The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1918-11-08
FINE TRIBUTE TO GEN. PERsHING
The Red Cross, Y. M. G. A. and Other
War Activities Highly Praised.


War Activities Highly Praised.
The following extracts are taken
from letter written by major on
the French line in France to friend
| of Lieut.. Alex Ely now with the fight
ing forces in that country.
Somewhere in France,
August 3, 1918.
NV Dear Friend Howard:
| You will be interested to know that
| it has been my privilege to meet and
walk with Gen. Pershing.. Last Mon
day I received a wire that the general
would be thru the camp on an inspec-
! ton trip the following day. Tuesday
| a. m. he and his staff showed up |
never did see so many brlgadler gen.
erals, Lieutenant generals, major gen.
erals and colonies as he had with him
on this trip. Upon mis- arrival | had
| my staff together and We stood at at
| tention in front Of my headquarters,
and as he approached | saluted. He
| inquired if was in command. | found
the words somehow and replied, Eyes,
SIR" He inspected myself and staff
| and it was some inspection, from the
| top of my head to my boots and spurs.
After the inspection he said, Major,
you come with me-" | Joined him and
| took my place on his left and started
thru the officers quarters and then the
camp on general inspection. Questions
came pretty fast and were all answered
| promptly. He left me with these words:
every, very well. ;" A wonderful per-
| iod in my career in the u. S. army. /
| hot I no
spected by general, let alone Gen.
Pershing, or never once thought that it
| would be my privilege and honor to
| meet the General, and then in command
of regiment. My impression of Gen.
| Pershing during the inspection of my
self and officers-his face and express
sion were stern, severe and set, but on
our Journey thru the camp he took
different attitude and one could see
kindness, thoughtfulness, and every
thing that is good to see in a real man.
| President Wilson knew when he picked
| Gen. Pershing for his job over here
| that he was sending man in every
sense of the word, a representative OF
| America, for you and me. By the way,
| Mr.. Howard, the pictures you have seen
| of the General in your dailies and mag
azines do not do him justice, for ne IS
| far better looking than any picture
THAT have SEEN. | would be mighty
glad if l could bring this message to
every mother dear, of the boys who
are serving over here, in the U. 5. A.
| What a wonderful man their boys are
serving under, one who is interested In
| every little want and comfort, and has
done everything possible in his power
to see that the moral conditions were
the very best. While the customs here
are different than they are in the
States, and some things cannot be cor
rected, still Gen. Pershing has gone the
very limit. He is very much interested
| in their welfare. Some of his ques-
tons, in fact most of them, were along
| this line. He wanted to know and does
know by frst-hand information. How
| proud the mothers should be that their
bows are under the command of Gen.
| Pershing. If the opportunity should
ever come to you that this little mes
sage could reach a mother there, /
would ba mighty glad if you could pass
it on and vouch for it, for it comes
from one who knows.
! How proud / am that am American,
| and of the boys up there on the front
line. Wonderful the way they have
got into the game and the courage they
| have displayed. The whole French ma
ton can't get over shouting their
praises. They give it on every hand.
We give no grounds, which is quite a
surprise to the Huns. We take place
and don't back up to get ready Tor an
other drive, but stand fast and start
from there. And this is against the
crack guards of the German army. The
'kamerad' stuff can only be pulled
once and the Hun has pulled it. A
dirty trick and could only be conceived
| in the mind of the devil and his kind.
A lieutenant told me the other day (he
is here wounded) how he and four 9th
ers fell for the kamerad stuff. He
managed to get back to his company
badly wounded, the only one OF the
four. The Hun had called out kan
Grad" from a shell hole and when they
got up close they turned machine gun
loose on them: A platoon went out to
| investigate They were ready for them.
Their signal to advance by rush was
| when the first Hun poked his head over
the top Of the shell hole and called out
''kamerad. There were e Huns in
! the hole. They are still there. No,
| they did not bring back any prisoners.
| This world has no place for that kind
| of being, and I fear that their carcasses
| will smother the fires of hell.
! The Red Cross and Y M. G. A. are
| doing wonders, Mr.. Howard, and they
need every support they can get from
| the folks back home. Still there Is an
other organization that has never been,
as far as | have seen, on the front
pages of our dailies. But they have
won their way into the hearts of the
| bows over here, in fact all. These are
the Salvation Army lasses. Yes, the
ones we used to see on the street cor
ners in the U. S. A They are right
at the front-not asking for anything
or expecting anything serving.
don't know where they are getting
their money, or if they have any, still
they must have some. They have made
III FL thni,.