The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-09-06
Petersburg
GRAYsoN COUNTY MEN FIRST.
Mouhtaineers Arrive at Camp Lee After
Is0DM Journey.


Mountaineers Arrive at Camp Lee After
Long Journey.
Petersburg, Va, sept. 5.--The Gray
| son county quota, consisting or ten
| hearty-iooking mountaineers. were the
| first of the several hundred drafted
| men to arrive at Camp Lee today. They
| were received at the camp, and into
the new national army. under circum-
| stances simple. but inspiring.
The quota left their homes early
| yesterday and travelled all night in or
der to be the first quota to answer the
call to Camp Lee They were met
! when they alighted from the Norfolk
and Western train, at the Union sta
ton. this morning by army officers who
directed them to waiting army truck
| in which they were hurried TO the camp.
Several hundred army officers were
gathered at headquarters when the
truck arrived and as the truck came
to a-ha4t q young officer stepped up
and ordered fall in" The men alighted
| from the truck in boyish mood. They
were marched up to a tent and each
Of them answered TO the roll call In
voice clear and distinct.
Immediately following the roll call.
| Northumberland wafdron, -chfef~of~-
| stan stepped forward and gave the
| Of the men saluted and the other eight
! bowed to the distinguished officer. Sew
I era1 OF the number, when the officer
called Right face" turned In the wrong
! direction. but quickly caught them
selves, and at the command Forward
: march," stepped off in a brisk military
manner that plainly indicated their de-
sire to appear as much like soldiers
as possible.
The Petersburg quota OF twenty men
was the second to arrive at the camp,
d headed by A. p. Hin camp OF Confed
crate Veterans and other quotas from
| different sections of the state, followed
in rapid succession. It was estimated
late this afternoon that 1900 of the
first 2.300 men had arrived at the
+ camp. Others will be coming in stead
I lily tonight and tomorrow.
] No Room for Virginia Conference.
I The Methodist pastors and laymen
of the Methodist churches OF Peters
burg. ut meeting held In the wash
Z ington-S Street church last night. adopt
Z ed n resolution notifying the Virginia
/ conference that Petersburg would be
unable to entertain the annual confer
/ ence this year. The reason that Pc
! tersburg cannot entertain the confer
ence scheduled TO be held here In No
:, vember is because Of the location of
! Camp Lee here and the congested con-
( Metho dist people. az well as members
/ Of other denominations, deeply regret
| the necessity OF the change, but II Is
( generally known throughout the state
: that conditions here are such that II
+ would be impossible to entertain the
J visiting ministers and delegates in
craditasie manner.
+ The Rev, h, F Npscomh n, D, pre-
/ siding elder OF the Petersburg district.
acted as chairman OF last nights meet
/ ing and representatives from every
church in the city, South Chesterfield
and Hopcweli churches were in atten-
dance The following resolution was
adopted:
Resolved. That In View OF the crowd
I ed conditions OF Petersburg. we. the
| pastors and lsymen OF the Methodist
/ churches Of the city. respectfully re-
! quest that the presiding elder, DR.. r
/ F. Lipseomb. notify the presiding
! bishop that we will be unable to en-
! tertan the conference In November
and that we further request Or. Lips
4 comb to take the matter up with the
I proper authorities and secure n place
I OF meeting for the conference"
/ Bishop f. r. Hoss will preside al
/ the conference and both Lynchburg
I and Danvilie have been mentioned as
/ probable meeting places
Had Checks Cause Losses.
Through n clever duplication of
Rhinehart and Dennis pay checks. made
possible by printing the fictitious
I checks 80 that they closely resemble
/ those received by workmen at Camp
Lee. a number of local merchants
{ ware aeecsa out os sevaral hundred
dollars by an experienced gang Of
: forgers yesterday. The forgery be-
came known today when the checks
were presented in bank for payment
/ The Checks differ from the genuine
/ Rhinehart and Dennis checks In sew
! eral respects, but an unsuspecting
| business man would have hardly no.
/ ficed without carefuI inspection the
| principal difference which was in the
! spelling OF Petersburg ending with h
/ Instead Of &
All OF the checks were drawn for
/ s4a.0s and were countersiEued "E II
| Watson No such person as f. II. Wat
/ son has al any time been employed in
thu payrnaater's department at the
! camp. ely every merchant In the
| business district cashed at least one
| of the checks and few OF them
| cashed several. Due to the large num-
| Der of these checks which are being
| handled by Petersburg merchants. II
| will be Impossible for local business
| men 10 identify any OF the persons
| who worked the forged checks This
| fact viii hinder the police. although
| the departments or all nearby cities
have been notified Of the forgeries
and asked to assist in apprehending
| the gang OF crooks.
Local Job printers say that none
| of the checks were printed In Pc
| tersburg and copies viii be sent out
| to police departments Of numerous
cities. requesting assistance In locat-
Ing the establishment that printed
them. The swindle Is regarded by Pc
tersburg police as one of the cieverest
usrpetrHted In Petersburg since the
big ewindle involving thousands Of