The Saint Paul globe., 1904-03-17

are exposed TO all Sorts OF temptallOI
especially to the association with the
soldiers from Fort Smelling, who have
nothing to gain or lose by their conduct
and who are undesirable people to have
around at any time except when they
On behalf of the officers and soldiers
of Fort Smelling l have the honor to Te-
quest that you kindly inform US through
the columns of the St. Paul G i e
whether you have been correctly quoted
flames Ossewerarde,
Chaplain Twenty-first Infantry, u. s. A.
Fort Smelling, Mimi, March 16, 1904.
To the Editor of The Globe:
In your columns of the 18th inst, in an
article regarding the Neighborhood House,
you publish an attack on soldiers by a
certain Mr. Scholle, worded as follows:
There the young women are exposed
to all sorts of temptation, especially to
association with the soldiers from Fort
Smelling, who have nothing to gain or lose
by their conduct and who are undesirable
people to have around at any time except
when they are fighting Such an asser-
tion Is an insult to the American people
OF whom OUT soldiers are representatives
and should be resented by every right
thinking citizen of the Twin Cities as it
IS resented by every self respecting de-
fender of our flag.
1t is plain that Mr.. Scholle knows moth
Ing of soldiers or soldiers life, or else
ne Is too narrow minded to speak the
truth. or he may have formed his opinion
from some disreputable ones he may have
seen, and narrowly judged all to be alike.
For his information l will say that the
drunken, noisy, disorderly soldier who
tries to bring disgrace upon the uniform
he wears is not the old, tried veteran, but
some recruit who has not been in the ser
vice long enough to have been cured of
his dfsreputable civilian habits
There are now about 800 soldiers at
Fort Smelling, and do not hesitate to
say that if one were to go on one of the
stop the first 800 civilians, including Mr..
Scholle, who pass and give each class a
rigid mental examination, moral and fam
the abused soldier far superior to the
average civilian. Since coming to Fort
Smelling have been on the street cars of
the ti,es TWln Cities some hundred or more
soldier remain seated while a lady is
standing, but during the same period I do
not recall seeing civilian rise to give
his seat to a lady, unless an acquaintance
This tells its own story.
Less than a year ago there was a great
cry raised on account of the dfsgraceful
scenes at and on street cars leading to
the park, located near Fort Smelling, and
at the time many of Mr.. Scholle's
type tried to fix the blame upon soldiers,
yet car men, policemen and citizens alike
unite in saying that the disorderly acts
were not those of soldiers, but of civilians.
A few months ago soldiers wife was
compelled to liSen to obscene remarks by
a number of tough civilians. and when
her husband asked them to desist he was
attacked in most brutal manner. A
small notice was inserted in some of the
st: Paul papers at the time. but had the
offending parties been soldiers, pages
would have been devoted to the subject.
Mr.. Scholle states that we have moth
ing to lose or gain by our conduct. That
shows how much he knows about the SUBJ
ject. Drunl1ards are not tolerated In the
army, and repeated drunken, disorderly
revels will soon force q soldier dishonor-
ably out of the service. Mr.. Scholle lays
girls meet at the dance halls, yet says
nothing of the lower class of civilians
who frequent such places, although they
outnumber the soldiers ten to one, and
exert a twenty to one more pernicfous in
fuence on the young girls. Since Mr..
Scholle knows no soldiers but those who
are such undesirable acquaintances, we
are forced to believe that Mr.. Scholle is
not very careful in choosing his associates.
for no good soldier will be found with
such disreputable recruits, and conse-
quently Mr.. Scholle has not had an op-
portunity of meeting the better class Of
US. Now, while we are not anxious to
form Mr.. Scholle's acquaintance, If he
will meet few representative soldiers, /
entire statement IS false even to that, that
soldiers are desirable people to have
around when they are fighting.
i. S. Hammer
-.
Fort Smelling, March 16, 1904.
To the Editor of The Globe:
Through the columns of your paper
that were made in the March 18th edi-
ton by Mr., Gustave Scholle, president of
Neighborhood House, in which he eau
toned the people of ST. Paul against al
lowing their daughters to FREQUENT the
dance halls on Rice street and Wabasha,
saying that they were subject to a great
many temptations, especially from the
soldiers at Fort Smelling, who were not
fit persons to have around only in fight.
Such a remark as that is not only an in
suit to us soldiers, but to the American
flag as well, and also to the officers of the
army. will admit that there are men in
the army wnom l would not care to have
associate with my sister, but they do not
frequent respectable places, and there is
just as big percentage of the young
men in st. Paul who are not fit company
for any respectable girl to know as there
is in Fort Smelling. There are just as
many gentlemen in the army as there
are in st. Paul. l assure. you. Take on
your street cars. for instance, who is 1t
that gets UP first to give a lady seat :?
1t is soldier. and We. feel that the re-
marks made, by the gentleman of the
cry soldier in Fort Smelling 1t is true
that we get only S13 a month but we
get it honestly, and we are proud of the
country that pays US $13 per month, and
! country as Mr.. Scholle, and I am sure
! that we can treat lady with fully as
much respect. We invite the public to
| investigate our conduct.
Harry "W." Lawton
Fort Smelling, March Is, 1904.
! To the Editor of The Globe:
In Tuesdays GI o b you published a
| speech made by a certain Mr.. Scholle in
which he is very uncemplimentary to the
soldiers at Fort Smelling, attributing the
| downfall of working girls directly to them.
| In reply wish to state that the dance
! halls on Wabasha and Rice streets, or
| for that matter, any other dance halls in
| st. Paul, are patronized by soldiers only
! to a very limited extent. All the dances
given under the auspices of the soldiers
We're conducted in a quiet and orderly
manner. AS far as stating that soldiers
! are desirable company only when they
| are fighting, that is nothing short of SLAM
| der, and wish to state that on an average
| there are as many orderly and WeII-be-
haved men in the army as in any other
walk Of life. The few that misbehaye are
made conspicuous by their uniform and
naturally the people judge them all by
the actions of few; but it remains for
| such as Mr.. Scholle and few others who
| take things for granted, without stopping
| to investigate, to continually slander the
| soldier, whereas if they directed their eff
| forts to evils nearer their own homes
| they might accomplish more good
| John A. Wegner,
/ Private. Company A, 21st Infantry.
l