Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1918-09-29

Bclves numbered thousands. So, for
week after week, these forgiRn- born
draftecS drifted along. yhey. grew
scontented. restless. resentfnl. sui
len. Many OF them already were
trained soldiers who had served In
the armies OF their native lands and
what In more to the point, they had
answered the call to the colors with
enthusiasm because they saw In II "A
chance TO fight not only the battles
OF their adopted country but likewise
an opportunity to avenge some OF the
wrongs perpetrated upon their own
countrymen in the past by the un-
holy Hun, the treacherous Austrian !,
and the "unspeakable Turk" They
had como into camp ready to fight.
not to lie around and grow discon
tented ana lazy as part OF a badly
disciplined rabble.
OF course, their ranks also included
men who did not want to fight: men
who actually did not understand why
they had been put into a military
camp; men who were victims OF pa
cifist and German propaganda; men
who refused to be naturaliZed, re
fused to don uniform. refused even
to pick up a rifle and learn TO drill.
Presently. one race began to quar-
rel and bicker with another; old
scores from the pages Of history were
dug up and reopened; even within
groups OF men OF the same race. fac
tlOns--based upon the politics or re-
ligion or upon some one OF many
! points OF difference tho American
mind simply cannot grasp began To
spring up and disrupt the Ecant hlr-
mony that did exist. And the prob
lom became imminently terrible,
Then came to the fore two Officers
with plan which they believed
would solVs tho problem. a plan 40
simple that NOW II seems IL should
have been obvious. but then indeed
II plan which possessed all the cle.
mcnts ~ novelty and uncertainty
Each Race Segregated.
Their plan was to seEregato &C.
cording to their nationalities the for
| elgn speaking soldiers who could not
understand commands. army orders,
and regulations In English. Instead
OF Poles. Russians. Italians and a
| dozen other races Jumbled, helter-
skelter. into one battalion, they rec
ommended that tho Poles should be
formed into all l-Polfsh battalions, the
Italians Into Italian Companies, the
Russians int divisions of their own,
and so on.
A simple PLAN Indeed yss--look-
ing backward! But not quite so sim
ple as 1t seems. even now. Its ad-
vantaRes we're many, the obstacles
TO Its execution all but legion. For
example, 10 officer an all-Italian
company the officers need be able to
speak only Italian and English. But
whore we're such officers, trained and
capable. to be found.
Camp Gordon, an infantry repla &C.
ment camp near Atlanta, Ga. was
the. place selected for the expert
ment on a big scale. There were
some four thousand non English
speaking soldiers there who were all
hut running around In circles. Into
their midst came the officer from
Washington who had proposed that
each racial group should be dealt
with separately. He now conceived
the amazing idea OF handling this
'army neglected and ignored" not en-
masse but individually! lie did It,
too. One by one the men were called
before him and questioned. In few
days he actually talked with '076
men! And he spoke to them either In
their own respective languages or in
q combination OF dialects-at all
events he made them understand
and he. In turn, understood them!
Thousa OF complaints were noted,
classified, and either explained or