The Nevada County picayune., 1918-07-04
big lob ahead to prove worthy of its

nameSake but. with the help of all of you, it will, in good old down-east par lance, do its gol-dernd-est" to deliver the goods So-Forward MARCHi"
 To the Folks Back Home.
 The slanderous 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 and Catholic, as witnesses to prove the falsity of the charge; and "The Stars and Stripes" prints the following pathetic appeal to the folks back home:
 "To the fathers and mothers, sis ters and brothers, wives, sweethearts, and friends of the men in the Amer- can expeditionary forces:
 We hear that you have been re galed with some alarming stories about us of the A. F. F. and our conduct here in France. In fact, some of those stories have been relayed to us, and if they weren't so far from the truth we might be inclined to get really mad. But knowing the authors of some of them-for some of the hys- terical 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 i'll such a reckless and irresponsible way by reckless and irresponsible peo- pie, though no doubt some of them have the best intentions in the world ip1- nd pln can save us. (They have probably told you that, and asked you to con- tribute money to their worthy cause, haven't theyO What hurts most, however, is the thought that, though we know you are loyal to us and have the firmest 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 had become q bit negleetful of our trust; and that, so believing. you might have been sorely. and entirely unduly. distressed in spirit.
 Be assured that these sensational stories are nothing but myths. Abso- lutely nothing else. And we have the facts to prove that they are. Listen:
 Men on Good Behavior.
 "The percentage of venereal disease in this army of yours is three-tenths of 1 per ccnt-the smallest percentage on record for any army, or any civil population, in the worlds history. It is q sober army. and a well-behaved one. The statistics in the possession of the judge advocates generals de partment prove that there have been, in proportion, fewer cases of drunken ness, fewer breaches of military dis cipline among its members than has been the ease with any army whose records have been preserved.
 "As to conditions In general, both allied and neutral military observers have expressed themselves as astonlsh- cd at the remarkably good behavior of this army of yours. The world does move Armies no longer live by for age, loot. and pillage; but even at that, this pay-as-you-go, behave-as-you- 1 go American army has been revela- ton to our European allies.
 "Take it all in all, these American i eXpcditi0nary forces constitute an army which Is in every way q worthy ] successor to the first army of liberty, whose commander was George Wash l ington. It is proud of it's heritage, l proud of you people at home who are supporting it and who are backing 1t i with your labor, your money your l hopes and your prayers, proud of the l government that sped it on its way overseas, proud of the cause for which i it is tighting-the greatest cause which any army was ever called upon to 1 champion. It would rather rot under i the soil of France than to do anything which would cast discredit on the 1 homes ii left, which would impugn in any way the good name of the great 1 people from whom it was recruited.
 Bear all this in mind, good people back in Gods country. if you hear any more stories about us made up out of 1 the same whole cloth. If by any chance any of you should hesitate to l believe us, write to our commanders, our chaplains. our doctors-anyhody in authority. They will back us to the 1 limit-and we, for our part, will guar | antee to come home to you clean in body, exalted in mind and heart. and i with the record behind us of mans size job manfully done"