The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-06-28

Enough Of the American National
army has arrived In France to bear
ont the predictions that this army will
be one of the finest bodies of military
men In the world. / recently went to
q section Of France where new troops
are quartered for final training, writes
Don Martin In the New York Herald.
There / saw the vanguard Of the mill
lions who were legally selected to serve
their country. A general who has
been all his life In the army fairly
glowed In admiration of them.
sThey are a splendid lot Of boys"
the officer said. sThey are proud to
be here. They are sorry for the boys
at home who are not to help in the
great battle for democracy. They want
to get right In the line. They realize
the dangers fully. but that doesn't
ny them. They have had their eyes
opened fully to the wonderful sacrifices
France has made. They have seen
how the villages are stripped Of every
thing but the very old and the very
young. and yet they have een how de-
termined and cheerful the country is.
So they are proud to be here, and they
are going to make the finest soldiers
the world has ever seen"
Superlatives ordinarily are not per-
mitted by the censorship when refer
ence Is made to Americans. A deeply
grounded principle of the American
censorship is that America, while glory
ing In her own idealism and achieve
ments. must not forget that France and
England have been at war for nearly
four years and have set a very high
standard for Uncle Sam. But the SUI
perlatives INDUCED In by the general
were sincere. He actually believes the
National army will be as fine a lot of
men as ever stood In a uniform, and
after seeing them and talking with
them In more than fifty villages I
must say that ] think he has prophetic
vision.
All Show Their MettIe.
To praise the National army does
not imply .disparagement Of any other
wing of our military force. The mill
tia group has already, In various
clashes with the enemy, shown the
stun Of which 1t Is made. The 104th
regiment, which halls from Massachus-
etts. has been decorated by the French
government for its valor under heavy
Ore. All the men have made good, but
all they have done will unquestion-
ably be equaled by the excellent army
Of draft men. The latter have the
physique, the initiative and the spirit.
As n Of them said. "We're not here
because we're here: we're here because
It's where we belong and where we
want to be-" The training they re-
ceived In the United States worked
wonders in them.
In q little village q handsome young
ster In q private's uniform saluted
with the grace and snap of a trained
regular. He had the look Of the sol
der In every line.
'sWhere are you fromr' / asked.
He named q small city in the North
west.
"Were you ever a soldier beforef'
mo. SIR" he said, smiling. Il never
did anything before but spend fathers
money and get arrested for speeding"
Are you glad to be heref"
II wouldn't be anywhere else for
anything In the world"
Seated In front Of a small house, a
wrinkled woman on q side. an aged
man on the other and two wee chill
dren playing on the ground In front of
him, I saw another young mar who
would attract attention anywhere. As
the oficer who accompanied me ap-
preached the young man jumped to his
feet. snapped his heels together and
saluted as II militarism was In his
marrow. He said he came from q
small town In the middle West. ]
asked him about his affairs before he
Joined the army.
II was In the lumber business" the
private rejoined. II vas getting along
pretty wel1-have q wife and two chill
dren about like these here (pointina
to the two near his feet), but ven II
knew my business was going to ruin
wouldn't 60 back IL they'd let me. I'm
here to stick It out to the finish and
you1l iind all the boys the same way
The spirit Of all is, as this young
lumber dealer said. identical. The men
are here to fight for France and demo
cracy. They understand exactly what
the issues are. They understand pre-
clsely why the United States came in
to the war and they will be disappoint-
"a Il peace comes before every allied
aim has been achieved.
Among the arst ten thousand Ma
t1onnl army men who came here to al
a various units may be found men rep
resentative Of every branch of citizen
ship. I saw motormen, farmers, banl
clerks. architects. lawyers. manufac
turers. brokers, commission men, car
penters-in fact, everything. Their,
were men with names suggestive o
eyeFy nationality III the world.
These particular soldiers are Il
northeastern France. where they ar,
going through intensive training b
oQuip themselves for the front line.
onlpero m the Tronches4