The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-06-08
SERGEANT GRIMES
FIRST RETURNED YANK SOL.
DER TO TELL OF WAR
ASKS US TO THINK.

auditorium last night. There might
have been more present had they
been capable of hanging like bats
from the beams-otherwise not. In
troduced by Prof. L. G. Atherton, the
man in khaki stepped forward, &C
coutred with canteen and gasmask,
and with the steel shrapnel helmet on
his head, giving the Uranium that
curious shallow appearance noted in
pictures of troops so covered. The
audience gave him a hand, to which
he locked only silent, grim d~isapprov-
al. In a c~uriously flat, inflexible and
even tone he addressed the audience
with a distinctly Brooklyn or Long
Island accent.
II am going to tell you what you'd
know in about two minutes, anyway"
he began. I'm no speaker. And
I'm glad of it-or I'd have another
job" indicating that his sole purpose
now and until the thing is settled is
to contribute to the destruction of
Huns. and wants nothing else. He
said that he with others had been
sent to this country with a certain
amount OF speaking to do, and why
In heavens name 1t had been pushed
upon him? He did not want it, but
seemed to be doing it with the i'm
personal and detached interest that
he would serve his gun or do guard
duty.
Upon his declaration there is room
for only one breed in this country,
Americans, and that nationalism is
the whole interest Of this day. the
audience again endorsed his remark
with APPLAUSE. He rebuked them per-
functorily as an officer would a sub
ordinate, without feeling and as a
duty, saying that this was no time
for applause and noise, but that men
should think earnestly and with the
one end of finishing the war. Men
he knew in his company were former
ly thought of as German or as Greek.
After their sacrifices for the country
he knew them as Americans. One he
> knew, of German parentage, educated
at Heidelberg, is with the regiment.
2 Another, rich and educated in his
own country, with wealth added by
, his efforts in this country, sold out
) three stores and was fighting with
the army. He was formerly thought
of as a Greek. Now only as an Amer
, lean. He declared that WI still have
! the silent or whispering kind of citi-
! zen among us, who looks about him
before he speaks. It's up to us to
> take care of him, he said. You
know who / mean"
II have no choice line of atrocities
to detail. That is becoming a favor-
; lite indoor sport with speakers. My
mission is to try to get you to realize
the enormity of our undertaking-to
; try to get you to think" He assured
' anxious mothers that the men were
y sober and manly, with full regard
Y and respect for women. That the
Y Red Cross was everywhere with ev.
U erything the men needed, and that
q while they might not be outwardly
> demonstrative in religion, they Were
y nearer God than were the ministers
T being every minute on that dim edge
8 between life and death.
He regards the Red Cross as the
greatest organization on earth. TIL.
mems money is no good with this or
~ganization. and they get everything
without cos If 1t is obtainable. They
bind UP the wounds, are for the ex
hausted, feed the hungry. battle tia
filthy and bring men back to life
o They care for the refugee children
!, with food, clothes and shelter. Thel
Q help the aged and direct the lost. On
trains, where the only cooking pos
sible Is done with a can opener. the!
n serve hot coffee, bread and cigarets
le No need of a soldier but they hav'
f~oreseen and provided for.
French food does not appeal to tn
soldier. For a time they subsisted oil
, It, but yearned for good United State
grub. They ate French cow"
cross between a greyhound and
ii racehorse. Their bread was just pos
sible after the water had been wrunl
from 1t. The coffee tasted like a lea,
~ p1uCii IdCtOiy. AitCi ivan biSau Sahh'
to them and was eaten with ice cream
II greediness. American bacon was tn
q one and only. American coffee de
lighted the heart.
Isl The wal is not over, today, tonicr
y row nor next week. France and Eng
o land live but to beat the enemy, AM
are bending every energy Of their ma
tional lives. We must meet the sit
uation. "And when you send TIL
boy, do not make him swim into tn
car, unless he is going into the naya
rr reserves" Meet the thing with for
titude and gravity. For it will all b
needed. and without hysteria, befor
te the end.
IS France and England have b. e,
fighting our battles for three ard
IL a. - sts~ IT, xxn vr,~, IL