Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-01
MEADE SOLDIERS
WILL BUY BONDS
Philadelphia Boys in Camp
Add Another "Bit" Be-
sides Fighting
WAITING FOR THE WORD

CAMP MEADE Admiral, Md. oct. l.
The boys from Philadelphia who are train
ing to fight the forces Of autocracy want
to do more than their bit
Fighting is their role In the great world
drama, but fight is not enough for these
chaps when anything else Is to be done. and.
mindful that their Uncle Sam needs money
20 feed them, clothe them and to buy am
munition for their guns, they are going to
buy Liberty Bonds.
And they are going to buy a big pile
Of them too Just what amount nobody
would dare guess, for that will all depend
upon the efficiency of the proposed cam
paign.
The opening gun Of Little PENIS Liberty
Bond campaign was fired early ths morn
ing by Walter c. Hoban, the Philadelphia
cartoonist of 1922 South Broad street.
Hoban is a member of the 312th Heavy
Field Artillery.
I'VE are ready for action" said Hoban,
"and are waiting to receive firing orders
from the Philadelphia Liberty Loan Com
mittee. When that organization completes
q plan for our Liberty Bond campaign we
will start fire that can be heard in Ber-
lin. The boys are enthusiastic and can be
depended upon to make things hum when
the Philadelphia committee sends its rep
1resentatives."
Selling Liberty Bonds to soldiers and
sailors is not new, for during the cam
paign waged in June sailors at the Phila-
delphia Navy Yard organized teams aboard
several battleships and engaged in lively
battle for first honors.
Men at Camp Meade have taken the
same attitude toward the Liberty Loan and
assert that they should be given the right
TO participate.
"A big majority of the men," said Ho-
ban, "are single and contend that they can
buy $50 bonds on the partial payment
plan without making any great sacrifices
. oil faaI hat dayaIOna he qax in
habit and, IL they feel that way about
It, they ought to be given the right to
enjoy the privilege of aiding Uncle Sam
to float the loan"
A. T. Turner, of the banking firm of Har-
per & Turner, Philadelphia, has been re-
quested TO arrange the details for the
Camp Meade campaign.
officers at Little Penn today faced the
problem of handling deserters from the
National Army.
Despite the splendid spirit exhibited by
the men and their willingness to make
sacrifice in order to put the Seventy-ninth
Division in the front rank of National Army
divisions, many men have forgotten their
oath of allegiance and, disregarding the
severe penalty imposed upon deserters,
have left the camp.
How many have deserted cannot be as
certained, but the number is sufficient to
cause uneasiness at headquarters.
In general orders issued at headquarters,
officers have been warned to guard against
desertions and also to treat the Offenders
with consideration when they are appre-
hended.
In regimental guard houses awaiting trial.
No official statement concerning the pun
ishment that will be meted out to these
men, is Forthcoming, but in all probability
the men will escape with light punishment.
Although the attitude of General Kuhn
toward the deserters is one of leniency he
has made il plain that the men must realize
and Immediately that they are members of
the United States army and that desertion
will not be tolerated.
The action of the deserters is not con-
sdered lightly and the stain upon the
Seventy-ninth Division is felt keenly by the
men. The voiced their opinions very freely
today and expressed their contempt and dis
gust for men who desert during the period
of war.
One of the deserters is said to be Il non.
commissioned officer who won his stripes
within forty-eight hours after his arrival.
Civilian cooks are causing more trouble
for the men. Scores have left or have given
such wretched service that they have re.
ceived discharges and their work is being
taken up by enlisted men. These men at
best can do but little but the selected SER
vice men are making the best of things and
living in the hope that the cook situation
will soon be adjusted.
Hundreds of rifles and overcoats were
issued today, but weeks will elapse before
the men are given ammunition. Overcoats
were welcome, too, for biting~wind swept
the camp today.
That a band of professional pickpockets
is working on the Washington, Baltimore
and Annapolis trains developed today when
Il became known that the civil authorities
of Anne Arundel County had arrested more
than twenty since Saturday night.