first gentlemen of Europe have to give’ way to the first gentlemen of America. The “Y” arranged that. And the Yan-' kee boys have proven themselves gentlemen. •

MOUNTAINEER LEARNS OF WAR, GLAD TO GO

Uniontown, Pa. —“Hell, are we into the war?” asked Jacob Harris after a moment of surprise. “You don’t have to force me to go. My place is at the front using lhe old shooting iron. I’m d —-Kglad I came to town.” Harris, a'piountaineer, was making his first visit to the city in four years when the police learned that he had no reg’stratjon card. Harris was inducted into service at once.

SOLDIERS RECEIVE MUCH BENEFIT FROM BOXING IN MILITARY TRAINING CAMPS

SOLDIERS WITNESS BOXING AT CAMP HUMPHREYS, VA.

Published articles to the effect that boxing does not give a useful training as a basis for bayonet fighting and that the two have no common relationship have been emphatically denied In a formal statenient that has been issued by Dr. Joseph E. Raycroft, head of the athletic division of the war department commission on training camp activities, which directs the athletic activities in the military training camps throughout the country. The statement follows: “Several more or less uninformed critics have published articles to the effect that boxing does not give useful training as a basis for bayonet fighting. Such criticisms are based upon ignorance of both bayonet fighting and military boxing. The experience of the past year in the training camps shows that boxing has great value as a preparation for bayonet fighting, and In the development of those physical and spiritual qualities that are characteristic of the aggressive fighting men. Boxing Supplies Factor. “The great majority of our young men who make up the army have had little or no experience in physical contact games that develop self-reliance, courage, quick thinking and quick decisions under fire. Bayonet training at its best is a drill in which speed, endurance and skill in handling the weapon are developed, but in the nature of things there can be no practice contests with the bayonets. Boxing supplies this important contest factor and furnishes a means of training men to keep their heads and to carry out an effective plan of attack, even though they are‘being punished by their opponents. In this way, qualities needed in the makeup of a bayonet fighter are

EDDIE SICKING STUDIES WAR

Young Giant Infielder Called to Colors —He Was Purchased From San Antonio Club. Eddie Sicking, the Giants’ young infielder who was recently called to the colors by his local board at St. Ber-

Eddie Sicking.

nard, 0., is deep In the study of the soldier’s trade. Sicking, who was purchased from the San Antonio club in June, saw considerable service with the Giants following the ’desertion of Walter Holke, playing third base when the team faced left handed pitching, While Heine Zimmerman covered first base.

WILL PLAY GOLF IN FLORIDA

Linka Will Be Opened as Usual In January - Reservations Were Made Last Winter. All doubt about whether the Florida winter resorts, with their golf links, would open or not were dispelled when z the management at Belleair, Fla., announced that they would open as usual the first week in January, and remarked that other resorts there, or most of the large opes, would do the same thing. Reservations were made last winter, and advices from Washington have been such as to warrant the management with going ahead with their plans, the same as usual.

by practice in boxing to an extent and with a rapidity that is impossible in any'other plan of training thus far tried. “The commanding officers of the training camps in this country haye almost universally testified to the value of boxing as a part of military training. In many qf the principal camps it has been made a partoi the dally routine. “The primary object of boxing, as taught in the army, is to make skillful, self-reliant, hard-hitting men, rather then expert boxers. An efficient soldier must not only be trained in the technique of offense and defense, but he must be charged with the proper fighting spirit. Blows Are Similar. “Practice in boxing has an additional value, because many, of the blows, and movements taught the meh in boxing class have their close counterparts in bayonet fighting. For example, a left lead to the head is very similar to a long point to the throat; a right hook to the jaw or the body is like the blows with the bqtt of the rifle. Of course, there are -thrusts and parries in bayonet fighting that are different from any lead, block or counter In boxing, but the principle is the same, and the sequence of action, the body balance, and the ability to take advantage of openings in the opponent’s defense developed in boxing are fundamentally important for the bayonet fighter. , “In the final analysis all physical training in the army must have a practical military significance; boxing possesses this significance to an unusual extent, so that particular stress has been laid upon the instruction of all the soldiers, rather than upon the development of a few experts.”

FOOTBALL GAMES IN FRANCE

Director Anguish of Paris Division of Y. M. C. A., Makes Request for Pair of Pants. • Judging from a request made in the Paris edition of an American newspaper recently, there is going to be a lot of football played in France this fall. The Hindenburg line is not the only one that is going to be smashed over there. J. L. Anguish, director of athletics for the Paris division of the Y. M. C. A., recently asked/for a pair of football pants through the columns of a newspaper. He explained that the pair of pants was wanted to serve as a pattern from which he hopes to have .12,000 pairs made for the use of the soldiers. Inasmuch as the great football stars of the past decade from the East, West, North , and South are with the American expeditionary force abroad, there should be some real all-American games staged behind the lines soon. That is, if Mr. Anguish gets that pair of pants for a pattern.

VON KOLNITZ IS NOW MAJOR

Former White Sox Infielder Among Captains at Camp Gordon to Receive Promotion. Alfred H. von Kolnltz, former major league baseball player, was among the captains at Camp Gordon who have

Alfred H. Von Kolnitz.

been promoted to be majors. Von Kolnitz played with the Cincinnati National league and Chicago American league teams.

PLAYER BEHIND CLUB OF MOST IMPORTANCE

Inventions Seldom Assist Golfer in Improving His Game. Innovations In Form of a Club Rarely Prove Practicable—Correct Line, Proper Force and Touch Does the Business. With a million golfers in the United States, little wonder that the inventive mind occasionally ( offers suggestions ' which threaten to send the ancient game and its traditions Inventions rarely receive encouragement,, for “golf is golfand meant to be played as “she is writ;” and for that reason the iconoclasts seldom make more than a momentary flash ere fading away to oblivion. For instance, one is at a loss to know why anyone should suggest the substitution of yellow for white paint on a golf b'all. It has been claimed that under certain conditions white is hard on the eyes; that on a very bright day a more neutral color would be serviceable. , Yet. golfers have played for a good many years, and the sun has shone just as brightly in. the past as it does at present. It would be hard to get a better contrast than the white ball on the green turf. So far as the trade goes, there haye been comparatively few recommendations to change the color of the ball, though recently a man who is’ a frequenter of an Eastern link left an order with a sporting goods house for a dozen of one of the latest makes of rubber cores to be painted red. His reason was that when his shots went wandering among the glistening white shells of the Lido club course the caddie had trouble in locating the sphere. Consequently he figured it out that a red object' would be much easier to distinguish. Occasionally some one comes along with a new idea in the form of a club, but these innovations rarely prove practicable. Not long since a man had a new-fangled putter, with a head of abnormal size, and a mirror attachment on the shaft/ He'thought he had something that was likely to revolutionize the short game, but received no encouragement from the manufacturer to whom he showed the club. ** After all, the same old saying, “It’s the man behind the club,” continues to apply. If he hits the ball right it won’t go astray and there will be little trouble in finding it. While on the green it’s getting the correct line and knowing the proper force and touch that does the business, mirror or no mirror.

GOLF TRIED BY CRACK SHOT

Former Amateur Champion Spotts Plays Good Deal at Fox Hills—> . Putting Is Deadly. ——— R. L. Spotts, former amateur champion at the traps, has taken up golf and plays a good deal at Fox Hills, where he originally learned to handle a gun. His putting Is nearly always

R. L. Spotts.

deadly, though the rest of his game is riot so steady. Recently a visitor to the club was introduced to him, and recognizing the name Inquired if it “wasn’t Mr. Spotts, the famous trapshooter?** “I guess so,” replied Spotts. “I was in every trap on the course this afternoon.”

ANOTHER TIGER ENTERS ARMY

John Couch Appointed Second Lieutenant After Graduating From Camp Fremont. Another former Tiger, John D. Couch, gets a star on a service flag with Detroit, as the last club on which he played, best entitled to it He has just been made a second lieutenant in the army, after graduating from the Camp Fremont (Cal.) training camp. Couch, a* former Stanford university and San Francisco pitcher, was bought by Detroit for the 1917 season and trained with the team at Waxahachie. He was taken ill that spring, later suffered from blood poisoning, and has done little or no *pltching since. Another ex-Detroiter, Ducky Holmes, is going overseas, having been made a member of the Y forces, and being now on his way to France. Holmes* last year was 1902, when he, Barrett and Harley did the gardening—first of the great outfields Detroit always has been possessed of.