Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-10

/ Littb. thtp hbkIlIi
Lieutenant Fred Rovitti is a cousin
Of County Physician Dr. r. A. NJ.
Rovitti, of Seventh and Washington
streets, and is in the army medical
| service. He studied with his cousin
here and at the Medico-C Chirurgical
College in Philadelphia, graduating
In 1911 He is now somewhere
In France"
Lots 81 folks tn Wilmington remember
| Fred Rovltti, cousin of County Physician
| br. 7 A. NJ Rnvlfti. If Seventh and
| Washington streets because he spent
| three or four years here some time ago
| studying medicine with his cousin AZ the
same time he was studying at the Medico-
| chlrurglcal College in Philadelphia.
! After he was graduated in 1914 and
| tackled NJ - 10 mis- name he went to
| New York and hung out his medical
shlnglo up in the borough of the Bronx,
| where his ability and admirable qualities
soon won hlm many friends and a sterling
practice
But when war broke. there wasn't
anything 10 II for young Dr Rovitti,
tut the army lie could best serve his
country rs physician and surgeon and
tncle sam was glad to get him, Just the
same as he's been glad to get thousands
Of other skilled, scientific young men like
him
Now. "he's somewhere In France
IN fact he : been there for some time lie
writes refreshing interesting letters TO his
cousin here. bat while he's long on telling
about the beauties Of the country he's IN,
despite the rayages of war he's short
on telling most what he's doing and why
and where which puts upon him he hall
Of he
Wilmington friends will not fail to recog-
nlzc hIm IN has army khaki, as shown n
the portrait
Our band was sc heduled to play al
during the day at the field, 50 a. they
we're preparing to 90 down the road !
suggested to a couple ri fellows, that We
| fall IN behind them and have sort Of
| parade for ourselves, not to be 0utdOne
| by the Frenchmen No sooner had We
| lined up than the rest Of the bunch
caught the idea, 50 that, from more or less
| ot loc'iar suggestion (as 1t were
couple Of hundred Of Our boys over there
| quickly got into line, 80 that when the
music began and We got our step, no
election parade ever presented better or
more military appearance Marching
proudly down the road, and approaching
the headquarters, where the commanding
officer Of the post and several high French
officials and many other American officers
were standing and watching us, our officer
gave eye left and saluted-while We
| ploughcd ahead like veterans Of the
| Crimean War.
1t surely was a gala and impressive
sight il had that much sought for inter-
national effect | might say the big oval
field, crowded on all sides, the French
| and Americans soldiers exchanging good
will, smatterings of both languages, and
cigarettes piled and iammed rs they were
on the ground and in numerous auto trucks
lined up near the field. It was perfect
dav to begin with add to this the perfect
blending of the sky blue uniforms OF the
| French soldiers with that of the American
| khaki, flecked here and there by touch
of more fancy color, lent to the scene by
| the visiting girls and women and then,
| all around the outside, fiuttering grandly
III the soft breeze, were the colors of all the
! Allies, and our own dear stars and stripes,
waving so proudly from the highest points
! of the field. seemed to say 10 all the other
| flags. This Is the day when YOU can SIN
/ cerelv welcome me; and. really do feel
more at home than | did last Fourth Of
| july | cannot tell you how good it all
made me feel. to be among these fine
and brave people on this independence
| Day. knowing that our country was at
| last prepared To strike forcefully and
effectively for the cause OF peace and hap
| plneSs for all
The events now took place rapidly,
both All-Ameucan, all-French and Fran
| co-American. There was loads of en-
| thusasts and cheering as first one side
or the other came out the victor and
while the Americans held their own
pretty well and won about as many
| points as the French boys, still feel sure
that most of US did not expect the Poius'
to Lake such a strong bid for each event
as they did. They proved exceptionally
/ fast and clever runners, having, of course
| the benefit of much previous training and
! practice. while most of our bows disdain-
/ ing preparation, American-like, were
/ rather rusty, SO to speak, for which they
made up however, by their gameneSs.
After the sprlnts, high jumps and other
| like stunts, came some events designed
| entirely for the amusement of the crowd,
such as sack, three-legged and wheebar-
row races, which We're very successful in
/ adding to the good nature Of the crowd
During all, our band faithfully rendered
popular American and French selections,
and indeed performed splendidly In spite
| of the newness of the organization. | will
admit, however that | did hold my
breath ON numerous occasions, especially
as they played the Star Spangled Ban
! ner' and ''Marsclla Use, when all Of the
thousands within hearing, paid tribute to
the national anthems, the civilians with
uncovered heads, and the soldiers and
officers at salute However, they were
strong on several well-knoWn tunes, such
as stars and Stripes Forever and The
Double Eagle" Incidentally, we had
especially fine meals today the noon
meal being composed Of excellent roast
beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, green peas,
bread coffee and peach pie. by GOSH
And in the evening, we hied ourselves
down to the ~. where our old friend,
Ed Davis, played the piano wonderfully
and Corporal McNutt, with his powerful
baritone voice sang for us The Sunshine
of Your Smile" and The Rosary"
Besides ourselves. tonights gathering
was Literally sprinked with French sol
diers and families, who enjoyed fully AS
much as We did, a regular five-reel
| American rnavia - rFraDpfnu ttharnar IN