Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1917-03-16

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A crowd such as rarely has been
witnessed in Little Falls, turned out
Yesterday noon to welcome the Little
Falls soldier boys who returned from
the Mexican border, where they have
been encamped since the middle Of last
summer. It is estimated that sew
,cral thousand people turned out to
show their appreciation. Most of the
stores and other places of business
closed for an hour and every business
house was decorated in the National
colors.
The train, No. 13, on which they ar
rived, had to come in very slowly, be-
cause Of the immense crowd OF people
lined up on the station platform. When
the train came to a halt the Little
Falls band struck up the air ''Ihe
Star Spangled Banner, during when
time the soldier boys stepped from the
train and were greeted by their tath-
ers and mothers, brothers, sisters,
sweethearts and friends. Then the
great mass, led by the band, began to
wend it's way to the Elks hall, where
a reception was held. P. IS. Randall
acted az marshal Of the day and LED
the procession up Broadway, followed
by the band. soluiers, members OF the
G. A. R. and the boy scouts. A. r.
Koslosky introduced the speakers at
the hall.
The address of welcome to- the sol
,i1ier boys was given by Mayor G. NJ.
A. Fortier. He extended to them a
very sincere and hearty welcome home
and expressed great pleasure at see-
ing such splendid group of young
men. He said he felt that they would
make better citizens, no matter how
good citizens they were before they
left When they went down, he said,
they went with the expectation of see-
ing actual service, and many were the
authorizations that some Of them would
perhaps never return, that some would
return home manned and crippled, and
he rejoiced that this did not come to
pass. They went down Of their own
free will, for the defense Of their
country, and were not drafted. This,
the mayor said, was fine example to
the young men of our city. When they
went away he said many a tear Of
father and mother was shed, and in
closing he urged the soldier boys to
be careful not to cause their mothers
any additional tears, to conduct them
selves in manner which would be
credit to themselves and an example for
others. He said that the crowd which
had gathered to welcome the boys home
was the biggest he had seen in this
city in thirty-six years. The people
understood and realized what it had
meant for their boys to serve their
country and they wished to thank
them for it.
At the close of the mayor s address
the soldier boys gave three cheers for
him.
Accompanying the local guardsmen to
this city were Captain T. E. Parkhill
Lieutenant Henry Prescott, through
whom the local boys enlisted, Lieuten-
ant Cook, Quartermaster-Ser E.
A. Walsh and Corporal Linell, all of
Minneapolis and members Of the First
regiment.
Captain Parkhill was called upon for
a talk next. He said that he did not
come here for the purpose of making
any speech but for the specific purpose
of. learning what kind of town it was
that could produce men like he had in
his company. He said he realized now
why he had such good men. The town,
he said, is full of enthusiasm, this be-
ing clearly indicated by the great mass
Of people that turned out to welcome
the boys home. In speaking of the
departure from the Mexican border
Captain Parkhill said that the only
regret of the boys in leaving the bor-
der was that they were not given the
chance to show what they could do
He praised the Little Falls boys and
said that there was no regiment on the
Mexican border that could compare
with the First, and the local boys
were largely responsible for this. He
closed by extending a most hearty
thanks for the grand reception ten
dered them.
Lieutnant Prescott was called upon
next. He remarked that it was need
less to say that the men who enlisted
with him made good. They had many
hard grind and had to make long
marches, carrying a full pack, but they
were always there when called and
never fell back. He congratulated
Little Falls on having such magnif-
cent body Of men. -.5s
Lieutnant Cook, who was commits
stoned into Company B and later as
signed to Company F, stated that at
the time he was in Company B that
company was considered the best in
the regiment, but Company F. forged
ahead and he said there was no ques-