Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1918-07-10


army has arrived In France to bear
out the predictions that this army will
be one Of the finest bodies Of military
men In the world. I recently went to
. section Of France where new troops
are Quartered for npM training. writes
Don Martin In the New York Herald.
There saw the vanguard of the mill
lions who were legally selected to serve
their country. A general who has
been all his life In the army fairly
glowed In admiration Of them.
"rhey are splendid lot Of boys"
the officer said. "They are proud to
be here. They are sorry for the boys
at home who are not to help In the
great battle for democracy. They want
to get right In the line. They realize
the dangers fully, but that doesn't wor-
ry them. They have had their eyes
opened fully to the wonderful sacrifices
France has made. They have seen
how the villages are stripped Of every
thing but the very old and the very
young. and yet they have seen how de-
termined and cheerful the country Is.
SO they are proud to be here, and they
are going to make the finest soldiers
the world has ever seen."
Superlatives ordinarily are not per-
mitted by the censorship when refer
ence Is made to Americans. A deeply
grounded principle Of the American
censorship is that America. while glory
ing in her own idealism and achieve
ments, must not forget that France and
England have been at war for nearly
four years and have set a very high
standard for Uncle Sam. But the su-
perlatives INDUCED in by the general
were sincere. He actually believes the
National army will he as fine q lot Of
men as ever stood In a Uniform, and
after seeing them and talking with
them In more than fifty villages
must say that I think he has prophetic
vision. t7-i ~
All Show Their Mettle.
To praise the National army does
not imply disparagement Of any other
wing Of our military force. The mill
da group has already, In various
clashes with the enemy, shown the
stun Of which II is made. The 10th
regiment, which halls from Massachus-
etts, has been decorated by the French
government for It's valor under heavy
fire. All the men have made good, but
all they have done will unquestion-
ably be equaled by the excellent army
Of draft men. The latter have the
the initiative and the spirit.
A. one Of them said, "we're not here
because we're here; we're here because
It's where we belong and where we
want to be-" The training they re-
ceived IN the United States worked
wondens In them. faa 0'ari aaI 5.
In a little village q handsome young
ster in a. private's Uniform saluted
with the grace and snap Of a trained
regular. He had the look Of the sol
der in every line. -" iD's''
"where are you from7' I asked.
He named d small city in the North
west. 700 faii 'c'nt. moan "
"Were you ever soldier beforeT
"No, SIR" he said, smiling, II never |
did anything before but spend fathers
money and get arrested for speeding,
"Are you glad to be herew
II wouldn't be anywhere else for
anything in the world.r ts.sisI
Seated in front Of a small house, a
wrinkled woman on one side, an aged
man on the other and two wee chill
dren playing on the ground In front Of
him, I saw another young man who
would attract attention anywhere. As
the officer who accompanied me ap-
preached the young man Jumped to his
feet snapped his heels together and
saluted as II militarism was In his
He said he came from a
small town in the middle West.
asked him about his affairs before he
Joined the army.
II was In the lumber business" the
private rejoined. II was getting along
pretty well-have a wife and two chill
dren about like these here (pointing
to the two near his feet). but even II
knew my business was going to ruin I
wouldn't go back II they'd let me. I'm
here to stick It ont to the finish and
you'll find all the boys the same way"
The spirit Of oil is, ms this young