The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-12-22
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CIRCULATE ON THE
STREETS,

IlOcal recruiting station ~ tne 4Ael'
yon Hotel stated to our reporter
That HIS attention had been called e
some people, recently. intimating that
young men were led by spread eagle
advertisements at recruiting stations
to enlist under false pretenses, and
warning them to shun the military
service. s3s
Sergeant Sibert states that this is
another sample OF the abuse which is
often heaped upon the army witaont
any basis of truth whatever. and that
this rant about men being enlisted
into the army under false pretenses
was simply the result Of the over
heated imagination Of some scribe
Ignorant of everything connected with
the service.
Upon application for enlistment, the
would-be soldier is informed as far
as possible of the duties that will be
required of him, and all questions are
fully answered.
The number of applicants is SO
large that Uncle Sam has no need Of
resorting to false pretenses to induce
men to enlist, in fact, the Instructions
to recruiting officers on this subject
are very strict, and one who would
enlist a man under false pretenses
would be very severely dealt with.
The man who enlists with the Idea
that he will have nothing to do but
"loll around" and wear hobby uni.
form must have an unusually well de,
veloped Imagination, and has certain'
ly no knowledge of the duties OF the
American soldier.
Compared with the lot of the farmer
boy and the work of most Of the la
borers in civil life the duties Of a sol
der are comparatively light, but there
is enough for him to do, attending to
his daily duties, and calls, to keep
him from contracting idle habits. He
can find, however, much more time
than the farmer and the ordinary la
borer to improve himself by readins
and study, If he is ambitious.
All posts and garrtsons are supplied
with papers and magazines for this
purpose.
Referring to ambition; people are
inclined to call the soldiers worthless
for his apparent lack of It. The Ser.
geant asks;
did it ever occur to such people
that there might be men to whom
money-grabblng is not a pleasure and
TO who the daily grind Of going TO
stores and Offices is abhorrencei
Some of us though fairly Intelligent
and by no means illlterate (woull 1t
surprise you to hear that common
soldiers" on occasions discuss SHAKE,
speare and the musical class have
no trade or profession.
Would they have us dig ditches?
We observed, with grin, the other
day, an advertisement for farm la
borers in New York State at the
tempting wages Of eight dollars q
month.
1.-THE enlisted man with his pay
ranging from thirteen to seventy-four
dollars per month may not have mil,
lions in his minds eye, but he has his
compensations.
while the Anaemic book-keeper
whom our critics would have US emu
late, has been porting over his ledger
in a stuffy Office. we have been famed
by the winds and tanned by the suns
of trades and tropics. We have fra
ternized with the red-coats on the
Alameda of GibraIter and driven the
Rickshaws in the streets ofSngapore'
The rattle of firearms and the close
whistle of bullets have given us
thrill such as John Rockefeller never
experienced. And yet we are tainted
because we won't stay at home and
rule ledgers.
"Once more. Did it ever occur to
people who call the soldier worthless
and failure in civil life, that not only
does that great machine. The United
States Army rely largely upon its
non-commissioned officers for its ef
fectiveness (who must Have passed
through the thirteen dollar stage) but
that a great part of the work Of the
commissa-y and quartermaster's de
partment, involving enormous. sums Of
money, is performed by enlisted men!
j 81 admit that many newspapers pub
Iish startling stories concerning the
large number of desertions and causes
therefore, the latter mostly drawn
from the scrlbe's Imagination in his
anxiety to make a readable article
!. but nothing is said about the large
number who re-enlist again and
again and SO compose the best class
of enlisted men, as no one can re-
enlist without at least character
good and excellent is more desira.
BILE.
1.-THE service cannot be black as It
is painted which can attract SO many
of its best men until they retire after