Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-01-10
VEST SHORE NEWS
"SAMMYS BROTHER" CLUB
RAISING MONEY FOR TOBACCO
j. C. Thompson of Lemoyne, Receives Grateful Letter
From Soldier in France and Issues 1000
Appeals to Friends

BY the distribution of 1000 ap-
pealS to residents of Cumberland
and Dauphin counties in the i'm
mediate vicinity of Harrisburg and
the West Shore, ]. Z. Thompson,
electrical engineer of the United
Electric Company at Lemoyne, hopes
to carry out his new plan of send
ing smokes to soldiers during the
war
The name of the new club will
be "Sammy's Brother" The appeals
which will be sent out by Mr.. Thomp-
son will be addressed ITO Sammy's
Brother at Home" On the interior
of the envelope is a leaflet includ-
ing the story of The Bloke Who
Went West" by Arthur Guy EN-
pey.
Empey Endorses Work
On the cover of the phamplet is
q photograph of Mr.. Empey in uni
form. Mr.. Thompson has been given
permission by the author to use
any of his articles for the purpose
OF impressing the people at home
with his plan for spreading. cheer
among the soldiers.
The story in the leaflet tells of a
soldier who was wounded in the
trenches and died in the hospital
smoking a fag. This, by the way,
was the only tobacco in the ward,
containing sixty-nine patients. The
story is unusually interesting and
Mr.. Thompson believes it will reach
| the hearts of the men who receive
| the message.
On the back of the folder Mr..
Thompson has written a letter which
is endorsed by Robert i. Myers,
| president of the Lemoyne Trust
Company, and by George l.. Cook,
Of Camp Hill. The letter, in part,
| follows:
Il personally saw Mr.. Empey, the
author of over the Top and re-
celved his permission to publish the
letter for this purpose. We have the
| Sammy'S Brothers Fund in existence
remembered about fifty of our boys
each month. But this list of boys
going to the front is constantly IN
creasing and it can only be kept up
with your help. If it were possible
for me to let you read all the letters
of appreciation L have received in
the past three months, know moth
ing could keep you from becoming a
contributor to Sammy's Brothers
Fund. We people, members of the
army who stay at home, must back
up every soldier all we possibly can
We must encourage him. Can you
picture one of our own dear boys
sitting in a cold, muddy trench, un-
der fire, receiving a gift from his
home across the sea? How proud
1t will make him to exhibit to his
comrades and show them that we
are with him, heart and soul. Prob
ably your bit will be the cigaret that
will give him so much consolation in
his last few minutes of life"
Each envelope includes two ap-
plication cards for membership in
to the club. The maximum sub=
scription monthly is 81 and the
minimum one cent.
To Send Appeals Everywhere
In explaining the, plan Mr..
Thompson said that he will dis
tribute the appeals to residents in
all West Shore towns, including for
the present, Mechanicsburg and
Harrisburg. After the system is in
operation the boundary lines for the
drive will not be limited, he empha-
sized.
Mr.. Thompson plans to. appoint a
businessman or prominent resident
in each town to take care of the
distribution. The money received
will be turned over 20 this represen-
tative in the district from which it
comes and will be used to purchase
tobacco for soldiers from that town.
BY following out this plan the ORR
ginator hopes to collect enough
money from each town to supply
smokes" to the boys in the serv-
ice every month.
The distribution of the appeals
wilt be completed in about two
weeks. Approximately 1000 of these
will be distributed in the city of
Harrisburg.
There is a little story back of Mr..
Thompson's latest move. Three
months ago, when the boys started
to leave Lemoyne for service in the
Army, he did not think it was alto
gether right for the men at home to
forget the soldiers who had gone
in order that they might remain
with their families.
Few Contributors at First
Thinking along this line he got
an idea and at once worked it out
among a few friends and circulated
a petition among small circle. The
signers pledged themselves to con-
tribute monthly to the smoke fund
an amount not to exceed fifty cents.
In a few weeks he found that 1t
was not necessary for him to ask for
ed to place their signatures to the
petition. Funds from the first
months subscriptions were sufficient
to purchase more tobacco and ciga-
rets than was needed for the list of
boys he had on the honor roll.
Honor Roll Large
He enlarged the honor roll to in
clude residents from Lemoyne, Camp
Hill and lower East Pennsboro
township. To-day, at the end of
three months, there are fifty-nine
boys on the roll, with $50 contribu-
tors.
How the monthly presents are ap-
preciated by those who receive them
is shown in a letter from Edward
l.. Wanbaugh, formerly a resident
of Wormleysburg, now with the
Medical Department somewhere in
France" The letter received by Mr..
Thompson is as follows: I'm reply
to your letter of November 2, 1917,
wish to say that after the feeling
OF surprise has passed away, another
feeling, that of thanks and gratitude,
presents itself.
Glad to Hear From Home
"a soldier in France has many
tboupbtS both nlaaSaOt and nnnleaS-