Indianapolis Times, Volume 48, Number 50, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 May 1936 — Page 39

JVIAI n, l<7db_

Today’s Short Story A SELF-MADE HERO By Sanford Jarrell

gets four, five ana even nine miles

808 BALLOU was one of the most competent paper-work soldiers of the A. E. F. In civilian life he had been a stenographer in a railroad office, and improved his knowledge by taking a course of bookkeeping at a night business college. Naturally, when war was declared against Germany and he Joined the home town battery in the state’s prize National Guard regiment of field artillery, Bob was made battery clerk almost the moment he had enlisted. Thus he automatically became a corporal before he knew the manual of arms or the infantry foot drill. Corp. Ballou fought valiantly in a training camp in the fall of 1917. He shared the Sibley tent at the head of the battery street with the top sergeant, one Jim Cogan, as tough an egg as ever bossed a National Guard outfit, and that is saying plenty. He was an old regular, and that is saying plenty, too. But First Sergeant Ccgan's education was acquired in the Seventh Cavalry, and paper work not only bored him but was not within his mental grasp. Therefore he appreciated the skill and accuracy demonstrated daily by the battery clerk, w'ho soon became a man to be reckoned with in the organization. The battery clerk was popular enough. It didn’t go to his head, all this favoritism, which included absence from all formations, drill, fatigue duty, inspections and the like. tt u a FINALLY, early in 1918, the regiment w T as sent overseas and trained with big 155 howitzers of French manufacture in Le Mans area. The regiment in the states had been taught how to fire four-point-seven cannon, under an American system of fire. Now they had to unlearn all this, fire French guns, and fire them by French methods of computing such intricate forms of higher mathematics ais the Continental way of determining corrections of the moment, wirdage, moisture, etc. All this was contrary. but it didn’t bother Corp. Ballou, for he kept busy with his papers and didn't know the lanyard of a six-inch piece from its awesome muzzle. Then came promotion. Capt. Casey was appointed personnel adjutant of the regiment, a brand new job, with the authority to name a regimental sergeant major and two sergeants. There already was one regimental sergeant major, now there were to be two, one to be the colonel's man Friday and run the regimental headquarters detachment, and the other to be in charge of all the regimental paper work. The captain knew of Corp. Ballou’s excellent record with typewriter and pen and ink, and in adding columns of figures correctly, so he had him transferred to headquarters company with the grade of sergeant. Blithely Sergt. Ballou made up pay rolls, consolidated morning and sick reports, and attended to the other functions of his exalted office while the batteries got their baptism of fire in the Vosges Mountains. He went sailing through the St. Mihiel offensive in much the same way. u n a THEN the Argonne. What veteran of the World War who saw any part, in that gigantic battle does not thrill at the memory of that goshawful engagement? But what was important to Sergt. Ballou, the sergeant major in charge of the personnel section under Capt. Casey was invalided to the hospital on the eve of the Meuse-Argonne offensive and he was promptly promoted to the job. He did not even have time to sew on the five stripes of the new grade, the highest in the gift of the commanding officer of the regiment, when the big cannon, hub to hub. amt the nasty little 75's began pounding away on the famed Hindenburg line. On the same day the infantry' of the division took the town of Varennes, noted by historians as the place where King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were recaptured when they tried to escape from the Terror. The artillery moved into Varennes, and with it came the small personnel detail. This time the principal work was not to make out pay rolls and morning reports, but to keep a careful check on casualties, ammunition and the tremendous task of checking supplies comirg up from the rear echelon. The three battalions—two batteries to a battalion of the 55-howitzer regiments—quickly found gun positions in the heart of Varennes. which lies on both banks of the Aire, and blazed away at the retiring boche who. surprisingly enough, returned the compliment in kind. a a ON the second day at Varennes —the third of the big advance which pierced the German lines and contributed materially to the unexpected speed with which the Central Powers collapsed—several trucks loaded with shells weighing about 100 pounds apiece found their way over pock-marked roads into the ruined town. They were unloaded as fast as possible, so It seemed, for the hungry howitzers waiting for them. Capt. Casey dropped over to watch them unload. About that time a German aviator came around And his partner did some brisk

l work with a macnine gun. The personnel adjutant soon was on his ! way back to what the British call blighty, and an hour later Lieut. ! Roger Williams Carmichael was i named acting adjutant in charge of the personnel section. He had | just joined the regiment, and had not been under gunfire before. The ; lieutenant was ft ?sh from the states and from Harvard University. The O. P.’s < observation posts) Just i behind the mobile infantry lines were yelling information back over the telephone wires of elegant targets four, five ana even nine miles ahead. A German ammunition dump herp, a battery there, a lone but vicious cannon in that clump of woods, and machine gun nests everywhere. Long lines of soldiers, every available man who could be picked up by hard-boiled sergeants who knew all the answers, were commandeered to lug these shells one by one to the batteries. a it BACK in an old German augout, Sergt. Maj. Ballou and his two sergeants were busy on their reports. Lieut. Carmichael saw opportunity knocking at his door. He didn’t like the way the dyspeptic colonel had scowled at him during mess. He wanted to show the old gentleman that he was an officer who could get things done. “Sergeant Major,” he said | brusquely as he entered the personnel dugout, “you and Sergts. Gray and Monteith join the ammunition detail.” “But, lieutenant, we have to get I out a report on this latest batch of shells,” protested Ballou. “This is war, young man,” Said the lieutenant, who was 22 years old. The sergeant major was 24. “You three shake a leg and carry some shells to B Battery. I’ll let you know when you are relieved.” Sergt. Maj. Ballou an hour later was weary nigh on to death. He had toted 14 shells, each one weighing at lest half a ton (of this he was positive) over a quarter of a mile from the ammunition dump to Battery B's guns. They w'ere slippery things, too. They bore down on his shoulder, they fell to the ground, and had to be picked up again and again. “They got the shavetail a few minutes ago,” panted Sergt. Montieth. “What shavetail?” “That blankety-blank who took Cap Casey’s place. Got a chunk of shrapnel in the shoulder.” a a a “T TOT damn!” exclaimed Ballou. -LX “Too bad it wasn’t in the neck. Let’s get back to the dugout and catch some bunk fatigue.” This end the Argonne chapter of Sergt. Maj. Ballou’s martial career. He stuck to his papers closely throughout the rest of the regiment's activities in the offensive, and on the comparative quiet of the Verdun front, where the division was to be found on that eventful Nov. 11. Then, a few weeks later, he was transferred to the American Commission to Negotiate Peace at Paris, thanks to a major who had been division superintendent of the railroad for which he worked before signing on the dotted line as one of Uncle Sam’s young men. Even for a sergeant major who had found the war very much to his liking, except for that awful hour in the Argonne when he served as a human pack-horse and one-man ammunition train, Sergt. Maj. Ballou discovered that life as a peace commission clerk was the life of Reilly, indeed. He was housed in a very nice hotel, and worked at the Crillon, and he was fed like a millionaire and he didn’t have to be in at taps. a u u THIS is how he became a legitimate hero of the World War. It happens, in case you have forgotten, that most of the republics below Mexico declared war on the imperial German government shortly after the United States had. Although they did not send troops to France, they were allies nevertheless, and were represented in the peace negotiations. Their voice was small, individually and collectively. One of these Latin American countries was short of funds, due to the absconding of a president or a revolution or something equally as costly to its treasury, but the congress voted notwithstanding this to strike off 100 medals to be given to the outstanding allied leaders of the war. The nation’s representative on the peace commission was empowered to make up a list of these notables, with suitable citations. He had only one typist, and the latter was sick, so Senor Blank wandered into the Hotel Grillon for a bit of aid. He was referred to Sergt. Maj. Ballou. The Latin American diplomat laid his cards on the table. “I have authority to grant these medals,” he said, speaking with the precise English he had learned at Tulane. “I have a list of about 90. with citations for each. If you will be so kind as to have these citations typed. I will be very grateful. I will be glad to remunerate you.” V tt tt SERGT. MAJ. BALLOU said that he would be happy to have the work done gratis. The diplomat was insistent. "Sergeant Major, this will be a great favor to me and to my government,” he said. “Add your name to those on the list." Ballou did this, and here is the citation: “Sergt. Maj. Robert Ballou for extraordinary heroism in the Meuse-Argonne offensive on Sept. 29, 1918. when at Varennes he carried heavy ammunition to the guns of his regiment, despite a withering fire from the enemy.” Various newspapers carried the list of those honored by the government of the Latin American republic. It was headed by Marshal Foch. and the last name was that of Sergt. Maj. Ballou. THE FND. i

OUR BOARDING HOUSE

olp hikjcse Bi<?lf majorll UNCLE J kAFF-F—- IF MV KNIFE WAS ) BELLOWS ] PUFF A F I^TAMO S,{ SHARP/I'D WHITTLE OUT A / HAS J SOUP A M LISTEN* ) REPLICA OP THE GOLDEN- \ BEEN BLAST # TO THE < TONED PLUTE I FASHIONED J BLOWING ) CM IT V ft PROM A WILLOW LIMB/ Jms OWhJ ) ALVIN-^ % WHEN A LAD OF TWELVE ! J> BUGLE X HE'S TH 1 J > so MELODIOUSLV -DID X EVER VBIG WIND\ ( ou T° h %k trill the instrument J ( since/ Jar ound> \ SLIPPER/]THAT the BIRDS WOULD l WILLOW rs eATHER'ROUND TO TAKE ' T

F 'KIKLES AND HIS FRIENDS—

HS SOME- l HOPE ITS sis THATTT, MR. WUMH§jk (We A LOOK- 1 GOSH... BUT Fu/fbf- W AND YOU KWCW THE OLD SHINY OW \W'JPE( YEAH... ,*f Uy ’ DID THESE ARE AT j NUTTY SAID QETTIKIG ) S*IIHG ABOUT POLICEMEN, ) HAHAUX*m/ 1 YOJF.NDWHAT j IK3WD LEASTA DOZEN H E LEFT HCWHERE \MR KELLY....’CLUES J ,l look L. BOR ( bet wewepe /p Lew7Y * Jowly one lad* ’) make the maw/" X laughing’! I -3... THATS (i N|t>U LOOkIMG COIWS...ALL \CD|W OW THE . a-

WASHINGTON TUBBS II

/a blue roadster.—that /uOIV MUI/C f\7^ f LOOKS LIKE the BANDIT CARJ / hWT /V\Hvtf \ LS’ EXCEPT THERE'S ONLY ONE / [ IT'S TME Df-.’UTy ) L > VMAN IM IT.INSTEADOPTWa/ •- SMEfcIPF, AFTER / „ ,

ALLEY OOP

LOOK-THAT BEWHISKEEED OL' l RASCALLIOWS f'UTTIM A SPELL / NOW 'rOLVRS A ¥ { 1 60™ HAVE OUE < ONTO MV GUZZIE ' CAMT £ RACKED \ V OF THEM THINGS } YAp s j Q6'a< -yZJ

BOOTS AND HFR BUDDIES

j VXOW'H Ji e.SA'OO 1 LtT Mfc OV6 TOR TWEE'S I KiO l TVS: TSOOS'Oc HHSE l 1 A\xm£ ,UOW \N J Vb ,VOO TAV4E. OUT A ! • 1L- j T|l / tvovc! J asVogSP TA D7 AXT A XTIX f Arv

TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD MEN

Swiffc and vicious as was Sobito’’, attack, it did not find Tarzan unprepared. A bronzed hand seized the black wrist of the witch doctor in a grip of steel; another wrenched the knife from his grasp. And Nkima, the bold-talking monkey, screamed with fright.

Always Choose fol- QUALITY—for BEAUTY—for ECONOMY! DOWNSTAIRS AT AYRES I I'tfi nMMMMHkaHHaaiMiiaiaiaiMaManwßiHiaßHaiiaaaaß.

.THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

Now Tarzan picked up Sobito and lifted him above his head as if he had been some incorporeal thing without weight or substance. Such strength, the astonished villagers knew, was the attribute of no mortal man. This stranger must be in truth Muzimo the spirit.

With Major Hoople

OUT OUR WAY

r /YOU should o’stayed \ ON WIM,ICK/ WS \ \ TH’ONLV PLACE TMET'S J VACANT. fef*tv.ct.we. HEROES ARE MADE - MOT BORN. r*.tc.u er o n c,. g J

' WOW.'* RIGHT DOWU \ ! •""'1 / I WTO TH'CLINK ' ™ I^2Sb e l,' y P | y' MA y K\ \ | ( -IOU GO,WITH A BIG ) ISr YOU'sure 'y healthy CLANK, , BLINKIN'OLy/\> ' ' !jj MS BY NCA SEWV.ee. INC. T. M. REG. uTS~PAT.~OFf. - _

D,V i'lul lilt WELL DON'T ]( I'M TVWS f I\Jt A OVO J WNOE HOCW l-b AS AS VaJE SIUMP —OQ SOHETHVNG TO OO CMi OO

In a tree the money danced and shrieked. “Kill him! Kill him!" Nkima was a brave and bloodthirsty little monkey indeed —at a safe distance. But Tarzan did not wish to take Sobito’s life. He was content to toss him to the ground in an ignominious heap.

—By Edgar Rice Burroughs

The witch doctor leaped up and fled; but when he believed he was far enough away, he turned and screamed at the Jungle Lord: “You. white man who call yourself Muzimo, you will die! Sobito will seek mtggic to invoke against you the claws of the Taloned Death!”

. coma pao

—By Williams

—By Blosser

—By ('rane

—By Hamlin

—By Martin