The Syracuse Journal, Volume 20, Number 46, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 14 March 1929 — Page 2

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By ELMO SCOTT WATSON

UT at Camp Kearney, near San Diego. Calif., there was recently erected a monument to one of the most famous military organizations in the history of our country. Mention to the average American the Three hundred eighth ’nfantry of ' the Seventy-seventh division and It may or may not have any special l significance for him. But speak of the “Lost Battalion” and see how

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quickly he will understand what you are talking about. For the story of the “Lost Battalion"’ is one of the real hero tales of the World war. As such it is familiar to all of u even though the facts about that incident in the great Meuse-Argonne, offensive of the American forces in the autumn of 1918 have become so colored with a certain amount of fiction as to produce another example of “popular misinformation"’ in our national legend. The Seventy-seventh division of the national army is known as “New York’s Own” because its ranks were filled mainly with men who were called to the colors in New York city by that great human lottery, the Selective Service act For that reason It may seem curious that a monument to the heroism of New Yorkers should be erected in California, clear across the continent from New- York. But the reason for the Camp Kearney memorial is this: b fore taking over its sector for the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the Seventy-seventh was strengthened with replacements from the Fortieth division, composed of men from all parts of the West who had trained at Camp Kearney. And in the famous “Lost Battalion” episode, cowboys from the West fought alongside of men of every occupation, nationality, class, and creed from the East side or “Melting Pot” of New York. In regard to the fiction which has crept into the story of the “Lost Battalion,” it should be noted first that the name itself is a misnomer. For the “Lost Battalion” never was “lost.” Led by Maj. Charles W. Whittlesey and ©apt. George W. McMurtry, the battalion of something less than 700 men took part in an attack by the Seventy-seventh on the morning of October 2. 1918, with a certain road on the edge of a ravine in the Charlevaux valley as the objective. They were acting under orders of Gen. Robert Alexander, commander of the Seventy-seventh, who later assumed full responsibility for what took place. “My orders were positive and precise,” said General Alexander. “The objective was to be gained without regard to losses and without regard to the exposed condition of the flanks.” Os the four battalions, from the Three hundred sixth. Three hundred seventh. Three hundred eighth, and Three hundred ninth infantry, which were sent into the attack Whittlesey’s from the Three hundred eighth, was the only one to reach its objective. As a result the enemy penetrated to the rear of their position and the battalion was cut off. So although they were cut off, they were not “lost," for they knew all the time where they were; the Seventy-seventh *division knew where they were and made repeated attempts during the five days they were beleaguered to rescue them. What took place during five days is told in entertaining fashion in a book recently published by the Bobhs-Merrill company It Is “Without Censor,” written by Thomas M. Johnson, correspondent for the New York Sun with the A. E. F.» a “now-it-can-be-told” book which explodes many popular myths about the World war and sheds much new light on many disputed questions. In the chapter. “Finding the Lost Battalion,” Mr. Johnson tells the true story of that incident in our history as follpws: The morning of October third General Alexander ordered the attack resumed, and directed General Johnson to give special attention to joining up with Whittlesey Whittlesey and his men had heard the firing to the rear as the rest of the One hundred fifty-fourth brigade tried to reach them. But the firing receded, died down and they knew that the Germans had repulsed the attack, were free tor a time to destroy the Amerikanernest, as they called it . . . They tried for five days and nights, by infantry attack, by trench mortar bombs, hand grenades, machine guns sweeping the valley, by sniping rifle fire from front, flank and rear, finally by flame throwers. The Americans clung to their small fox-holes along the slope. The trees saved them. Safe holes could be dug under their roots. Trunks and branches deflected bullets. They scon became hungry for they had started short of rations. The living ate those of the dead. but. before It ended, were eating leaves, in

Cretans Were Liberal in Decorative Ideas

The Cretan decorators did not scruple to depart from a literal interpretation of nature if by so doing they secured desirable decorative effects. if a monkey with a tjlue bead suited their purpose better than a realistic monkey they showed no hesitance in altering This is the decorator’s privilege, a sort of artistic license that lias been taken by artists from those ancient times to the present.

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■ilMilliMgMjl cm* GZOXGZ' GJttMURTRY fact, even at the end of October third, the Lost Battalion was dwindling fast, its effective strength only two hundred forty-five. Water could not be got from the muddy stream in the valley, watched by snipers, slashed by machine-guns. Some who volunteered to fill canteens did not return. The men had started without blankets, and it was cold and rainy. There was no surgeon, only two, medical corps men, binding wounds with bandages or wrap puttees taken from the dead. Even their friends seemed to have turned against the Lost Battalion. The second day, October fourth, while the Germans were giving them a brief rest, an Allied artillery barrage-came down upon them. Slowly the shell-bursts commenced on the southern slope of the valley; more rapidly, more quickly, they crept down the slope, crossed the valley, and settled straight on the line of fox-holes held by the cowering, bewildered Americans. Crashing shells threw about branches, leaves, stones and earth, smashed in fox-holes, burying some men. All wounded who could walk were moved to places of comparative safety, but thirty Americans were killed or wounded by that barrage; So easy to pass the buck to the French, but the weight of evidence seems to be that it was American. Whittlesey and McMurtry thought so. From its flaming smoking midst Whittlesey sent his last carrier pigeon with this message: “We are along the road, parallel 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake stop it.” . . . To Whittlesey and McMurtry, it seemed that the shells just missed them, passed on. Right at the end Os it came a German attack, but that was beaten off, and the sound of the firing told the rest of the Seventy-seventh that the Lost Battalion was still there. It had made every effort to let the division know that. Whenever Whittlesey asked volunteers to take back messages, he found them. The Germans captured all but three of the messengers—captured some of them lying face downward amid the brown forest leases. So starving, chilled, drenched, sleepless, threatened with instant death from foe or friend, the men hung on through great heroism. Among them, calm and smiling, moved the scholarly, spectacled Whittlesey or the optimistic McMurtry, laughing and joking in a whisper with part of a German potato-masher grenade sticking from a wound in his’back. One by one their nine precious machine guns were knocked out, their ammunition ran low. The Germans could not see why they did not surrender. "Kamerad, will you?" they.shouted across, to which the doughboys replied: “Kamerad yourself, you I” Some German-Americans came in very handy there. . . . A party of soldiers from Captain Cullen’s company on the left flank slipped off to “look for kitchens,” for food dropped from airplanes, trying vainly to succor the Lost Battalion, and all were killed, wounded or captured. Only one, named Hollingshead, returned bearing this letter, exactly transcribed: To the Commanding Officers of the 2nd Batl, J. R. 308: Sir. The bearer of the present, Lowell R. Hollingshead, has been taken prisoner by us on October . He refused to the German Intelligence Officer every answer to his questions and is quite an honourable fellow, doing honor to his fatherland In the strictest sense of the word. - He has been charged against his will, believing it doing wrong to his country in car- , rying forward this present letter to the Officer in charge of the 2nd. Batl. J. R. 308 of the 77th. Div. with the purpose to recommend this Commander to surrender with his forces as it would be quite useless to resist any more in view of the present conditions. The suffering of your wounded men ean be . heard over here in the German lines and we are appealing to your human sentiments. A withe Flag shown by one of your men will tell us that you agree with these conditions. Please treat the Lowell R. Hollingshead as an honourable man. He is quite a soldier we envy you. The writer of that letter was Lieut. Heinrich Prinz, who before the war lived in Seattle, Wash. . . . His ruse did not work—neither did Whittlesey reply, “Go to h—1!” That legend originated

Do not think that curious drawings and distortions are the product of amateurish hands. The Cretan decorators did not alter the apparent forms because they could not draw them correctly. It was done deliberately, to suit their scheme of decora tion. Sometimes a naturalistic treatment of flowers and ferns was used. When they liked they could give realistic interpretation and at other

times conventionalize their subjects. When it suited their purpose they pul in colors that nature never used in such places. These Cretan decorators were great craftsmen and artists. Their designs are studied by artists today. Magnet Draw* Bullet For nearly *®n years a Canadian war veteran carried a gullet in his lung. Although located by X-rays, it was tn such a position that it could not be reached by forceps.

THE SYRACUSE JOURNAL, SYRACUSE, INDIANA

when correspondents first got the “story” from an enthusiastic division commander. “What answer did he send ’em?” they asked. “What answer would he send ’em?” General Alexander replied. “He told ’em to go to h—l.” Next day those few correspondents who saw the mild-mannered Whittlesey, asked him: “Did you really tell ’em to go to h—1?" “Well," he said slowly, “McMurtry and Holderman were squatting near by. I read the note. We smiled. I just folded up the note—it was typewritten—and put it in my Socket and said to the soldier, ’Go back to your post.’" Whittlesey said in his written report- “No reply seemed necessary.” But the next thing he did after putting the note, ’ in his pocket was to order taken in the white cloth panels with which he had attempted to signal American airplanes trying to drop food. He was afraid they might look like “withe Flags.” The rescue of the Lost Battalion was finally accomplished by Colonel Houghton of the Three hundred seventh, who discovered a gap in the German barbed wire south of Charlevaux valley through which men might wriggle one at a time unobserved, if they were very careful. Then, when enough had got through, they might start to work their way along the valley from the east, toward Whittlesey’s position.” By the morning of October seventh, two men from Whittlesey’s force had got in touch with these men creeping forward, and were brought to Colonel Houghton’s hole in the ground. Some of his wounded were found bandaged by German surgeons who had said, “Soon it is we who will be surrounded.” Houghtons men pushed on. At seven o’clock that evening their first small party reached the right of the line of fox-holes that the Lost Battalion had held with such fortitude for five days and nights. Companies A, B and M of the Three hundred seventh soon appeared. The siege was ended. Just In time. The Lost Battalion had held out on nerve for the last two or three days, saving every ounce of strength to repel German attacks. One of the worst 6f all had come the last morning, October seventh. For the first time the enemy used liquid fire. Belching smoke and flame did not demoralize the Americans on the right flanks, after their terrible ordeal—it made them mad. They jumped from their fox-holes and with their rifles shot the men carrying the flame throwers. Yet when Houghton’s men came among them, they could hardly have withstood another attack. Hand grenades were all gone, ammunition almost, only two of nine machine guns left and no machine gunners to handle them. Tn meet the next attack the men were sharpening defiantly on stones and earth their bayonets—about all they had left. . The night of October seventh they got a little food, slept for the first time safely, guarded by the rescuing Three hundred seventh. Next morning occurred a thing that brought tears to the eyes that saw it. Up from fox-holes at roots of trees, pits where dead lay with living, rose 194 men of the 879 who had attacked five days before, and of the 194 many bore wounds. They were all who could walk out of Charlevaux valley which they had taken and held, as ordered. The rest were dead, or had to be carried. The one hundred ninety-four walked heavily, numbed by utter exhaustion, clothes tattered and filthy, faces like drawn masks of putty, with the fixed stare of determination. Worn out. dirty, hungry, thirsty, they would not give in. The eyes told that. Those of us who were there and saw them, as the pioneers turned the first spadeful of earth for the others, know that here was indeed a holy place. . Those who sought Whittlesey found a tall, slim, youngish man. wearing glasses, very tired, sitting on a stump in a little clearing at a forest crossroads, and near him the battalion —the handful that was left. About the first thing he said, and he really said it, was, “Don’t write about me. just about these men." A fine modest gentleman. How untrue and unjust, like most gossip, were the rumors about what he had done. He was of the conscientious type that worries. His friends thought afterward that his nerves were “shot" and those rumors, preying upon his mind, may have helped cause his tragic death by suicide. He had obeyed his orders with unswerving devotion. He had done a soldier s duty. He and those with him bad left one of the World war’s noblest traditions. That is the true glory of the Lost Battalion. It will never be lost.

It was removed at last by holding a powerful magnet over the patient’s chest and drawing the bullet to a point where it could be seized with forceps through the windpipe. The nickel coating of the bullet provided the necessary magnetizable eiemenL Pilgrim’* Faith The Pilgrims were Separatists. This body of religionists asserted the right of each church or congregation to adopt Its own form of worship, and choose its own preachers and officers.

Quality Is the First in Home Gardens

Good Seed Is Prime Requisite for Best Crop of Vegetables. Quality conies tlrst, says Paul Work of the New York state college of agriculture at Ithaca, N. Y., speaking of varieties of vegetables for home use and for the home garden Good seed is a prime requisite, and to be sure of satisfaction, it usually is best to deal with a seed house that eaters to commercial growers. Corn Is Mainstay. Sweet corn is the mainstay of many home gardens and often is the main reason for their existence, for it pays the highest dividends. Sweet corn loses 50 per cent of its sugar and hence its flavor and tenderness in 24 hours after it is picked. This is a mighty good reason for having it close at hand. Among the best va rieties are Early White Cob Corey Golden Bantam. Early Sunshine. Golden Giant, Country Gentleman. Evergreen and Whipple's Yellow. For the same reasons, peas come next to corn in importance. Thomas Laxton and Gradtis are the best varieties for quality. Alaska is the earliest. The dwarf kinds such as American Wonder, Knos Excelsior, Little Marvel, and Igixtonian give more peas to the pod. and are .more tender, Telephone. Stratagem and Aiderman are late, big-bodied peas. Among the beans. Stringless Green Pod which is round, early and ten der and Bountiful are to be recommended. Most good beans have curved pods. Lima Beans Desirable. Lima beans are very desirable for the home garden, but their long growing season and the unfavorable effects of cold wet ground and bad weather make them difficult in New York state to raise. The better ones for central New York are the Burpee bush, the Fordhook bush, and the Ilerfderson bush. Os rhe pole beans. Scotia. Kentucky. Wonder. Leviathan. Challenger and Green Shell are good. Utilization of Straw for Insulation Board The utilization of xvheat straw for insulation board is now a practical process and this year one factory at St. Joseph, Mo., has purchased 30,000 tons of straw which is being manufactured into insulation hoard at the rate of 125.000 square feet daily, according to Prof. O. IL Sweeney, lowa State college. It has been found that wheat straw, after steel fingers in a shredder have separated it, produces long tough fibers which can be fabricated into a board that has great structural strength and will provide insulation in building that saves 25 to 40 per cent in fuel used for heating. The pra tical application of insulation is recognized by engineers everywhere and farmers, too. are learning that insulation of poultry houses, hog houses and other buildings brings direct returns in saving of feed and fuel. Ohio Farmers Walk Many Miles in Doing Chores The Ohio farmers walk an average of 00 miles a month in doing their chores according to tests made by the rural economies department at Qhi»» State university. To make this test pedometers were worn by the farmers

SHEEP TICK CONTROL DESCRIBED IN REVISED FARMERS’ BULLETIN

Blood-Sucking Parasite Is Readily Eradicated. (Prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture.) Though widely prevalent, especially among close-herded range flocks. the blood-sucking parasite known as the sheep tick can be readily eradicated by flock owners who study its nature and habits and who will treat their sheep according to, government directions. Farmers" Bulletin 798-F. “The Sheep Tick and Its Eradication by Dipping,” just revised, describes and illustrates this enemy of the sheep industry. “The only practical way of destroying the pest.” declares Dr. Marion Inies, the author of the bulletin, “is by dipping the sheep. Two dippings are necessary about 21 days apart, as the first dipping may not destroy all the eggs and these may subsequently hatch a new brood.” Many farm flocks of the United States as well as those kept under Canary Grass Valuable for Protein Content The following is taken from a writeup of the work being done at the Waseca substation in Minnesota. It appeared in the Milking Shorthorn Journal: “Another interesting experiment Is with fellaris grass, or canary grass. This grows in sloughs and wet places, yielding 10 tons to the acre of grass that has as high protein content as alfalfa. It roots like quack grass, growing from the shoots as well as from seed. If the experiment shows that the grass has everything claimed for it by farmers in the county that have grown it. there seems a considerable future for canary grass- The prospect of a Minnesota farmen getting his wet land caught with grass yielding ten tons to the acre of grass as nourishing as alfalfa, is even worse than getting his good land seeded with alfalfa, this is always having to be cut when he has other farm work to do.” •

while doing chores. Os two farmers with exactly the same number ol horses and cows and approximately the same number of pigs, one farmer walked 135 miles a month and the other farmer 40 miles. The difference was caused by the relative convenience of the farmstead and facilities for watering and feeding the stock. The water pail proved to be excellent equipment for inducing the farmers to walk great distances. Small Oat Rollers Now Available for Farm Use Small oat hullers with capacities of 45 to 50 bushels per hour are now available for farm use. They are usually owned by individual farmers but are sometimes used by a group of neighbors or occasionally mounted on a farm truck for custom work. Machines of this kind,which cart he; driven by a 5-horse-power electric' motor, will also hull and scarify clover seed, crack corn.j wheat or rye, hull speltz or skin and crack barley. These ' added uses of tlje huller help to keep] it busy, cutting flown its cost per hour I of operation and lessening the expense; of making a more valuable feed out of the oats crop. Tillable Areas Favored for Increasing Pasture Various methods of obtaining a stand of sweet clover on permanent pasture land have been tried during the past few years. These include very liberal liming—four tons of limestone per acre—plus disking before seeding, sowing bn late snows or frost cracked soil, spading small areas to serve as centers of seed distribution, and various fertilizer treatments. Only a few stunted plants have resulted from any of these methods, and it is concluded that only tillable areas are suitable for the purpose of increasing pasturage with sweet clover.—From ID2S Report of the Director of the Storrs Experiment Station. ■■ Winter Proper Time to Clip Horses and Mules Horses and mules may be clipped almost any time in winter, provided the owner uses blankets after clipping and properly houses the clipped animal. If the foregoing conditions are not complied with, better wait until the weather is warm and dry before clipping. Clipped horses and mules when exposed to cold winds or cold rain are very liable to contract pneumonia or pleurisy or both and quite often distemper, strangles or influenza. Early spring clipping followed by exposure to cold winds while being snipped in open stock cars brings out many cases of colds, shipping fever, influenza or pneumonia. Raising Dairy Cass Is Quite Serious Problem Those who know how to raise a-hu-man baby know exactly how’ to raise a dairy calf. By “exactly,” I don’t mean, of course, that the calf and the baby eat the same kind of stuff, says a writer in an exchange. But I do mean that the kind of care used in raising a baby is just the kind of care required to raise a ealf. Babies require regular attention, so do calves. Babies require clean food. Exactly so with calves. Babies require the right kind of nourishment at the right time and in right amounts. And calves are not different.

range conditions harbor sheep ticks and in some cases the parasites are present in sufficient numbers to cause considerable damage. The bulletin describes anr* illustrates the parasites in different stages of growth, gives full directions for dipping, and includes plans of wooden and concrete vats suitable for both small and large flocks. * Around 1 the Farm | Rainy days for repairs. • - • • Bad chimneys cause farm fires. • • • More and more farmers are using the multiple horse hitches. • » • Keeping the barn free from refuse and manure will help sanitation. • • • Hay averages lowest in price in September, October and November. « • • Garden tools are much more satisfactory if they never are permitted to rush • • • Farmers whose buildings are behind good windbreaks seldom have to shovel snow. see An old alfalfa field makes the best place imaginable for a crop of corn. It is also good for potatoes. • • • Lift the hot bed sash and let In fresh air whenever weather permits. That’s what makes stocky plants. • • • It’s the last few pints of milk, bushels of grain, or other units of pro duction, which are the most profitable. ♦ • • Crows pull up your corn? Treat the seed and keep the crows away. You can buy a repellent from your seedsman for a small sum. • • • pave you joined one of the co-op-erative marketing associations? If you haven't you owe it to yourself and your neighbors to come on in and -help put it over.

The Reflections of aYoun? Married Woman are not pleasant if she is delicate, rundown, or overworked. She feels MBW? “played - out” Her smiles and good BmE spirits have taken Bight. It worries her husband as well as herself. » One woman says:—“l was suffering from inward weakness and nervousness, could not Sleep, this caused me to become all rundown and in a weakened state of health. I had severe pains through the back of my head and neck. I had read about Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Prescription being good for women in my condition, and it relieved me of my weakness and nervousness, also the pains in the back of my head. I gained back my strength and felt just fine. I would advise any woman who suffers as I did to take the ‘Prescription.’ ’’—Mrs, Edmee Dowden, l'M3 Franklin St, Fort Wayne, Ind. All druggists. Write Dr. Pierce’s, Buffalo, N. Y„ if you desire free medical advice.

Man, Wife, Get Same Vote In the recent election for the Old Camnock parish council in Scotland. Finrys Hughes and his wife were both candidates and received exactly the same number of votes —531. They also are the first husband and wife to be elected members of a parish council at the same time and both will serve. Mrs. Hughes is the only daughter of the late Keir Hardie and with her husband is living in the house in which Keir Hardie started forty years ago the work which made him famous. Large, Generous Sample Old Time Remedy Sent Free to Every Reader of Tins Article More than forty years ago, good old Pastor Koenig began the manufacture of Pastor Koenig’s Nervine, a remedy recommended for the relief of nervousness, epilepsy, sleeplessness and kiqdred ailments. The remedy was made after the formula of old German doctors. The sales soon increased, and anot her factory was added. Today there are Koenig factories in the old world and PastoslKoenig’s Nervine is sold in every land-and clime. Try it arid be convinced! It will, only cost you a postal to write for the large, generous sample. Address: Koenig Medicine Co., - 104"» No. Wells St., Chicago, Illinois. Kindly mention your local payer. Prickly Pear’* Enemy In another ten years, according to experts, the prickly pear will not be a serious problem in Queensland (Aus tralia). where the prickly pear areas comprise the f13,500.(MM> acres, if the little caterpillar named Cactoblastig Cactorntn continues to pi-ogress in the way it has done in tie past. Through its efforts the spread of pear has been definitely stopped. Russ Bleaching Blue is the finest product of its kind in the world. Everv woman who has used it knows this statement to be true. —Adv. '• Trailing “Brer Rabbit” The older the rabbit track the colder it gets and the dog usually smells a small length of it and decides in which direction the rabbit has gone. Dogs probably use the hunting instinct as well as the sense of smell in determining the direction the rabbit has taken. , Both Adept Mrs. Village—Our new minister Is wonderful. He brings things home to you that you never saw before. Mrs. Town—Our laundryman does just the same.—Tit-Bits.

Bilious ? Take N?— Nature’s Remedy—tonight. You’ll be “fit and fine" by morning —tongue clear, headache gone, appetite back, bowels acting pleasantly, bilious attack forgotten. For constipation, too. Better than any mere laxative. Safe, mild, purely vegetable—- £ Qaic* RtKtf! A pleasant, effective > C syrup— 35c and 60c size*. And ex- > twnally, use PISO’S Throat and a* Chest Salve, 35c. - INVESTIGATE / Y We offer a most attrsc- / A k five form of short-term investment,uncondition- / AJuepTVK ally guaranteed and se- / /jj cured by Improved (gfes Oklahoma Farm''* ■ \ iIgYtWMWWW ■ \ V- MorUag, L*u Department (•;';lHft (National Bond & Mortgage Ca ■ I lUlll OKLAHOMA CITY, US. A ■ Let us tend descrip- I mSi;tjyW tive booklet. hill ■ ,WK I * )H> ouC * ud m “*’ co “* B ’ jßMjfli!" poo below. ■ — •** * * I !?•*** K 1 ■t -1 asSSSSU for for 3SYeirs ;===