Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-06-22

City in Grin of War Fever
Not since Spanish American War
days has the city been SO thoroughly
in the grip of the war fever; and the
scenes about the armories outrivaled
those of twenty years ago, for then
the guard of Pennsylvania wasn't Off
oially recognized as the second line of
defense of the regular army
At o'clock this morning officers
whistles and bugles sounded the "as-
sembly" and the long lines of uni
formed men quickly formed, the re-
cruits, in citizens clothes had the left
of each line. and after the count "by
fours' had been called off the recruits
were hustled outdoors to undergo in
structions at the hands of shrill voiced,
apparently peev1sh, corporals. Squad
after squad was tried out in the yard
of the armory, while few were given
their first taste of military training
under the trees and before the more
or less grinning eyes of hundreds of
spectators in the River Front Park.
Many Applicants
Incidentally the offices Of the
armory recruiting stations were busy;
even as raw recruits were being put
through their PAGES new applicants
were waiting a,chance to sign up for
service.
Company l mustered ninety-three
men, lnCluulnR the TOOkleS. To-day,
Company d boasted of eighty-flve,
with more to come; the Governors
| Troop reported with its full compile
ment of siXty-six old troopers, with
some twenty-five accepted recruits.
Women Folks There, Too
Most everybody who could sneak a
/ few minutes time off, slipped up to
the armories at one time or another
to-day; ex-CitY Grays, old guardsmen
who shook thsir heads rather wistfully
at old Pa Time, who has raised for
them for all time he statue of limi-
! tations; the prettiest girl in the world
some scores of her-was on hand in
smiles and silk sweater. And in the
! background were those who Smilingly
! TRIED to be convinced that their
boys" were not really going further
! than Mount GTetna.'
For on Saturday Harrisburg's infan-
| try guardsmen will move to Uncle
Sans mobilization camp; the troop
will leave Pt & O'Clock Sunday.
Not All Raw Recruits
While the mysteries of the school
of the soldier were more or less Greek
to most of the rockies" there were
some to whom the footwork, the steps,
! the turns, etc, were as review of old
| lessons thoroughly learned long ago.
These were eX-guardsmen or eX-regu-
| lars of the United States army. No
raw recruit was so eager to get into
the ranks again as your one-time serv-
ice man. One of the officers of Com
pany l told this story to illustrate
this:
"One of the most likely of all the
candidates for enlistment was a great
husky fellow who had seen a lot of
good service in the regular army.
When he first applied however
questioned in my mind as to whether
he wasn't overweight. He weighed
24O or $50 pounds if he tipped a
pound. To-day I questioned him to
verify my suspicious.
What do you weigh?' / asked
him.
1 'Hundred-an ninety pounds, ex-
actly, sir. got weighed this morn
ipgr
he must have lost some forty or fifty
pounds
Not Quite Heavy Enough
The assembling of the men to-day
was not without it's disappointment
for few youthful, If willing ones. One
slightly built chap regretfully stepped
out of the line of recruits at Captain
Zeigler's command. I'D like to take
him along" said the captain, but he's
not quite heavy enough"
Just the same, SIR" essayed the
disappointed soldier I'm as tough and
strong as any of 'em. Wouldn't that
do"
That was the spirit that seemed to
prevail in both armories. Nor did II
apply alone to the single men by any
means. One of the big sergeants ot
the Governors Troop, Sergeant Charles
Kline, one of the crack revolver shots
OF the National Guard, smilingly ad-
mitted that the prospect of going tc
the border wasn't as pleasant as il
might be because he had wife ano
child at home. But" he added
quickly. mot that I'm going to lei
THAT stop me-"
4 And the same spirit was evidenced
in other ways. One would-be youth
full trooper who is a year under age, is