The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-07-04

49,
naneake. bst. with the help Of all II
yoa- II wiil- In good old down-east par
Iance. do its GoI-dernd-est" to deliver
The goods SO-FOrward! MARCH !"
To tAe Folks eaeA Home
The SlADdefous stories Of drunken
ness and disease amOng the American
troops are deeply resented BY the sol
diers. They call every chaplain In the
army. Protestant add Catholic. as
witnesses to prove the faisity Of the
charge; and The Stars and Stripes"
prints the following pathetic appeal
to the folks back home:
To the fathers and mothers. SIS
te-s and brothers- wives. sweethearts.
and friends Of the IEen in the Ameri-
cah expeditionary forces:
I'VE hear that you have been re-
galed with some alarming stories about
lis Of the A T.. +. and our conduct
here In France. In fact. some o:
those stories have been relayed to us.
and II they weren't so far from the
truth we might he inclined to get
really mad. But knowing the authors
Of some OF fhern-for some of the hys-
tcrical stripe have really been over
here-Our first inclination is to laugh.
But. after all. it's no laughing mat
ter to be talked about behind our backs
In such reckless and irresponsible
way By reckless and irresponsible peo-
pie. though no doubt some of them
have the best Intentions In the world
and think that they, and they alone.
can save US. tThey have probably
told you that, and asked you TO con-
tribute money to their worthy cause.
haven't theyD What hurts most.
however. is the thought that though
we know you are loyal 10 Us and have
the firrnest of faith in Us. perhaps
these dire tales may have caused you
anxiety. may even have caused you
to believe that PERHAPS after all, we
trust: snd that. go believing. you
might have been soreiy. and entirely
distressed IN spirit
BE assured that these sensational
are nothing but myths Ab~o-
lutely nothing else And We have the
facts to prove that they are Listen:
Men On Coed Behavior.
The percentage Of yenereal disease
In this army Of yours is three-tenths
Of per cent-the smallest percentage
on record for any nrmy. or my civil
population. In the worlds history. II
is sober army. and . weil-behaved
one. The statistics In the possession
Of the Judge advocates generals de
partInent prove that there have been,
in proportion. fewer cnses Of drunken
ness, fewer breaches Of military dis
cipline among its members than has
been the case with any army whose
records have been preserved.
"!As to conditions In general. both
allied and neutral military observers
have expressed thelmkfves MS astOnish-
ed at the remarkably good behavior
Of this army Of yours The world does
move. Armies NO longer live by for
nge. loot. and pIllage; but even at
that. this pay-as-you-gO. behave-ns-you-
go American army has been \ revela-
tion to our European allies-
Take II all In all. these American
exIetitionnry forces constitute an
army which Is In every way q worthy
successor to the first army Of liberty.
whose commander was Georg. WASH
ington. 1t Is proud Of its heritage.
proud of you people at home who arc
supporting 1t and who are backing 1t
with your labor. your money. your
hopes and your prayers. proud Of the
government that sped II on Its way
overseas. proud Of the cause for which
1t Is nghtinE-the greatest enuse which
nny army was ever called upon to
champion. 1t would rather rot under
the soil Of France than to do anything
which would cast dlscredlt on the
homes n left. which would impugn In
my way the good name Of the great
people from whom It was recruited.
"Benr all this in mind. good people
back In Gods country. II you hear any
more stories about Us made up out Of
the same whole cloth. II by any
chance any Of you should hesitate to
believe us. write. to our commanders.
our chnplnins. our dOctors-anybOdy in
authority. They will back us to the
limit-and we. for our part. will guor-
nntee to come home to you clean In
body. exnlted in mind and heart. and
with the record behind us Of mans
size job mnnfully done"