Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-07-10
Ehrntt1g 'G4at.


Department from Adjutant General
Thomas ]. Stewart down are trying
to find out what started the rumor
that has been going all over the
United States and it's territorial pos
sessions to the effect that Pennsyl-
vania has offered a bonus to such of
its citizens as enlist in the armed
forces for the war. There never has
been such a bonus offered and the
officials are at loss to account fur
the report that such gratuity had
been proposed. No legislation on
the subject was introduced and no
order or statement was ever issued
indicating that such was intended.
The letters first began to arrive a
month or more ago. Since that
time they have been coming with
regularity Yesterday there were fifty
on the subject. They have come
from almost every army post, from
practically every navy yard and
from numerous training camps. Il
seems that wherever the army or
navy has station there is a Penn
sylvania man who has heard the
story and wants his bonus. The odd
part about 1t is that they all ask for
the ten dollars. That seems to be
the ngure given in every report and
the fact has lead officials to believe
mat some mighty good disseminators
OF information must have started it
gong from one place. All efforts to
run down the report have been
fruitless and in order to answer all
OF the inquiries the Department has
hau 10 devise form letter and use
up rather Penn's money in postage
because 1t is rule of that Office to
answer all letters. None of the
writers seems to be able to give
dehnite information as to where he
heard about the story.
The splendid showing made bv
Harrisburg in recruitment of vari-
GUS units for the National Guard has
been much commented upon and has
stimulated other cities. In Philadel-
phia, which has been raising men
for every branch of the service, Har-
risburg has been watched, while
Reading, Scranton and Wilkes
Barre, which have been filling up
their organizations, have had to hus-
tie to keep up with the Harrisburg
district. One of the oddities of the
military situation is that while peo-
pie in Altoona, Erie and other places
would like to raise more units their
men are so busy in the important
railroad and manufacturing lines
that they have to hold back, while
| recruiting officers have been leaving
agricultural regions alone owing to
the necessity of having men for the
harvest.
| A friend writing about the articles
which appeared the other day in
! this column relative to the compan-
les raised in the part of Lancaster
county which is now Dauphin, asks
| whether the command which went
to Cambridge was the only one from
this section. There were in all
something like nine units which
hailed from what is now Dauphin
county and it may be added that it
was contribution which was to be
! expected from a district where there
were no tories. Some families sent
every son who could bear arms, John
| Harris, Jr., who laid out this city.
and his brothers being among those
who served. Two of the Harris
| family were commissioned officers,
one of them being the founder.
There were half dozen other
companies raised at Harris Ferry,
| Middletown, Hanover, Hummelstown
and other places in what later tAs-
came our county and their sons gave
up their lives at the battles of Long
Islsnd, White Plains, Princeton,
Trenton, Brandywine and German
town. Some suffered at Valley Forge
and others were with Wayne at
| Stony Point, while the company
which went out under Captain Pat
rick Anderson and was later COM
manded by Captain Ambrose Grain
served in the Pennsylvania State
regiment of foot and then in the
Thirteenth Pennsylvania, which par
ticipated in the triumph at York
town.
1t is inspiring to read in the papers
written by men who have studied the
country of the sacrifices made for
! liberty. 1t is estimated that the
county had $50 commissioned Off
GERS in the Revolutionary War. This
meant far greater number of pri-
vate soldiers. DR.. Egle says that "at
one period the entire county was so
bare of men that the old men, wo-
men and lads of ten and twelve not
only did the planting and harvest
ing, but took up arms to defend their
homes IN the threatened invasion by
Indians and Tories after the mas
sacre of Wyoming"
| The drills of the Harrisburg Re-
serves have been attracting attention
from veterans of the Civil and Span
ish wars who have been at the island
to watch the men go through their
PAGES. Some of the men who have
been watching the drills tell interest
ing stories of the drills by the Home
Guards back In the Sixties. One of
the organizations for home defense in
those days was composed of men
whose hair was turning gray. They
were called the "Silver Grays."