Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-09-05
sMALL ARMY OF YoUrhs 70
HIKE AcRoss IOWA IN EFFORT
TO REACH HOME. ~
LEFT STRANDED ~ CLOSING
OF BUFFALO BILL SHOW
Youths Approaching lows After Walk.
ing From Denver in Effort e Reach
Homes In chieaso-sems Fall oy
Wayside and Others Aes Exhausted
and Worn out-clethss in Tattsrs.
Special to Times Republican.

army Of boys. not unlike the famous
Coxey's army Of many years ago. Is
now marching thru on the state Of
Iowa. Some are in rags and some are
in tags and none are in velvet gowns.
Their feet are sore, their stomachs
empty and their faces haggard and
drawn. but still they refuse to enter
tain any thoughts of surrender in their
desperate effort to walk from Denver
to Chicago. Theirs is terrible plight.
and here is how 1t all came about.
When, Buffalo Bills Wild West show
went to the wall in Denver this sum-
mer there were, left stranded In that
city hundreds of players, canvasmen
and other employees Among the num-
Der were twenty four boy scouts from
the city Of Chicago. Since early spring
they had been delighting Thousands Of
spectators with a fancy drill in which
the American flag took the leading
part. All had gone we'll with them un-
til the sudden calamity in Denver. For
q while the boys could scarcely realize
what had happened; that Buffalo Bill.
with all his apparent prosperity, was
bankrupt was quite beyond their COM
prehension. But soon they were paid
$1.16 each and told that their services
were no longer required. Then these
strangers in strange land began to
see the enormity of the situation. One
thousand miles from home and a little
over 81 apiece in their pockets. There
was nothing to do but walk the entire
distance and subsist as best they could
along the way.
fo,u Hava lafor Uoary march
began. Their hardships ard sufferings
since that time have been almost. If
not equally, as great as the privations
endured by the fortune-hunting pio-
neers who traversed the same plains
half a century ago.
Worn Out Physically.
When the little band arrived in CO.
lumbus last Saturday evening 1t con-
sisted Of only nineteen boys, five had
dropped by the wayside. OF these re.
manning there was little left but skin
and bones. Some. with the soles Of
their shoes worn completely thru. had
been walking barefooted for miles and
miles on the Union Pacific gravel road
bed. One youngster was threatened
with typhoid fever. and he too would
have fallen had not a Good Samaritan
in the form Of a Columbus business
man placed him under the care Of q
doctor.
Monday evening the scouts again re-
sumed their march. intending to make
Omaha by Wednesday night or Thurs
day of this week. The intense hea.
makes it almost impossible for them
to walk by day-they must spend their
usual waking hours in sleep and their
a1oenino ho,,rR m foot
1t is a matter Of conjecture wheth-
er or not a single one Of the troupe viii,
ever each Chicago. Their money is
exhausted and their bodies are in the
same condition. But following the ex-
ample Of the "old scout" under whose
employ they formerly were, these
young scouts" are displaying logged
perseverance and heroic bravery
which is almost beyond the under.
standing Of the ordinary man.
Sixteen remaining members Of the
boy scouts arrived at Fremont We'd
nesday morning. They were tired and
worn out but gave an exhibition there
during the evening. Yesterday they
continued on their way to Omaha.