Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1918-03-26

OVID I11f' TOP
AN Al1ERICAN SOLDIER
WHO WENT . =
AlT1lUl lGlNTnprY
IA,0!szISISr SISr,vyl

At l'u b'ftF "u1s nNfuils Au(s
wny. I learned that tho zeps hnd re-.
turned TO their fatherInnd. No I went
out into the street expecting TO see
scenes Of awful devastation and a COW.
erinr populace. but everything wns
normal. People were calmly proceed
ing 10 their work. Crossing the
street. accosted Robbie with;
"can you direct me to the place Of
dnmagcr
lie asked me. "what dnmager
In surprise. I answered, "why, the
damarc cnused by the zeps."
With wink be replied:
"rhere was no dnmagc: we missed
them again."
After several fruItlcss inquiries of
the passersby. I decided 10 go on my
own In search Of ruined buildings and
scenes Of destruction. boarded bus
which carried the through Tottenham
Court road. Recruiting posters were
everywhere. The one that Impressed
me most was lIfe-sixe picture Of
Lord Kitchener with his finger point.
ing directly nj me, under the caption
Of "Your Kins and Country Need You"
No matter which way I turned. the
accusing finger followed me. I was
an American, In mutt. and had little
American iing In the lapel Of my coat.
l had no king. and my country had
seen az not 10 need me. but stIll that
pointing finger made me feel small and
III ut ease. I rot on the bus to try
to dIssipate this feeling by mixing
with the throng Of the sidewalks.
Presently I came to recruiting Of.
nce. Inside. sitting at desk was q
lonely Tommy Atkins. I decided to In
tervIew him IN regard 10 joining the
British army. opened the door. He
looked mp and greeted me with II s'y,
mytc, want 10 tykc ont"
I looked Mt him and answered. "welI.
whatever that h, III take chance
at H."
Without the aid Of an interpreter, ]
found out thnt Tommy wanted 10 know
II ! cared TO Join the British army. He
asked me: -Did you ever hear Of the
Royal FusilIersf Well. IN London,
you know. Yanks are supposed to know
everything. NO I wns not going 10 ap-
pear ignorant and answered. "Sure."
After listening for one hnlf-hour to
Tommy's tale Of their exploits on the
firing line. decided to Join. Tommy
took me 10 the recruiting headquarters,
where met a typical English captain.
He asked my nationality. immedI-
atcly pulled out my American passport
aud showed II to him. II wns signed
by Lansing. After looking ut the
passport. he informed me that he was
sorry but could not enlist me. as II
would be breach Of neutrality. !
insisted that was not neutral, be-
cause to me Il seemed that real
American could not be neutral when
big things were In progress, but the
captain would not enlist me.
With disgust In my heart I went out
In the street. had gone about q
block when a recruiting sergeant who
had followed me out Of the once
tipped me on the shoulder with his
swngger stick and said: "S'y. can
ret you In the army. We have a 1ef-
tenant down at the other ONCE who
can do anything. He has Just come
out Of the o. T. @. (0ficers' Training
corps) and does not know what neu-
trality H." ! decided to take chance,
and accepted his invitation for an In.
PRODUCTION to the lieutenant. I entered
the once and went up to him, opened
up my passport and said:
"Before going further wish to state
that am an American. not too proud
to fight, and want to Join your army"
He looked at me in nonchalant
manner. and answered, 'That's all
right; we take anything over here"
Hooked at him kind Of hard and re.
piled, $50 I notice." hut Il went over
his head.
He got ont an enlistment blanr and
placing his finger on blank line said